Ivan Provorov

He was the third rookie to win the trophy, following Norm Barnes in 1980 and Shayne Gostisbehere in 2016, and was the youngest winner in Flyers history.

Ivan Vladimirovich Provorov (Иван Владимирович Проворов; born 13 January 1997) is a Russian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He previously played in the NHL for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Provorov was born in Yaroslavl, Russia, and played with the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv youth hockey team before moving to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania at the age of 13 to play with the junior Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights.

Provorov was born in Yaroslavl, Russia on 13 January 1997, the oldest of three children born to Venera and Vladimir Provorov.

He learned to ice skate at the age of five, and grew up playing ice hockey with future Penn State skater Nikita Pavlychev, who said that Provorov "was definitely always standing out among the other kids even when we were growing up".

After spending time with the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv youth hockey team, Provorov made the decision to move to North America, with the eventual goal of joining the National Hockey League (NHL).

Provorov moved to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in 2011, at the age of 13, to play for the junior Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights.

He lived with a billet family, and learned English by attending private school and watching English-language films and television, such as Gladiator.

Knights assistant coach Alex Vasko, who recruited Provorov, acted as the player's translator when he first arrived in the US.

In his first season with the Knights, Provorov recorded 61 points in 27 games, and was part of the Tier I 14U national championship team that also included Pavlychev and Daniel Sprong.

The next season, he was moved up to the Knights' midget hockey team, where he recorded 97 points in 51 games.

Provorov was drafted at the age of 16 by the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the United States Hockey League (USHL) in the first round, fifth overall, of the 2013 USHL futures draft.

He played 56 games with the RoughRiders in the 2013-14 season, scoring six goals and 13 assists.

After his rookie season with the RoughRiders, Provorov was selected in two separate amateur drafts.

After two years with the Knights and one with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the United States Hockey League, the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League selected Provorov 30th overall in the 2014 CHL Import Draft.

The Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL) – a subdivision of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) – in the 2014 CHL Import Draft, while Yaroslavl Lokomotiv selected him 120th overall in the 2014 KHL Junior Draft.

Originally, Provorov intended to spend two years with Cedar Rapids before playing college hockey for Penn State or Michigan, but he decided to sign with the Wheat Kings after a conversation with general manager and coach Kelly McCrimmon.

He ranked first among WHL rookies in scoring during the 2014–15 season, with 15 goals and 61 points in 60 games, and was a finalist for the CHL Top Draft Prospect Award.

The Flyers selected Provorov seventh overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, and he signed an entry-level contract with the team that year.

In January 2015, Provorov was invited to the CHL Top Prospects Game, where he played for Team Orr alongside future Philadelphia Flyer Travis Konecny.

The following season, in 2015–16 Provorov was reassigned to the Wheat Kings, who won the Ed Chynoweth Cup but failed to win a single game in the 2016 Memorial Cup.

He finished the 2015–16 season with 21 goals and 73 points in 62 games, and was named both the WHL Defenceman of the Year and the CHL Defenceman of the Year.

Going into the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, the NHL Central Scouting Bureau ranked Provorov seventh among all draft prospects.

He was the second-highest rated defenceman, after Noah Hanifin.

The Philadelphia Flyers selected Provorov seventh overall in the draft, and signed him to an entry-level contract shortly afterwards.

In 2016, the WHL awarded Provorov the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy, given annually to the best defenceman in the league.

Internationally, Provorov has represented Russia at the IIHF World U18 Championship, the IIHF World U20 Championship, and the Ice Hockey World Championships.

Provorov did not miss a game with the Flyers between 2016 and 2022, and holds the franchise's second-longest iron man streak for most consecutive games played, behind only Rod Brind'Amour.

He is a three-time recipient of the Barry Ashbee Trophy for the best Flyers defenceman, and is the youngest recipient in franchise history.

After a strong showing at training camp, Provorov was named to the Flyers' 2016–17 roster on 10 October 2016, where he was paired with veteran defenceman Mark Streit.

He made his NHL debut on 14 October 2016, scoring his first point with an assist in the season opener against the Los Angeles Kings.

He scored his first NHL goal the next month, in the second period of a 4–2 loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning on 23 November.

Provorov finished his rookie season with 30 points (six goals and 24 assists) in 82 games with the Flyers.

In April 2017, Provorov was awarded the Barry Ashbee Trophy, given to the Flyers' best defenceman.

Provorov began the 2017–18 season paired with Andrew MacDonald, but after the latter was placed on the injured reserve list with a lower body injury, Provorov was partnered with Robert Hägg and Shayne Gostisbehere.

He improved upon his scoring from the previous year, recording 41 points (17 goals) in 82 games.

That year, the Flyers made an appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs, where they were eliminated in the first round by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Provorov revealed after the playoff series that he had suffered a separated shoulder prior to Game 6, and had been given painkillers so that he could play in the game.

The injury would not require surgery, but required eight weeks to heal.