text: ryan ellis ryan ellis ( born january 3 , 1991 ) is a canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the nashville predators of the national hockey league ( nhl ) . after his second season in the ontario hockey league ( ohl ) , ellis was selected 11th overall by the predators in the 2009 nhl entry draft . during his junior career , he was key in guiding the windsor spitfires to back - to - back memorial cups as canadian hockey league ( chl ) champions in 2009 and 2010 . individually , he was named to the chl and ohl all - rookie teams in 2008 , the first ohl all - star team in 2009 and 2011 and the second ohl all - star team in 2010 . he was awarded the ohl 's bobby smith trophy as the league 's scholastic player of the year in 2008 , the max kaminsky trophy as the top defenceman in 2009 and 2011 and the red tilson trophy as the most outstanding player in 2011 . on a national basis , he was named chl defenceman and player of the year in 2011 . serving as the spitfires ' team captain in 2010 – 11 , he became the franchise 's all - time leading point - scorer among defencemen . ellis began his international career with canada by winning three gold medals in 2008 at the world u17 hockey challenge , iihf world u18 championship and ivan hlinka memorial tournament . at the under - 20 level , ellis has made three appearances at the world junior championships , winning gold in 2009 and silver in 2010 and 2011 . he is the tournament 's all - time leading scorer among defencemen and canada 's all - time assists leader . he also won gold with team canada at the 2016 world championships . playing career minor ellis played minor hockey throughout ontario , beginning with a club from belmont , ontario , at age four . playing for teams from missisauga , he won a silver and gold medals at the peewee and bantam provincials , respectively . joining the cambridge hawks at the midget level , he won an ontario alliance championship with the club in 2007 . junior ellis was selected in the second round , 22nd overall , by the windsor spitfires in the 2007 ontario hockey league ( ohl ) draft . establishing himself as a top defencemen in the league during his rookie campaign , he scored 15 goals and 63 points over 63 games . his points total and + 30 plus - minus rating led all ohl rookie defencemen . in the 2008 playoffs , ellis added five points in five games as the spitfires were eliminated by the sarnia sting . he was named to the canadian hockey league ( chl ) and ohl all - rookie teams , along with spitfires teammate taylor hall . ellis was further recognized for his academic performance , maintaining an 81 percent average in university preparation courses at st. anne catholic high school in belle river , earning him the league 's bobby smith trophy as scholastic player of the year . he received the award over fellow nominee steven stamkos of the sting , who had won it the previous year . ellis was named ohl defenceman of the month for october 2008 the following season . he earned the distinction twice more over the course of the campaign in february and march 2009 . on november 3 , he was chosen as ohl player of the week , having scored seven points in the previous two games . ellis his second such distinction on april 20 , 2009 , registering two goals and five assists in three games . during the season , he represented the ohl in the 2008 adt canada - russia challenge . he also competed for the western conference at the 2009 ohl all - star classic participated in the 2009 chl top prospects game . improving to 22 goals , 67 assists and 89 points in 57 games in 2008 – 09 , ellis led all ohl defencemen and finished second in team scoring to taylor hall . he ranked first in the league in assists , seventh in points and second in plus - minus rating ( + 52 ) . as a result , ellis was named to the ohl first all - star team and awarded the max kaminsky trophy , beating fellow nominees p. k. subban and cameron as the league 's top defenceman . the distinction made him a finalist for chl defenceman of the year , but he lost to jonathon blum of the western hockey league ( whl ) ' s vancouver giants . ellis was additionally voted the smartest player , hardest shot and best offensive defenceman in the western conference in an annual poll of ohl coaches . ellis later cited the smartest player selection as his most rewarding recognition to that date . windsor entered the 2009 ohl playoffs as the top - ranked team in the west . ellis added 31 points in 20 games , tying for third in post - season scoring while helping the spitfires to a j. ross robertson cup as ohl champions . earning a berth in the 2009 memorial cup , the spitfires went on to win the national major junior championship over the kelowna rockets . ellis recorded four points in six games to be named to the tournament all - star team . going into the 2009 nhl entry draft , he was listed by the nhl central scouting bureau as the 16th best prospect ( fifth among defencemen ) in north america . he was selected in the first round , 11th overall , by the nashville predators . standing at 5 feet and 9 inches ( 1 . 