Carsen Twarynski

Playing career

Growing up in Alberta, Twarynski started out with Calgary’s Bow Valley Hockey Association before moving to the Blackfoot Chiefs Minor Hockey Association at the Pee-Wee level for two years. He then played for the Calgary Bantam AAA Blackhawks and the Calgary Bantam AAA Bisons. After going undrafted in the WHL bantam draft, he spent a season with the Okotoks Oilers of the AJHL and the Calgary Buffaloes of the AMHL. At age 16, he signed with the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL. He scored his first WHL goal on September 29, 2014, in a 9–2 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. In his first draft-eligible year, he put up 20 goals and 45 points, calling himself a two-way power forward. That play earned him a selection by the Philadelphia Flyers with the 82nd overall pick in the 2016 NHL draft. After two seasons with the Hitmen, he was traded to the Kelowna Rockets on January 9, 2017, in exchange for Jake Kryski. Twarynski later said the move was a good one and that Kelowna worked out best for him. Following that season, he joined the Flyers’ AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, but was sent back to major junior early in the 2017–18 season. He ended his major junior career by signing an entry-level contract with the Flyers on March 11, 2018. After attending the Flyers’ 2018–19 training camp, he was assigned to the Phantoms to start the season. He made his NHL debut on October 4, 2019, in Prague, Czech Republic, as part of the NHL Global Series. He played most of the 2019–20 season with the Phantoms and was invited to the Flyers’ training camp for the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs but did not make the roster. On July 21, 2021, the Seattle Kraken selected him from the Flyers in the NHL expansion draft.