Stefan Noesen

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Noesen grew up playing ice hockey in the Dallas suburbs; one of his childhood teammates was future Devils teammate Blake Coleman.^[1] He eventually moved north at age 14 and ended up playing major junior ice hockey with the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).^[2] He was selected by the Ottawa Senators with the first round draft pick, which the team obtained from the Nashville Predators in exchange for forward Mike Fisher. He signed an entry-level contract with Ottawa on December 29, 2011.^[3]

Noesen made the Team USA lineup for the 2013 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships but was not allowed to participate in the tournament. At the time, he was serving a 10-game OHL suspension for a charging incident and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) honored the suspension.^[4] A few weeks later, following the resolution of the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Noesen was invited to the Senators' training camp held in Ottawa. He failed to make the Senators' lineup and on January 16, 2013, was returned to junior to play for the major junior team Plymouth Whalers.^[5]

On July 5, 2013, Noesen was traded to the Anaheim Ducks along with forward Jakob Silfverberg and a first-round pick in the 2014 draft in exchange for forward Bobby Ryan.^[6] On December 7, 2016, Noesen scored his first NHL goal.^[7]

In the midst of his longest tenure in the NHL during the 2016–17 season, Noesen was placed on waivers by the Ducks after two goals in 12 games. On January 25, 2017, Noesen was claimed off waivers from Anaheim by the New Jersey Devils.^[8] On July 26, the Devils re-signed Noesen to a one-year, two-way contract worth $660,000.^[9]

Noesen had a career-high in points the following season, scoring a total of 13 goals and 27 points in 72 games; he was one of several improved players on the team who helped the Devils reach the playoffs for the first time since their 2012 Stanley Cup Final appearance,^[10] while playing on a line with Travis Zajac and Blake Coleman.^[11] His performance improvement earned him another one-year extension with the Devils, which was worth $1.725 million.^[10] However, Noesen missed a lot of time during the 2018–19 season after re-injuring his left knee,^[11] appearing in only 41 games and registering eight points.^[12]

On June 25, 2019, Noesen was not tendered a qualifying offer to remain with the Devils, releasing him as an unrestricted free agent.^[11] On September 3, Noesen agreed to attend the Dallas Stars' training camp on a professional tryout.^[12][13] Noesen remained with the team to play for his home state club through the pre-season before he was released by the Stars.^[14][15]

On October 4, 2019, Noesen signed a one-year, American Hockey League (AHL) contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.^[16] After scoring 22 points in as many games with the club, he signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins on December 2.^[17] In his debut on December 4, Noesen scored in a 3–0 win over the St. Louis Blues.^[18]

After being waived by the Penguins, he was claimed by the San Jose Sharks on December 19, 2019. He had one goal in nine games with the Penguins.^[19] Noesen made his debut two days later against the St. Louis Blues, scoring a goal in a 5–2 loss.^[20] He finished the season with six goals and eight points in 31 games with the Sharks. On October 9, 2020, he re-signed with the Sharks on a one-year deal.^[21]

During the 2020–21 season, Noesen split time between the Sharks and their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda. On April 11, 2021, Noesen was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs along with Nick Foligno in a three-team deal in which the Columbus Blue Jackets received Toronto's 2021 first-round draft pick and 2022 fourth-round draft pick, and the Sharks received Toronto's 2021 fourth-round draft pick.^[22]

As a free agent following his brief tenure within the Maple Leafs organization, on July 31, 2021, the Carolina Hurricanes signed Noesen to a one-year, $750,000 contract.^[23] Following a successful AHL season and Calder Cup win with the Chicago Wolves, the Hurricanes re-signed him to a two-year deal.^[24] In his first full season with Carolina, he played all over the forward group, appearing in 78 games and scoring a career-high 13 goals and 36 points. He scored the game-winning goal in Game 1 of the first round matchup between the Hurricanes and the New York Islanders in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs.^[25] The Hurricanes eliminated the Islanders in six games.^[26] The Hurricanes then defeated the New Jersey Devils in five games,^[27] faced the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference finals. Noesen scored in Game 1, which was the sixth-longest game in NHL history.^[28] In Game 4 of the series, Noesen was hurt and left the game with an upper body injury.^[29] The Hurricanes were eliminated by the Panthers in four games.^[30]

After three successful seasons within the Hurricanes organization, Noesen left Carolina as a free agent and was signed to a three-year, $8.25 million contract to return to former club, the New Jersey Devils, on July 1, 2024.^[31]

Noesen married his fiancée Alyson in July 2018.^[32]