Pierre-Edouard Bellemare

BIOGRAPHY

Pierre-Édouard Bellemare was born March 6, 1985, in Le Blanc-Mesnil, France. He is a center in the NHL.

Having recorded 125 points in 238 career regular season games, Bellemare left the SHL after 5 seasons. Opting to pursue a career in the NHL, Bellemare signed his first North American contract as a 29-year old free agent with the Philadelphia Flyers, agreeing to a one-year, two-way contract on 11 June 2014.

After attending the Flyers' 2014 training camp, Bellemare made the opening night roster to begin the 2014–15 season. He made his NHL debut in a fourth-line center role, against the Boston Bruins on 8 October 2014. He scored his first NHL goal on 22 October, in a victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Later in his rookie season (although not technically a rookie due to his age), Bellemare's experience and dependable defensive play was rewarded when he signed a two-year contract extension with the club on 2 March 2015. He appeared in 81 regular season games with the Flyers, missing just one game, posting 6 goals and 12 points.

Returning for the second year of his contract with the Avalanche in the pandemic delayed 2020–21 season, Bellemare resumed his role on the fourth-line and was relied upon for his faceoff prowess in winning 60% of his draws. He appeared in his 500th NHL game on 1 May 2021, against the San Jose Sharks, becoming just the second French trained player behind Antoine Roussel to achieve the feat. Matching his previous season high of 9 goals, Bellemare featured in 53 of the 56 regular season games for the Presidents' Trophy winning Avalanche.

Bellemare signed a two-year, $2 million contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning on July 28, 2021.