LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Kings have agreed to terms on a two-year contract extension with defenseman Willie Mitchell, Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi announced today.
Mitchell, 34, has 22 points (8-14=22), 53 penalty minutes and a plus-6 plus/minus rating in 112 career regular season games in Los Angeles after signing as an unrestricted free agent on August 25, 2010. Two of his eight goals with the Kings have served as game-winners. This season, Mitchell has 12 points (3-9=12), 32 penalty minutes and a plus-2 rating in 55 regular season games. Additionally, he leads the Kings in blocked shots (93) and in short-handed time-on-ice average per game (3:36) and he ranks third on the team with an overall time-on-ice average of 21:46 per game.
Mitchell, the 6-3, 208-pound native of Port McNeill, British Columbia, was named the Kings Best Newcomer (Mark Bavis Memorial Award) and he was the Kings nominee for the Masterton Memorial Trophy in 2010-11 while finishing with 10 points (5-5=10) and 21 penalty minutes in 57 regular season games. That same season, he finished third on the team in time-on-ice average per game (21:48) and fifth in blocked shots (85) while setting a career high with five goals. He also finished with a plus-4 rating to give him a positive plus-minus rating for the eighth straight season (plus-97 in that span). In six games with the Kings during the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Mitchell recorded two points (1-1=2) and four penalty minutes while finishing with a plus-1 rating. He also ranked second on the Kings postseason roster in blocked shots (15) and time-on-ice average per game (24:17).
Mitchell, who was originally selected by New Jersey in the eighth-round (199th overall) in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, has 27 goals, 114 assists, 141 points (27-114=141), 674 penalty minutes and a plus-88 rating in 698 career NHL regular season games with the Kings, Canucks, Stars, Wild and Devils. He also has appeared in 51 career postseason games, recording nine points (2-7=9), 54 penalty minutes and a plus-2 rating.
Mitchell recorded 12 points (4-8=12), 48 penalty minutes and a plus-13 rating in 48 regular season games with Vancouver in 2009-10. He also had a time-on-ice average of 22:36 per game which ranked third on the Canucks, and his short-handed time-on-ice average of 4:04 per game led the team.
Mitchell, who was named one of Vancouver’s alternate captains prior to the start of the 2008-09 season, set career-highs for regular season games played (82), assists (20), points (23) and plus/minus rating (plus-29) while also collecting 59 penalty minutes for Vancouver in the 2008-09 campaign, and his plus-29 rating and short-handed time-on-ice average of 4:15 per game led the team. In addition, his time-on-ice average of 22:54 per game ranked second overall on the team, as did his 125 blocked shots. For his efforts, he was named the Canucks “Best Defenseman” for a second consecutive season. Mitchell also skated in 10 postseason games (10 GP, 0-2=2, 22 PIM) during the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs while helping Vancouver advance to the Western Conference Semifinals. His average time-on-ice of 24:12 during the playoffs led the Canucks.
In 2007-08, Mitchell’s second season with the Canucks, the blueliner was voted Vancouver’s “Best Defenseman” after recording 12 points (2-10=12), 81 penalty minutes and a plus-6 rating in 72 regular season games while logging career highs for time-on-ice average per game (23:11) and short-handed time-on-ice average per game (4:24; led the team). That same season, Mitchell led the team with 109 blocked shots.
Mitchell signed with Vancouver as a free agent in July of 2006, and he totaled 11 points (1-10=11), 45 penalty minutes and a plus-1 rating in 62 regular season games during the 2006-07 season. He also led the team with 121 blocked shots and a short-handed time-on-ice average of 4:57 per game (third in the league). In the playoffs that year, Mitchell had one assist and 12 penalty minutes in 12 games to go along with a time-on-ice average of 27:13 per game and a short-handed time-on-ice average of 5:19 per game (led the team).
In 2005-06, Mitchell suited up for both Dallas and Minnesota, totaling 10 points (2-8=10), a career-high 113 penalty minutes and a plus-19 rating in 80 regular season games. He had eight points (2-6=8), 87 penalty minutes and a plus-15 rating in 64 regular season games with Minnesota – and in December of 2005 he was named captain as the Wild (Minnesota had a monthly rotating captaincy). He later was traded to Dallas along with Minnesota’s second-round choice in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft (Nico Saccheti) for Martin Skoula and Shawn Belle on March 9, 2006. In 16 regular season games with Dallas, Mitchell collected two assists, 26 penalty minutes and a plus-4 rating. In five postseason games with the Stars, he went scoreless with two penalty minutes.
Mitchell spent three full seasons with the Wild after being traded to Minnesota from New Jersey for Sean O’Donnell on March 4, 2001. In 2003-04, he totaled 14 points (1-13=14), 83 penalty minutes and a plus-12 rating in 70 regular season games while logging an average of 22:35 of ice time per game (second on the team). In 2002-03, he totaled 14 points (2-12=14), 84 penalty minutes and a plus-13 rating in 69 regular season games before he and the Wild advanced to the Western Conference Finals. During the 2003 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Mitchell collected four points (1-3=4), 14 penalty minutes and a plus-5 rating in 18 postseason games. In 2001-02, he recorded 13 points (3-10=13) and 68 penalty minutes in 68 regular season games with the Wild.
During the 2000-01 season, Mitchell began play with the Devils (16 GP, 0-2=2, 29 PIM) before he was acquired by the Wild (17 GP, 1-7=8, 11 PIM, Plus-4). His totals that season included 10 points (1-9=10), 40 penalty minutes and a plus-4 rating in 33 regular season games. Mitchell made his NHL debut with the Devils in 1999-00, going scoreless with zero penalty minutes in two regular season games.
On the International stage, Mitchell suited up for his native Canada at the 2004 World Championships where he was a member of the gold-medal winning team (9 GP, 0-0=0, 0 PIM).
Prior to embarking on his NHL career, Mitchell, an avid fisherman, played two seasons with Clarkson University (NCAA) where he was named to the NCAA East Second All-American Team in 1999 and ECAC Rookie of the year in 1998 (co-winner with Eric Cole). He also appeared on the roster of the Albany River Rats (AHL) in 1998-99, 1999-00 and 2000-01 before becoming a full-timer in the NHL.
