RALEIGH -- The puck was loose and Jeff Skinner determined to control it, even if it meant sending Tyler Stahl tumbling to the ice.
Skinner was the Carolina Hurricanes' first-round pick two weeks ago in the NHL Entry Draft and is in Raleigh this week for the team's prospects conditioning camp. Stahl, another recent draftee, is a sturdy defenseman known for his toughness in the Western Hockey League.
But Skinner's bull-rushing hit during an on-ice workout at the RecZone was something of an eye-opener. With Skinner taking the puck up the ice, Stahl poked it away and attempted to body-up on Skinner, only to go flying.
The Canes drafted Skinner for his ability to score goals in bunches. But at 5 feet 10 and 190 pounds, the Kitchener Rangers standout also may have the size and strength, along with his willingness to compete, that could allow him to quickly play in the NHL.
After all, the Hurricanes are looking for a third-line center. And Skinner, 18, would like to make the giant leap from junior hockey to the NHL this year - not that he's promising such a thing.
"You just have to take it a day at a time and keep working hard," Skinner said this week, sweat dripping off his nose. "I know it's a big step to the next level. For me, I'm just trying to learn as much as I can and work as hard as I can every day."
A rapid transition from junior hockey to the NHL and the Canes' lineup involves a series of steps. The first is elementary: play well enough in junior to be drafted. Skinner, the seventh overall pick last month, then must survive and thrive in the four-day conditioning camp, which can simulate some of the physical rigors facing an NHL player.
The next step for Skinner and others will be the Traverse City prospects tournament in Michigan in September, where they must play well enough to be invited to the Canes' preseason training camp. A year ago, the Canes' team won the tournament, but their first-round pick in 2009, forward Philippe Paradis, did not get a training-camp invite.
Finally, it's performing well enough at training camp and in exhibition games to secure a roster spot.
"It's not easy to get to where they are now, so I think they have an idea of how tough it is," said Ron Francis, the Canes' associate head coach and director of player personnel. "But the next step is probably the biggest.
"If they look at our depth chart, they realize there's an opportunity. They get the knowledge here in the four days, then it's really up to who works the hardest the next few months to prepare themselves for camp, then who comes in and shows the best whether they earn that spot or not."
If there's such a thing as a pure shooter in hockey, it's a player like Skinner. He had 70 goals in 84 regular-season and playoff games for Kitchener in the Ontario Hockey League last season, showing the ability to score in every conceivable fashion.
"He's tough to play against because of his great hands and quick thinking," said defenseman Michal Jordan, a Canes prospect who faced off against Skinner with the OHL's Plymouth Whalers.
Asked this week to describe Skinner's evolution as a scorer, Kitchener coach Steve Spott said, "He was born with that. When he has the puck, other teams get nervous. They know something is going to happen.
"He's dangerous anywhere inside the blue line, but it's when he scores and where he scores that, to me, separates him as an elite player. He isn't afraid to go into the dark areas."
While Skinner credits his figure skating as a young teen with helping his balance, most NHL scouts rated him an average skater. Spott, for one, calls him "underrated" as a skater.
"Scouts have to find some knocks on these kids," Spott said. "I do not think it will hurt him at the NHL level."
Neither does Skinner.
"I don't think my skating is an issue," he said. "I think everybody, including myself, can always get faster, can always get quicker.
"To get to the next level, you always have to be faster and stronger, and for me I don't think it's an issue."
Skinner does realize he must be tougher and better in his own end, defensively. Scoring goals is one thing, and he does it well, but he must also do his part to keep the other team off the board.
"I want to focus on that more," Skinner said. "I think some more size and speed will help."
General manager Jim Rutherford said Skinner could be used on the wing at some point. But Skinner is getting a look at center.
"That's his best chance for now," Rutherford said.
Can Skinner make the big jump? Spott isn't counting it out, again comparing him to Mike Richards, a former Kitchener star and now the captain of the Philadelphia Flyers.
"To me, what separates him from the others is his work ethic and his passion," Spott said. "This kid loves to play. He loves to play and loves to compete."
And run through people, if need be.
