Lakeville native and former Gopher Brady Skjei signs 7-year/$49 million deal with Nashville

Former Lakeville North and Minnesota Gopher defenseman Brady Skjei signed a 7-year, $49 million contract with Nashville Monday.

The 30-year-old was coming off his best season with the Carolina Hurricanes. Nashville also signed former Tampa Bay superstar Steven Stamkos, making a considerable splash on the free agent market.

Skjei is a former first-round draft pick of the New York Rangers in 2012 (28th overall). He played two seasons with Lakeville North High School (2008-10) before joining Team USA’s National Team Development Program (NTDP) in 2011. He played for the Gophers for three seasons (2013-15). After toiling in the AHL for the Hartford Wolf Pack in 2015-16, he made the Rangers as a full-time defenseman in 2016-17, playing in 80 games and recording five goals and 34 assists.

Towards the end of his fourth season with the Rangers, Skjei was traded to Carolina for a first round pick in February of 2020. In the past three seasons with Carolina he has played in 82, 81 and 80 games, respectively, establishing himself as a top-4 defenseman in the league.

Last season he had his best point output with 13 goals and 47 points.  He also comes with plenty of playoff experience with Carolina having been a playoff team for each of his five seasons with the club.

Skjei is tagged as a two-way defenseman who is solid on both ends of the ice. In his career he has a +21 ranking, including a +15 last season. He has played in 609 career NHL games and has recorded 247 points.

Brady Skjei career statistics