William Kevin Acton (born July 16, 1987) is an American-born Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played with the Edmonton Oilers in the National Hockey League (NHL).
| Will Acton | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Acton at the 2014 Edmonton Oilers training camp | |||
| Born |
July 16, 1987 Edina, Minnesota, U.S. | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) | ||
| Weight | 202 lb (92 kg; 14 st 6 lb) | ||
| Position | Centre | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
Edmonton Oilers Schwenninger Wild Wings Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers | ||
| NHL draft | Undrafted | ||
| Playing career | 2011–2020 | ||
Playing career
editActon attended Lake Superior State University where he played four seasons of NCAA hockey with Lakers where he scored 77 points and registered 132 penalty minutes in 144 games played.
In March 2011, the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League (AHL) signed Acton to an amateur tryout contract[1] to begin his professional career.
On July 5, 2013, the Edmonton Oilers signed Acton as a free agent to a two-year, two-way contract.[2]
Acton started the 2013–14 season on the Oilers' NHL roster, and scored his first NHL goal on October 14, 2013, against Braden Holtby of the Washington Capitals. He would split the season between the Oilers, and AHL affiliate the Oklahoma City Barons.
In the 2014–15 season, Acton appeared in 3 games with the Oilers before on November 20, 2014, he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks, in exchange for center Kellan Lain.[3] Acton was immediately assigned to the Canucks AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets for the remainder of the season.
As an un-signed free agent over the summer on September 28, 2015, Acton accepted a European offer in agreeing to a one-year deal with the German club, Schwenninger Wild Wings of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).[4] Acton led the Wild Wings in total points with 55 (16 goals, 39 assists) in 46 games, which ranked him third in the DEL regular season.[5]
After captaining the Wild Wings in the 2017–18 season, Acton left after his contract to sign a three-year deal with fellow DEL club, the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers, on April 26, 2018.[6]
Personal
editActon was born in Edina, Minnesota, but grew up in Whitchurch–Stouffville, Ontario. His father, Keith, was playing for the Minnesota North Stars at his time of birth.
His father also played hockey professionally with the Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals and New York Islanders over a 17-year playing career, winning a Stanley Cup in 1988 as a member of the Oilers. Keith previously held the role of Associate Coach to Dallas Eakins, the former Oilers head coach and former head coach of the Toronto Marlies.
Career statistics
edit| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ice hockey | ||
Representing  Canada East
| ||
| World Junior A Challenge | ||
 |
2006 Yorkton | |
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2003–04 | Stouffville Spirit | OPJHL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Stouffville Spirit | OPJHL | 41 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Stouffville Spirit | OPJHL | 48 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Stouffville Spirit | OPJHL | 33 | 16 | 13 | 29 | 63 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Lake Superior State U. | CCHA | 36 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Lake Superior State U. | CCHA | 38 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 53 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Lake Superior State U. | CCHA | 36 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 39 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Lake Superior State U. | CCHA | 34 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Reading Royals | ECHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Toronto Marlies | AHL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Toronto Marlies | AHL | 69 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 58 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 2012–13 | Toronto Marlies | AHL | 67 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 60 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 12 | ||
| 2013–14 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 30 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Oklahoma City Barons | AHL | 47 | 12 | 11 | 23 | 74 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Oklahoma City Barons | AHL | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Utica Comets | AHL | 45 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 26 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 2015–16 | Schwenninger Wild Wings | DEL | 46 | 16 | 39 | 55 | 67 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | Schwenninger Wild Wings | DEL | 52 | 16 | 28 | 44 | 55 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Schwenninger Wild Wings | DEL | 51 | 18 | 30 | 48 | 30 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19 | Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers | DEL | 52 | 12 | 23 | 35 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2019–20 | Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers | DEL | 52 | 9 | 24 | 33 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 33 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
References
edit- ^ "Acton follows Gysbers to Marlies". Yorkton Region. March 24, 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2011.
- ^ "NHL free agent frenzy end-to-end excitement: Cox". Toronto Star. July 5, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
- ^ "Edmonton Oilers trade Will Acton to Vancouver Canucks for Kellan Lain". Edmonton Journal. November 20, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
- ^ "Will Acton comes to Schwenninger" (in German). Schwenninger Wild Wings. September 28, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
- ^ "Alle DEL-Statistiken - DEL.org". www.del.org. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
- ^ "Ice Tigers pick up top forward Will Acton" (in German). Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers. April 26, 2018. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
External links
edit- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database