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Jack Skille

Minor Transactions: 10/26/20

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While NHL teams continue to fill out their rosters and prepare for the 2020-21 season, minor and European leagues also are working on new contracts. We’ll keep track of some of the newsworthy minor transactions right here:

  • San Jose Sharks prospect Artemi Kniazev has signed a deal with Ak Bars in the KHL for the upcoming season, giving him a place to play as he continues his development. The 19-year-old defenseman was selected 48th overall in 2019 and has spent the last two seasons in the QMJHL. Kniazev signed his entry-level contract with the Sharks just a few weeks after he was drafted but it won’t kick in until next season given his age.
  • Former NHL forward Jack Skille has found a new home, signing with EC Salzburg in the Austrian ICEHL. Skille played 55 games for the Vancouver Canucks in 2016-17 but has bounced around the globe the last several seasons, suiting up in the KHL, NLA and DEL.
  • Phil Varone has officially signed his KHL contract, a one-year deal with Barys Nur-Sultan that was reported by his agent a few days ago. Varone has 97 games of NHL experience, most recently playing in 2018-19 with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Jack Skille To Attend Ottawa Senators Training Camp

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The Ottawa Senators released their training camp roster today, and while it contained most of the expected names—including Erik Karlsson despite continuing rumors of his trade availability—there was one that stood out. Jack Skille, veteran of 368 NHL contests, will join the Senators camp on a professional tryout in hopes of another chance in North America.

Skille, 31, played in the KHL last season where he recorded 25 points in 41 games. The seventh-overall pick from 2005 last played in the NHL for the Vancouver Canucks in 2016-17, and has also suited up for the Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers and Chicago Blackhawks during his career. Once a top prospect, Skille now represents a potential depth option for the Senators at the bottom of their lineup.

Perhaps one of the “new” players that owner Eugene Melnyk was talking about, Skille could actually represent a fine veteran option for a team in the midst of a rebuild. Though he’s shown very little offensive upside at the NHL level, he obviously possesses enough skill to play in the league and actually posted positive possession numbers in his small sample with Vancouver. Ottawa is looking for bodies to fill up the lineup as they sell off expiring assets, and Skille could earn himself a short-term contract.

Jack Skille Expected To Sign In KHL

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Running out of time to find an NHL contract before the puck drops on the 2017-18 season, another veteran has taken the quiet off-season as a sign to move on. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that free agent forward Jack Skille is expected to sign with Dinamo Minsk of the KHL in the coming days. The 30-year-old’s decision to continue his career overseas comes a decade after making his NHL debut in 2007.

Skille was selected #7 overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2005 and made the jump to the NHL two years later after a short stint with the University of Wisconsin. Although Skille has never lived up to his draft slot, the two-way winger has nevertheless found an NHL contract in each of the last ten seasons. After three seasons in Chicago, spent mostly with the AHL’s Rockford Ice Hogs, Skille was traded to the Florida Panthers in 2011 and there developed into a bona fide NHLer. Skille has only played in 22 AHL games since his trade to Florida, instead spending parts of three seasons with the Panthers, two seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and most recently a year apiece with the Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks. Through 368 NHL games, Skille registered 84 points, including a career-high eight goals with the Avs just two years ago, but made his name not by his offense, but by his grit and toughness, his ability to win battles along the boards, and his quickness and tendency to always be in position to make a defensive play. Skille’s impressive ability to find an NHL gig as a reliable depth player is over for now, but may not be over for good, depending on his play in Europe.

With Minsk, Skille steps into a position where he will be relied on more for offense than any other time in his pro career and could also fill a leadership role. He also won’t be alone in Belarus though; he joins a squad with several NHL veterans such as Rob Klinkhammer, Quinton Howden, Justin Fontaine, Marc-Andre Gragnani, and new starting goalie Jhonas Enroth. The team is set to make some moves this season and Skille adds yet another talented contributor to the mix. If Minsk makes a leap up the standings in 2017-18 with Skille leading the charge in all three zones, there is little doubt that he will again draw interest from NHL teams next summer and beyond as a dependable and versatile depth option.

Canucks Sign Jack Skille

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Jack Skille’s tryout with the Canucks has proven to be a successful one as the team announced on Thursday that they have signed the right winger to a one year, one-way contract.  The deal will pay him $700K.

Skille played in 74 games with Colorado last season, scoring six goals and added eight assists while averaging just 8:50 of ice time per contest. The former first round pick of the Blackhawks (7th overall) in 2005, Skille has yet to make his mark in the NHL and has bounced around in recent years, playing for three different teams since the last lockout. In his career, he has 38 goals and 37 assists in 313 games over nine NHL seasons.

