Kristers Gudļevskis

Lore & Background

Gudļevskis began his professional career in the 2009–10 season with HK Ogre of the Latvian Hockey League. He later played for HK Rīga of the MHL and made his debut for Dinamo Riga in the KHL on 5 October 2012. After being drafted by the Lightning, he signed a three-year entry-level contract and was assigned to the ECHL's Florida Everblades. He made his AHL debut with the Syracuse Crunch on 26 October 2013, recording a shutout, and was named CCM/AHL Player of the Week on 15 January 2014.

Gudļevskis made his NHL debut on 11 April 2014, stopping 36 shots in a 3–2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. He appeared in the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs as a replacement for Lindbäck. In the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals, he served as backup to Andrei Vasilevskiy in game four. After the 2015–16 season, he re-signed with the Lightning on a one-year, two-way contract. He was traded to the New York Islanders on 1 July 2017 in exchange for Carter Verhaeghe, and spent the 2017–18 season with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

Gudļevskis returned to Europe in 2018, signing with Dinamo Riga. He later played for Fischtown Pinguins, EC VSV, HC Slovan Bratislava, Brynäs IF, and Modo Hockey, helping Modo win the HockeyAllsvenskan title and promotion to the SHL. He returned to Fischtown Pinguins on a two-year contract in 2023, and with them became vice-champion of the DEL in 2024.

Reader's Guide

Gudļevskis is historically significant as the only player to have competed in the ECHL, AHL, NHL, Olympic Games, and IIHF World Championships within a single season (2013–14). He is the second Latvian goaltender ever selected in the NHL entry draft, after Artūrs Irbe, and the highest-drafted Latvian goaltender. His performance for Latvia at the 2014 Winter Olympics, where he saved 55 of 57 shots in a 2–1 quarterfinal loss to Canada, drew widespread attention. He was also part of Latvia's bronze medal-winning team at the 2023 IIHF World Championship, though he did not play. His career spans multiple European leagues and North American minor leagues, reflecting a journeyman path that includes a Stanley Cup Finals appearance as a backup. His 2013–14 season remains a unique achievement in hockey history.

Did You Know?

• Gudļevskis is the only player to have played in the ECHL, AHL, NHL, Olympic Games, and IIHF World Championships in the same season (2013–14).
• He helped Modo Hockey win the HockeyAllsvenskan title and promotion to the SHL in the 2022–23 season.

The Unprecedented Multi-League Season

Few athletes in the history of professional ice hockey can claim what Kristers Gudļevskis accomplished during a single competitive cycle. The Latvian-born goaltender, who broke into professional hockey with HK Ogre before spending three seasons developing at HK Rīga, became the only player ever to appear in the ECHL, the AHL, the NHL, the Olympic Games, and the IIHF World Championships all within the same season. His route to that distinction was anything but straightforward. After making his debut for Dinamo Riga in a dramatic overtime victory over Vityaz Chekhov in October 2012, Gudļevskis was selected 124th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2013 NHL entry draft. The following campaign, injuries to teammates Ben Bishop and Anders Lindbäck created an emergency call-up window, while a starting assignment at the World Championship and a roster spot in Sochi completed an extraordinary circuit that no other netminder has matched.

Tampa Bay Lightning: From Call-Up to Cup Finals

Gudļevskis's five seasons within the Tampa Bay Lightning organization were defined by a constant tug-of-war between the ECHL, the AHL, and the NHL. After signing a three-year entry-level deal, he bounced between the Florida Everblades and the Syracuse Crunch, eventually earning a firm spot on the Crunch roster after posting ten wins in twenty-one games and being named the CCM/AHL Player of the Week in January 2014. His NHL debut arrived in April 2014, when he stopped thirty-six shots in a three-to-two win over Columbus, and he entered the playoffs by replacing Anders Lindbäck mid-game against Montreal. The following spring he found himself in the Stanley Cup Finals as backup to Andrei Vasilevskiy after Ben Bishop went down. His second and final regular-season NHL appearance came in October 2015 against Chicago, where thirty-one saves could not prevent a one-goal overtime loss to a Jonathan Toews backhand. After a solid 2015–16 AHL campaign with a two-point-eight-three goals-against average, he was traded to the New York Islanders in July 2017 in exchange for Carter Verhaeghe.

The European Odyssey and a Resurgent Finale

By the end of five North American seasons, Gudļevskis's NHL trajectory had plateaued, and he chose to return to his homeland. A one-year contract with Dinamo Riga in the KHL proved short-lived; he was released after just nine appearances in the 2018–19 season. What followed was a remarkable nomadic stretch across European leagues. He signed with the Fischtown Pinguins of the DEL in late 2019, then moved to EC VSV in the ICE Hockey League, HC Slovan Bratislava in the Slovak Extraliga, and Brynäs IF in Sweden's top flight during the 2021–22 campaign. His most impressive chapter came with Modo Hockey in the HockeyAllsvenskan, where a one-point-eight-eight goals-against average over thirty-nine games helped lead the club to the league title and promotion to the SHL. Capitalizing on that momentum, Gudļevskis re-signed with the Fischtown Pinguins on a two-year deal in May 2023. In 2024, he reached the DEL championship game with the Pinguins, ultimately falling short to claim the vice-champion title.

International Duty and a Latvian Legacy

Gudļevskis's contributions to Latvian national hockey extend well beyond his club career. He stepped into the starting role at the 2013 IIHF World Championship when original goaltender Edgars Masaļskis failed to recover from injury, and despite a two-win, two-loss record, he was recognized as one of the tournament's three best players for Team Latvia. That performance earned him a place on the Sochi 2014 Olympic roster, where Latvia entered the qualification playoff as one of the lowest seeds, having collected no points in group play. On the draft board, Gudļevskis holds a unique place in Latvian hockey history: he is only the second Latvian goaltender ever selected in the NHL entry draft, following Artūrs Irbe, and the highest-ranked one. His unprecedented multi-league season, his emergency NHL call-ups, and his role in the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals collectively cemented his status as one of the most versatile and resilient goalies to emerge from Latvia's small hockey nation.