Brady Skjei (; born March 26, 1994) is an American

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

for the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). He was selected by the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

in the first round, 28th overall, in the

2012 NHL Entry Draft The 2012 NHL Entry Draft was the 50th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held June 22–23, 2012, at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the first time that Pittsburgh hosted the draft since the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. The top thr ...

. Prior to joining the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

, Skjei played for the

USA Hockey National Team Development Program The United States National Team Development Program (NTDP) was started in 1996 by USA Hockey as a way to identify elite ice hockey players under the age of 18, and centralize their training. There are two teams in the program: under-17 and under- ...

, based out of Michigan and he represents the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in international play.

Playing career

Amateur

Skjei played two seasons of high school hockey in Minnesota for the Lakeville North Panthers. In his first season with the team, he was named Rookie of the Year, and in his second he was named the team's Most Valuable Player. For his final two years of high school, Skjei played with the

, based out of Michigan. He spent one season with the Under-17 team, and one with the Under-18 team. After his final season with the National Team Development Program, Skjei was selected by the

in the first round of the

. During his freshman season at the

, Skjei played in 36 games, recording one

goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ...

and two assists.

Professional

New York Rangers

Skjei signed a contract with the New York Rangers on April 1, 2015. He reported to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL as an Amateur Tryout to finish the 2014–15 season. Skjei scored his first professional goal (and point) in a

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its cur ...

playoff game against the Providence Bruins on April 26, 2015. He was promoted to the Rangers from Hartford on December 15, 2015 after recording 2 goals and 9 assists in 27 games for the Wolf Pack to start the 2015–16 season. Injuries to various New York Rangers' defenseman increased Skjei's ice time, but he failed to score any points in the 7 regular season games he played for the team. In the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

, Skjei recorded two assists as the Rangers were eliminated in the first round in 5 games by the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

. On December 11, 2016 Skjei scored his first NHL goal against the New Jersey Devils. On April 16, 2017 he scored his first career playoff goal against the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

. On April 29, 2017, Skjei had his first multiple goal game, when he scored two goals against the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

in the

2017 Stanley Cup playoffs The 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs of the National Hockey League (NHL) began on April 12, 2017, after the 2016–17 regular season and concluded on June 11, 2017, with the Pittsburgh Penguins defeating the Nashville Predators four games to two in the ...

. However, he and teammate Brendan Smith were benched during the final 2 minutes of regulation in place of

Nick Holden Nick Holden (born May 15, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Holden began his hockey career in the St. Albert, Alberta area, playing alongside Ryan Stanton wit ...

and

Marc Staal Marc Staal (born January 13, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL) after having played over 1,000 regular season games with the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings ...

as the Rangers would go on to lose the game in overtime despite leading 5-3. On June 21, 2017, Skjei was named to the NHL's 2017 All-Rookie team. Returning for his sophomore 2017–18 season, the Rangers struggled as a team, announcing a team rebuild in February. Skjei would see his points total dip to 25, but also a significant increase in ice time following the trade of team captain

Ryan McDonagh Ryan Patrick McDonagh (born June 13, 1989) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Drafted in the first round, 12th overall, by the Montreal Canadiens in 2007, he play ...

. After his second season, Skjei signed a six-year deal with the Rangers on July 28, 2018.

Carolina Hurricanes

On February 24, 2020, Skjei was traded to the

in exchange for a

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

first-round pick.

International play

Skjei represents the United States in international play. His first taste of international hockey was at the

2011 World U-17 Hockey Challenge The 2011 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge was an ice hockey tournament held in Winnipeg and Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada between December 29, 2010 and January 4, 2011. The World Under-17 Hockey Challenge is held by Hockey Canada annually to ...

, where he recorded one goal and three assists in 6 games, while helping the USA to a second-place finish. In 2012, Skjei played in several tournaments with the American Under-18 team, including the

2012 IIHF World U18 Championships The 2012 IIHF U18 World Championship was the 14th IIHF World U18 Championship and was hosted in Brno, Znojmo and Břeclav, Czech Republic. It began on 12 April 2012 with the gold medal game played on 22 April 2012. Brno and Znojmo were originally ...

, capturing a gold medal in the first

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 ...

sanctioned tournament he played in. He attended the American evaluation camp in preparation for the 2013 World Junior Championship, but was not selected for the final team. Skjei was selected to the American team for the 2014 World Junior Tournament.

Personal life

Skjei is of Norwegian descent. While attending Lakeville North High School in Minnesota, Skjei played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

on the varsity

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all-s ...

and was also a member of the

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

team. His grandfather played football at the

. In early August 2021, Skjei married his longtime girlfriend, Gracia Bonesho.

In popular culture

Skjei was portrayed by Alex Moffat in the November 18, 2017, episode of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'', hosted by Chance the Rapper. Skjei was reported to have enjoyed the sketch, which poked fun at the pronunciation of his surname.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skjei, Brady 1994 births Living people American men's ice hockey defensemen American people of Norwegian descent Carolina Hurricanes players Hartford Wolf Pack players Ice hockey players from Minnesota Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players National Hockey League first-round draft picks New York Rangers draft picks New York Rangers players People from Lakeville, Minnesota Ice hockey people from Dakota County, Minnesota USA Hockey National Team Development Program players