Daniel Sprong

Lore & Background

Daniel Sprong began playing hockey as a young child in Amsterdam, often competing against players much older due to the lack of a developed hockey program in the Netherlands. His family moved to L'Île-Bizard, Quebec, in 2005 when he was eight years old to further his hockey development. He played in the Quebec minor hockey system and set a scoring record in the Quebec Midget Espoir AA league with 104 points in 30 games before being drafted by the Charlottetown Islanders of the QMJHL.

Sprong was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round of the 2015 NHL entry draft and made the opening night roster immediately, becoming the first second-round-or-later pick to do so since Brandon Saad in 2011. He played parts of four seasons with Pittsburgh and their AHL affiliate before being traded to the Anaheim Ducks in 2018. Over the following years, he also played for the Washington Capitals, Seattle Kraken, Detroit Red Wings, and Vancouver Canucks, with a career-high 46 points in 66 games during the 2022–23 season with the Kraken.

After the 2024–25 NHL season, Sprong left North America and signed with CSKA Moscow of the KHL. Despite scoring 31 points in 29 games, he was a healthy scratch for an entire month before being traded midseason to Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg.

Reader's Guide

Daniel Sprong's tenure with the Detroit Red Wings was brief but productive: he signed a one-year, $2 million contract on July 1, 2023, and recorded 18 goals and 25 assists in 76 games during the 2023–24 season. His time in Detroit was part of a journeyman NHL career that saw him play for six different NHL organizations. Sprong's offensive ability was consistently evident—he posted a career-high 46 points with the Kraken in 2022–23 and later scored 25 points in just 19 AHL games with Coachella Valley in 2025—but he often struggled to secure a consistent role, as seen when he was placed on waivers by the Kraken in January 2025 after only 2 points in 10 games. His move to the KHL in 2025 marked the end of his North American career, and his unusual situation with CSKA Moscow—being a healthy scratch despite high scoring—highlighted the complexities of his professional path. Sprong remains a Dutch citizen and has applied for Canadian citizenship, but as of 2022 had not received it, and he has declined to play for the Dutch national team in hopes of remaining eligible for Canada.

Did You Know?

• Sprong is the third NHL player born in the Netherlands, after Ed Kea and Ed Beers.
• He set the Quebec Midget Espoir AA league scoring record with 104 points in 30 games.
• Sprong was a healthy scratch for an entire month with CSKA Moscow despite scoring 31 points in 29 games.
• He moved from the Netherlands to Canada at age eight to further his hockey career.