Being traded isn’t easy. How Brady Skjei is adjusting after moving from NY to the Canes.
Brady Skjei and his fiancee were in a coffee shop in Manhattan on Monday afternoon when his cell phone buzzed.
it was 10 minutes past the NHL’s 3 p.m. trade deadline. It also was his agent’s name on the phone, which had to be a bit foreboding.
“I knew trades came in after (3 o’clock) but I thought maybe I snuck through and didn’t get traded,” Skjei said Thursday.
He didn’t sneak through. The New York Rangers had traded him, Skjei was told. The Carolina Hurricanes had acquired the defenseman for a 2020 first-round draft pick and he had little time to go back, pack a bag, hop a flight and get to Raleigh.
The Canes had a game Tuesday against the Dallas Stars and Skjei would be playing in it. He scooted back to his place in Tribeca, in Lower Manhattan, and soon was on his way.
“Obviously I was a little stunned and it was pretty crazy,” he said. “I had never been traded before. Once I got on a plane and got here and got with the guys it was much better, but definitely I was a little stunned or shocked when I first got traded.”
Skjei said he spent the flight going through the 200 or so texts flooding his phone. There was much to think mull over before touching down at RDU.
Skjei, 25, was drafted by the Rangers, who made him the 28th overall pick of the 2012 NHL Draft. After three seasons of college hockey at Minnesota, the Lakeville, Minn, native put in a season with the Hartford Wolf Pack in the American Hockey League before earning a spot on the Rangers roster in the 2016-17 season — he was named to the 2017 NHL All-Rookie Team — and becoming a fixture on the blue line.
Adjusting after being traded
A restricted free agent after the 2017-18 season, Skjei filed for arbitration but reached an agreement on a contract with the Rangers a few days before the scheduled hearing: six years, $31.5 million. He was financially secure. He was set for a long run with the Rangers, playing at Madison Square Garden.
Then came that Monday phone call. On Tuesday night he played in PNC Arena, getting 20:37 of ice time in the 4-1 loss to the Stars. On Thursday he put in his first practice at Raleigh Center Ice with the Canes, and continued his crash course in adapting to a new team and a new coach, Rod Brind’Amour, and his way of playing.
“There’s a lot for me going on for me right now,” Skjei said. “I’m trying to learn as much as I can as fast as I can and get up to speed. It’s just a much different system than the Rangers played. For me it’s the X’s and O’s part that’s a little different.”
It’s the same for Vincent Trocheck. The veteran center, dealt Monday to the Canes from the Florida Panthers, had to get a feel for new linemates — wingers Nino Niederreiter and Martin Necas against the Stars — and what Brind’Amour wants out of his centermen.
“The X’s and O’s you have to figure out,” Trocheck said. “It took me about a period and a half to get the old system out of my mind. After that it was an easy transition.”
Brind’Amour can relate. Traded by the Philadelphia Flyers to the Canes in January 2000, he was shell-shocked at first and quickly had to adjust to Paul Maurice, then the Carolina coach, and new teammates.
“It takes a while to get a new system in your memory bank where you’re not thinking out there,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s what you don’t want, guys thinking too much. So you don’t want to load them up too much, just give them the basics ... and then you keep adding as you go.
“Really, you want them to go and play. At the end of the day it’s just hockey. You’ve got to win your battles and compete, and then the other stuff kind of takes care of itself.”
Hurricanes have 20 games left
The Canes added Skjei and defenseman Sami Vatanen on Monday, looking to bolster a position that has taken two huge hits — injuries to Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce. Hamilton had surgery for a broken fibula and Brind’Amour said Thursday that Pesce still was conferring with doctors about possible shoulder surgery.
Vatanen, obtained from the New Jersey Devils, has not played since Feb. 1 and remains on injured reserve. Brind’Amour said Thursday he was not sure when the veteran D-man would be able to join practice or be available.
Skjei was paired with defenseman Jaccob Slavin in his first game. Brind’Amour had new defensive looks Thursday at RCI — Slavin paired with Joel Edmundson, Jake Gardiner with Trevor van Riemsdyk and Skjei with Haydn Fleury — as the Canes prepared for their Friday game against the Colorado Avalanche at PNC Arena.
“It’s different for everybody,” Brind’Amour said of the transition after a trade. “It’s probably more challenging for the defense. There’s a lot more reads going on than the forward group. Obviously you hope it doesn’t take too long because we don’t have a lot of time left.”
Twenty games left, to be exact. The Canes (35-23-4) were two points out of playoff position in the Eastern Conference through Wednesday’s games, but with three games in hand on Columbus, which holds the second wild-card spot.
Brady Skjei fitting into Raleigh
Skjei is a good athlete with with good size at 6-3 and 210 pounds. While playing hockey, he was the quarterback and on Lakeside North High golf team after growing up on a golf course.
He has speed and prefers a fast pace, and believes he should blend in well in Brind’Amour’s aggressive style. He had eight goals and 15 assists in his 60 games for the Rangers before the trade and could be productive offensively for the Canes — he had five shots against the Stars.
For now, he’s living in a hotel. The Canes have leased him a car. His fiancee, he said, is a nurse in Manhattan and will stay in New York through the end of the season.
“It’s been good,” he said. “Obviously a little slower pace than Manhattan. I’m just trying to soak everything in and learn as I go. Everyone on the team has been good to me and welcomed me in. The team has made the transition as easy as possible.”
Avalanche at Hurricanes
When: 7 p.m., Friday
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh
Watch: FSCR
This story was originally published February 28, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
