Abdelkader played for the junior ice hockey Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the United States Hockey League during his senior year of high school, scoring 27 goals and 52 points and helping the team win the 2004–05 Clark Cup Championship.

On April 3, 2008, Abdelkader signed a one-game amateur tryout with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League and was to play that night against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

[4] Abdelkader scored 24 goals for the Grand Rapids Griffins during the 2008–09 season and was one of the team's best offensive players in the playoffs.

[5] On May 8, 2009, Abdelkader was brought up to the Red Wings as the replacement for Tomáš Kopecký, who sat out Game 5 of the Western Conference semi-finals series against the Anaheim Ducks.

Abdelkader scored his first career NHL goal on May 30, 2009, in Game 1 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

[10] On October 9, 2015, Abdelkader became the second player in Red Wings history to score a hat trick in a season-opening home game, following Adam Brown in 1945.

[14] On February 3, 2021, Abdelkader joined EV Zug of the National League (NL) for the remainder of the 2020–21 season.

[15] He made his debut on February 23, 2021, in a 4–3 overtime victory against Genève-Servette HC at the Patinoire des Vernets.

Abdelkader went on to win the 2021 NL title with EV Zug, recording six goals and three assists in 13 playoff games.

His paternal grandfather, Yusuf Abdul Qadir, anglicized to Joseph Abdelkader, emigrated from Jordan at the age of 19 to Muskegon, Michigan and married a Polish woman named Zuzanna (Susie).

Abdelkader received his Bachelor of Arts in General Management from Michigan State's Eli Broad College of Business on December 18, 2015.

[25] Abdelkader proposed to his longtime girlfriend Julie Leshkevich in November 2016 at the Joe Louis Arena.