Carolina Hurricanes ink first rounder Jeff Skinner
The Carolina Hurricanes announced Tuesday that they have signed Jeff Skinner to a three-year, entry-level contract. Skinner will receive a $270,000 signing bonus and will receive $810,000
per season at the National Hockey League level or $67,500 per year at the minor league level. However, if Skinner does not crack the lineup and spend the season with the Hurricanes in the NHL, he must be re-assigned to his junior club in the Ontario Hockey
League.
The Hurricanes selected Skinner with the seventh overall pick at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and surprised many who felt Skinner would go later in the first round or even possibly the second.
However, the Hurricanes saw things a little differently.
"Jeff was one of the OHL's top forwards last season and really stood out at the prospects tournament in Michigan," said Hurricanes president and GM Jim Rutherford. "He's an exciting, young
player and an important part of the future for the Hurricanes."
Last year with the Kitchener Rangers in the OHL, Skinner finished second in goal-scoring picking up 50 goals in 64 games. He also added 40 assists to finish the regular season with 90
points. Skinner then followed with an impressive playoff performance where he scored 20 goals and collected 33 points in 20 games, leading Kitchener to the OHL final, where they lost to Taylor Hall and the Windsor Spitfires.
The Hurricanes believe that Skinner has a good shot of at starting the season in Carolina and eventually hope that Skinner will one day help shoulder the goal-scoring load with Eric Staal.
The Hurricanes are also taking steps at getting younger and now have a trio of great young forwards with Skinner and other first rounders Brandon Sutter (2007) and Zach Boychuk (2008).
Despite his impressive goal-scoring exploits, there are concerns over Skinner’s size, which was why many scouts and NHL general managers had him rated lower in the draft. The Markham,
Ontario-native is listed at 5ft 10in.
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