Florida Panthers re-sign Keaton Ellerby to one-year deal -NHL Free Agency Update
Florida Panthers are giving 23-year-old defenseman, Keaton Ellerby, another chance to prove himself, this time by playing purely in the National Hockey League (NHL) after both stakeholders signed a one-year, one-way contract on Friday, July 6, 2012.
Drafted as the 10th overall during round-one of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft by Florida, Ellerby has been a part of the Panthers club ever since but has been going back and forth with their minor league affiliates in the American Hockey League (AHL),
the Rochester American.
"Keaton is a young, mobile, hard working defenseman that continues to grow and develop," said Panthers general manager Dale Tallon. "We look forward to his continued contributions to our team both on and off the ice.”
The one-year deal is reportedly worth $787,500, a significant drop from his previous three-year, entry-level contract which had an annual salary cap hit of $1.3 million.
"Give him an opportunity. He can skate, he can play, hopefully he's maturing," Tallon added. "It takes a long time for defensemen, longer than forwards. It takes 300 games before most players become top-notch defensemen. We're very patient."
In a 116 games played in the major league so far, Ellerby has 17 points (2 goals, 15 assists) with an accumulated plus-minus rating of -19 along with 34 minutes in penalty time. He had 22 games played with Florida back in 2009-2010 for zero point while his
second, the 2010-2011, was a breakthrough with two goals and 10 assists in 54 games.
Last season was not that impressive for Ellerby as he had just five assists in 40 games.
"He's got great feet," Tallon stated. "He's able to carry the puck and he's aggressive, he's got size and skating ability. It's just a matter of playing with a little more confidence, that's all."
Native of Strathmore, Alberta, Canada, Keaton Ellerby definitely has the potential to become a high ranked defenseman, if he continues to develop his abilities and unleash them when needed.
Other than that, Florida Panthers have shown their willingness to actually try and get the young defender to prove himself and giving him a one-year deal shows their willingness to do so.
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