Kailer Yamamoto is an American ice hockey player born in 1998 to Russell Yamamoto and LeAnn Yamamoto.
Yamamoto currently plays as a right winger for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL).
After a successful training camp with the Oilers, he made his NHL debut in the 2017-18 season.
He recorded his first NHL goal on October 18, 2018, in a match against the Boston Bruins.
He has also represented Team USA in international tournaments like the 2016 IIHF U18 World Championship and the 2018 World Junior Championships, winning bronze in both.
Yamamoto was a member of America’s under-20 squad which won bronze in the 2018 World Junior Championships in Buffalo, New York.
Kailer Yamamoto Parents: Leann & Russell Yamamoto
Kailer Yamamoto was born on September 29, 1998, in Spokane, Washington, to his parents, Russell Yamamoto and LeAnn Yamamoto.
Russell was born and raised in Spokane, Washington, and is of mixed ethnicity; half-Japanese and half-Hawaiian. He is an ice hockey coach.
Likewise, Kailer’s mother, LeAnn, currently works as the TDM Manager in Spokane County, Washington.
Yamamoto’s paternal great-grandfather was a Japanese who immigrated to Hawaii. Afterward, they moved to Washington, where his grandfather was born.
Kailer grew up with his brother Keanu Yamamoto, a professional ice hockey player.
However, he has kept his private life out of the media.
Yamamoto’s Career & Achievements
Yamamoto represented the Los Angeles Selects minor ice hockey club in the 2011 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament.
He eventually played for the Tier 1 Elite Hockey League’s Los Angeles Jr. Kings. Yamamoto scored 40 points in 34 games. Afterward, he played in the Western Hockey League.
Yamamoto was drafted into the WHL Bantam Draft in 2013 by his hometown team, the Spokane Chiefs. He was later selected in the first round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
Yamamoto joined the Oilers’ 25-man roster at the start of the 2018-19 NHL season. On October 18, he scored his first goal in the NHL in his 3–2 overtime win over the Boston Bruins.
Yamamoto avoided arbitration with the Oilers after re-signing to a two-year, $3.1 million contract as a restricted free agent on August 4, 2022.
In the 2022-2023 playoffs, he participated in 6 games, scoring 1 goal and 1 assist for 2 goals with -1 plus/minus points.
Throughout his NHL career, he has appeared in 244 games, scoring 50 goals and providing 68 assists for 118 points and 29 plus/minus ratings.
While the club was on a road trip, Yamamoto was ordered back to Edmonton for an injury reevaluation on November 10, 2022. He missed 7 games due to an unexplained ailment.
On January 17, 2023, he was placed on long-term injured reserve once again.