75 metres ) , he was considered small for a defenceman . addressing this supposed weakness , hall of fame defenceman bobby orr said of him , " he 's not very big , but you 'll see ... he 's a heck of a hockey player . " ellis has publicly discredited any size concerns , alluding to his ability to play physically in spite of it . he has been compared to detroit red wings defenceman brian rafalski for his success as a small , offensive defenceman . ellis subsequently attended his first nhl training camp with nashville in september 2009 , but was returned to windsor after suffering a wrist injury . as a result , he missed ten games with the spitfires , making his season debut in early - november . struggling offensively upon recovering , he focused on improving his defensive and physical play . finishing the season with 61 points over 48 games in 2009 – 10 , he ranked fourth among league defencemen in point - scoring and was named to the ohl second all - star team . windsor defended both their ohl and memorial cup championships in the ensuing post - season . ellis scored 33 points over 19 games in the ohl playoffs , tying with jeff skinner for second in ohl scoring , behind taylor hall . windsor beat the barrie colts in the ohl finals before defeating the brandon wheat kings 9 – 1 in the memorial cup final . ellis recorded three assists in the national championship game . attending his second predators training camp , he was again returned to junior for the 2010 – 11 season . upon his return to windsor , he was named team captain . after recording five goals and 17 points in november 2010 , he was named ohl defenceman of the month . during the month , he surpassed joel quenneville as the spitfires ' all - time leading scorer among defencemen . he scored the game - winning goal in overtime against the london knights on november 10 for his record - setting 230th career point with windsor . ellis was honoured in a pre - game ceremony on november 26 for the feat ; the game that night against the oshawa generals was billed as " ryan ellis night . " also in november , ellis served as captain for team ohl in the 2010 subway super series against russia . several months later , he recorded his 300th career ohl point on february 25 , 2011 . registering three assists in a 4 – 2 win against the sault ste . marie greyhounds , he became the third defenceman in ohl history to reach the mark , following denis potvin ( 330 points , 1968 – 73 ) and rick ( 329 points , 1987 – 92 ) . he completed the season with 313 points all - time . his single - season total of 100 points ( 24 goals and 76 assists ) established a career - high while leading all ohl defencemen by a 21 - point margin . it was the first time in over 17 years that an ohl defenceman scored 100 points in a season . among all ohl skaters , he ranked fifth overall . after winning his second max kaminsky trophy and first red tilson trophy as the ohl 's most outstanding defenceman and player , respectively , he was further distinguished as chl defenceman and player of the year . ellis beat out simon and stefan elliott for the former recognition , while being voted over sean and darcy for the latter . it was the first time a player won both awards since bryan fogarty did so 22 years prior . professional on january 7 , 2012 , ellis scored his first nhl goal with the predators in a game against the carolina hurricanes on goaltender justin peters . international play ellis made his debut with hockey canada at the 2008 world u17 hockey challenge , representing ontario , the tournament 's host province . he scored his first international goal against team pacific on december 29 , 2007 , a game in which he was also chosen as ontario 's best player . team ontario won eight straight games as they won the tournament . with nine points in eight games , ellis was the tournament 's leading defenceman and was named to the all - star team , along with ontario teammate matt duchene . later that year , ellis was named to canada 's team for the 2008 iihf world u18 championships in russia . leading his team in shots on goal , he helped canada to a gold medal , defeating russia 8 – 0 in the final . he recorded a goal and an assist in the championship victory . finishing with three goals and seven points , he was the tournament 's leading defenceman . four months later , he re - joined the national under - 18 team for the 2008 ivan hlinka memorial tournament , held in slovakia and the czech republic . ellis led all team defencemen in scoring with five points ( a goal and four assists ) , helping canada go