The Carolina Hurricanes signed defenseman Brett Bellemore to a three-year contract on Thursday.

The Canes drafted Bellemore, 19, in the sixth round of the 2007 NHL draft.

The deal is worth $55,000 a year at the minor-league level and $500,000 in the NHL. He also received a $100,000 signing bonus.

Bellemore began this past season with the Plymouth Whalers, the junior hockey team owned by Canes owner Peter Karmanos, before joining the Albany River Rats, the Canes' top minor-league affiliate, in the AHL playoffs.