The 29 year old placed in four preseason games with the Canucks, being held off the scoresheet while taking eight shots on goal and recording five penalty minutes.  He played an average of 13:25 in those contests.

Skille takes a place on the roster over Emerson Etem, who was waived on Wednesday and claimed by Anaheim earlier today.  He will likely battle with the likes of Brendan Gaunce and Jake Virtanen for a spot in the lineup but should start the season as their 13th/reserve forward.

[Related: Canucks Depth Chart]

Canucks Roster Moves

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The Vancouver Canucks have announced a series of moves via their team Twitter account, as the club works to get down to the 23-man roster limit. Included among them is that veteran forward Jack Skille has made the team and will be signed to a contract. Apparently, Skille beat out Emerson Etem for one of the final spots on the roster. Subsequently, Vancouver placed Etem on waivers.

According to Canucks GM Jim Benning, Etem “got beat out of his spot.” It seems unlikely that Etem will be claimed on waivers though the possibility shouldn’t be completely dismissed. Head coach Willie Desjardins added: “This year we were deeper and Emerson didn’t have a bad camp, but other players were better.”

While perhaps not the end of Etem’s tenure with the Canucks organization, it’s certainly a disappointing development in the career of the former first-round draft pick. The 24-year-old native of Long Beach, California has NHL size and skill but has so far failed to put it together consistently at this level. If he clears waivers it’s presumed he will be assigned to the AHL.

Meanwhile, a couple of the team’s prospects also made the final roster. F Brendan Gaunce and D Nikita Tryamkin, both 22, will be with the Canucks for their season-opening tilt against Calgary Saturday night.

Also making the club is LW Anton Rodin, who is currently dealing with complications from knee surgery performed last season.

Earlier today the Canucks released veteran forward Tuomo Ruutu from his PTO.

Poll: 2005 NHL Draft Take Two: Seventh Overall Pick

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Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

We’re looking back at the 2005 NHL Draft, which kicked off the salary cap era and ushered in many of the current NHL superstars. The question we’re looking to answer is knowing now what we didn’t know then, how different would this draft look now with the benefit of hindsight?

Here are the results of our redraft so far:

1st Overall: Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
2nd Overall: Carey Price (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim)
3rd Overall: Anze Kopitar (Carolina Hurricanes)
4th Overall: Jonathan Quick (Minnesota Wild)
5th Overall: Kris Letang (Montreal Canadiens)
6th Overall: Tuukka Rask (Columbus Blue Jackets)

Now we move forward to the seventh pick, which was held by the Chicago Blackhawks.

To recap how this works:

  • We will go through the 2005 NHL Draft and have our readers select, through a voting process, who they think should have been taken with the selection.
  • The entire first round will be redrafted, spanning picks one through thirty. The new selection is chosen by the majority of votes.

Back in 2005, Chicago selected college-bound winger Jack Skille out of the US National Development Team Program.  However, he failed to live up to his draft billing with the Hawks, as he played in just 79 games with the team over four seasons before being dealt to Florida in a package that netted them Michael Frolik.  Over the past several years, he has spent time with the Panthers, Blue Jackets, and Avalanche and is currently on a tryout deal with Vancouver.  For his career, Skille has 75 points in 313 NHL games, which is far from good production from a top ten selection.

With the seventh pick of the 2005 NHL Draft, who should the Chicago Blackhawks select? Cast your vote below!


For Trade Rumors app users on iOS, click here to vote.

Canucks Sign Jack Skille To PTO

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The Vancouver Canucks have added some more depth in advance of training camp, announcing that they have signed free agent right winger Jack Skille to a pro tryout contract.

Skille played in 74 games with Colorado last season, scoring six goals and added eight assists while averaging just 8:50 of ice time per contests.  The former first round pick of the Blackhawks (7th overall) in 2005, Skille has yet to make his mark in the NHL and has bounced around in recent years, playing for three different teams since the last lockout.  In his career, he has 38 goals and 37 assists in 313 career games over nine NHL seasons.

Skille will join a pair of other veteran tryouts in James Sheppard and Tuomo Ruutu vying for a spot on Vancouver’s roster.

[Related: Canucks Depth Chart]

It’s likely to be a busy week in terms of invites to training camp.  Tomas Fleischmann also signed a tryout earlier today with Minnesota.  Keep track of who is trying out where with our Invite Tracker.

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