Quebec City, QC, CAN

Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)

Weight: 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)

Position: Center

Shoots: Left

NHL team: Colorado Avalanche

Ntl. team:  United States

NHL Draft: 44th overall, 2005

Colorado Avalanche

Playing career: 2006–present

Paul Stastny (born December 27, 1985) is an American professional ice hockey center and alternate captain for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). Of Slovak lineage, Stastny is the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Peter Stastny, who played for the Avalanche's predecessor, the Quebec Nordiques. Paul's older brother Yan has played for the Boston Bruins, the Edmonton Oilers, the St. Louis Blues and the Vancouver Canucks, and his uncles Anton and Marian Stastny both played in the NHL during the 1980s, also for the Nordiques franchise.

Stastny began his junior hockey career with the River City Lancers of the United States Hockey League before moving to the University of Denver Pioneers in 2004. He won the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship in his first season playing for the Pioneers. He remained at the University of Denver for one more season. He signed a contract with the Avalanche before the 2006–07 NHL season, scored 78 points in 82 games in his rookie season and was nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy. In 2007–08 he was named to his first NHL All-Star Game, but did not play because of an appendectomy. As a dual citizen, Stastny has chosen to play for the United States in international hockey competitions, which have included the 2004 Viking Cup, the 2007 IIHF World Championship, and the 2010 Winter Olympics.