undefeated in four games . they defeated russia 6 – 3 in the final to capture the gold medal . moving on to the canada 's under - 20 team , he made his first of three world junior championship appearances in 2009 . named to the team at 17 years old , he was one of three draft - eligible players on the club with john tavares and evander kane . head coach pat quinn had coached ellis previously at the world u18 championships . he selected ellis to the team as the eighth defencemen , instead of choosing a traditional 13th forward , because of his abilities on the power play . in the semifinal against russia , ellis was instrumental in tying the game with five seconds remaining in regulation . twice , he preventing the puck from being cleared out of the offensive zone , which allowed a play to develop that resulted in jordan eberle 's game - tying goal . canada beat russia in a shootout before defeating sweden in the final to win gold . ellis scored seven points over six games to finish fourth among tournament defencemen in scoring . it also set a canadian record for most points by a 17 - year - old defenceman . the following year , ellis returned for the 2010 world junior championships in saskatchewan . canada went undefeated in the tournament until the gold medal game , where they lost to the united states in overtime . the defeat ended canada 's five - year gold medal streak at the world juniors and marked the first time ellis competed in an international competition without winning gold . he finished with eight points over six games , ranking second among tournament defencemen behind teammate alex pietrangelo . as a two - time veteran of canada 's junior team , ellis opted not to attend their annual summer evaluation camp . in december 2010 , he was named to the squad as one of four returning players for the 2011 world junior championships , held in buffalo , new york . ellis became the seventh player in canadian history to play three times in the tournament . he was later chosen as team captain . ellis began the tournament tied with pietrangelo as the country 's all - time top - scoring defenceman at the world juniors . by scoring a goal in the opening game against russia , a 6 – 3 win for canada , he broke the tie to take the all - time scoring lead among canadian defencemen . later in the tournament , ellis recorded three assists in a game against norway , making him the world juniors ' all - time leading scorer among defencemen , passing finnish defenceman reijo 's mark of 21 points . in the quarterfinal , he assisted on a goal against switzerland to break eric lindros 's 19 - assist record as canada 's all - time leader at the tournament . playing russia in the gold medal game , ellis scored the opening goal in a 5 – 3 losing effort , earning silver for the second consecutive year . finishing the tournament with three goals and ten points to lead all blueliners , he earned best defenceman and all - star team honours . he was additionally voted by tournament coaches as one of canada 's best three players . with 25 points over three years at the tournament , he tied jordan eberle as canada 's second - best scorer of all - time , behind lindros ' 31 points . ellis was a late addition to team canada at the 2016 world championships , joining the team in mid - tournament after nashville was knocked out of the nhl playoffs ; the team went on to win the gold medal . playing style ellis is an offensive defenceman . a fast skater and skilled stickhandler , he is capable of manoeuvring the puck up the ice from the defensive zone . known as a power play specialist , he often " quarterbacks " from the blueline — controlling puck distribution between teammates in the offensive zone — and possesses a hard and accurate shot . he is also a physical player , though he is undersized as a defenceman at 5 feet and 9 inches ( 1 . 75 metres ) . he is able to compensate for his lack of overpowering strength with good defensive positioning and active stick - checking . personal life ellis was born in , ontario , to parents jim and mary lou . he has one sister , erica . he went to tall pines school . moving away from home for his junior career , he attended st. anne high school . in february 2010 , ellis was selected as his hometown hamilton / burlington area 's 2009 golden horseshoe athlete of the year , beating out college quarterback danny and marathon runner reid . career statistics regular season and playoffs international awards and honours junior international records windsor spitfires ' all - time leading point - scorer , defencemen ( surpassed joel quenneville , 229 points ) ; world junior championships ' all - time leading point - scorer , defencemen – 25 ( surpassed reijo , 21 points ) ; canadian national junior team 's all - time leading assist - scorer – 20 ( surpassed eric lindros , 19 assists ) .