The Ottawa Senators signed former University of Wisconsin star
Kyle Turris to a five-year contract extension, as detailed today at
NHL.com.
Acquired by trade in December from Phoenix,
who drafted him third overall in 2007, Turris has 31 goals and 44 assists for
75 points in 186 career NHL games with the Sens and Coyotes.
Turris, 23, played one season of college hockey after he was
drafted, and notched 11-24—35 points in 36 games with Wisconsin in 2007-08. He jumped to the pros right
after the Badgers were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in
overtime by WCHA rival North Dakota. He played
in his first three professional games with Phoenix that spring, recording an assist.
The New Westminster,
B.C. native never seemed to find his NHL niche in the desert, although he did
post 24-39—63 totals in 76 games with San Antonio (AHL) in 2009-10. He was a scoring
machine in junior ‘A’ hockey in his native Canada,
collecting 102-91—193 points in two seasons with Burnaby (BCHL) before
enrolling at Wisconsin
for one season.
Turris probably won’t be the last player to be signed to an extension in the
next few weeks. The NHL’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires on
Sept. 15, and
it’s been said that the owners will lock out the players as they did
eight years ago if a new deal is not brokered by then.
