Nathan Bastian

Nathan Bastian is a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who is currently an unrestricted free agent. His most recent NHL team was the Dallas Stars. The New Jersey Devils selected him in the second round, 41st overall, in the 2016 NHL entry draft.

Bastian began his junior career in Ontario with the Mississauga Steelheads of the OHL, who picked him in the seventh round of the 2013 OHL priority selection. He started the 2013–14 season with the Brantford 99ers at the midget level, posting 27 points in 29 games, before joining the Steelheads for 21 games. In his first full OHL season (2014–15), he played all 68 games, notching 17 goals and 29 assists, and was named Mississauga’s Hardest Working Player. The following season, he played on the top line, finishing with 19 goals and 40 assists in 64 games, and was selected for the 2016 CHL/NHL Top Prospects game. After the season, NHL Central Scouting ranked him 35th among North American skaters. The Devils drafted him 41st overall in June 2016.

He signed a three-year entry-level contract with New Jersey in October 2016. In 58 games during the 2016–17 season, he recorded 16 goals and 29 assists. In the playoffs, he scored a hat-trick on March 30, 2017, and finished with seven goals and seven assists in 20 games as the Steelheads reached the OHL final, losing to the Erie Otters.

Bastian turned professional in 2017–18, assigned to the Devils’ AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Devils. He scored his first professional goal on a penalty shot in the season opener and finished the year with 10 goals and eight assists in 68 games. The next season, after 43 AHL games, he was recalled to New Jersey on January 19, 2019, making his NHL debut that night against the Anaheim Ducks. He scored his first NHL goal on February 25 in a win over the Montreal Canadiens. He finished his NHL stint that season with three goals in seven games, later returning to Binghamton, where he totaled 18 goals and 24 points in 58 games.

In 2019–20, Bastian again started in the AHL, posting 22 assists and 38 points in 62 games. For the 2020–21 season, he made New Jersey’s opening roster for the first time. After nine games, he was placed on the NHL’s COVID-19 list for 12 days. In March 2021, he suffered a lower-body injury that kept him out week-to-week. After that season, the Seattle Kraken selected him in the 2021 NHL expansion draft.