The 30-year-old defender is an upcoming UFA.
Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brady Skjei has become an integral part of the Canes’ defensive corp.
Not only does he play a lot of tough minutes alongside partner Brett Pesce, but he’s also one of Carolina’s best offensive options from the blueline.
After setting a career high in goals last season, Skjei followed that up with a new career high in points this year, registering 13 goals and 47 points in 80 regular season games.
He was also a steady playoff producer having nine points in 11 postseason games.
Now, both he and his partner Pesce are at the ends of their deals.
The Canes held their first round of exit interviews on Saturday following the conclusion of their 2023-24 season which ended after losing in six games to the New York Rangers in the second round of the playoffs.
Here’s what Skjei had to say:
On his contract situation: There hasn’t been a ton [of negotiating]. I think we’ve done a good job of focusing in on the season this year. I wasn’t thinking about it that much. It’ll probably pick up now before July 1. Obviously this is an unbelievable place. Great people here, coaching staff, players, medical, everything. It’s an unbelievable place to be. We’ll see what happens in the next month or so.
On the kind of deal he’s looking for: Just want a fair offer probably. That’s the biggest thing. We’ll see what that looks like. Like I said, I haven’t thought about it too much. I have to talk to my agent and talk to Don [Waddell]. We’ll see and we’ll try to figure it out.
On if he wants to stay in Carolina: Yeah. I mean, I love it here. It’s an amazing place. Great players, great guys. It’s a fun place to be for sure.
On Brett Pesce: I’d love to play with [Pesce] forever. He’s an unbelievable guy and unbelievable player. We’re great friends. I think if we can stay together, that’d be a huge bonus.
On how he would rate his season: Numbers-wise, it was a really successful year. Just tried to find opportunities to get up in the play and make plays. Obviously I had unbelievable players around me that helped with that. Getting a little more power play time was nice. Overall, it was a successful year, but the way it ended still stings right now, for sure. That’s kind of what’s on the top of my mind.
On what makes his partnership with Pesce work so well: Maybe just chemistry. I think that plays a huge part in it. We’ve been together for a few years now and played pretty much every game together. You kind of know where each other is out on the ice and [Pesce] makes it so easy. I mean he literally like never makes mistakes it feels like. Always makes the right play, you know where he’s going to be. So it makes it easy as a partner to read off of that. I’ve been very fortunate to be able to play with him. He’s a very underrated player in this league. There’s no question about that.
On if he has a preference between playing in a big market versus a smaller market: I wouldn’t say I have a preference. Both obviously are great in their own right. It was a complete 180 from getting traded from New York to here. I didn’t know anything different than the city, but I’ve really enjoyed my time down here. It’s a little slower paced, great place to be with your family and everything. Just completely different than New York, but I wouldn’t say I have a preference. I love Raleigh and me and my wife have really come to enjoy it. I wouldn’t say there’s a huge preference at all.
On the golf down here being pretty good too: Golf’s great here too. I got the O.C. hat on, repping that. There’s so many great things about this place that are very enticing.
On the difficulty of not getting over the hump: I don’t know if you would say we went all in, but getting guys like [Jake Guentzel] and [Evgeny Kuznetsov] this year, it felt like this was the year where we had a really good chance to do it. It just shows how difficult it is. We’ve been there the last few years and every year that I’ve been here, I’ve felt like we’ve had the team to win it. It’s tough. A few bounces here and there just haven’t gone our way. Got to give other team’s credit, but it definitely stings. It’s not enjoyable to keep losing. We have to try and get over that hump.
On his favorite memory in Carolina: I don’t know if I can pinpoint one. There’s so many great moments. Just every day, coming to the rink and seeing the staff and the players. It truly is a really special place to be. I don’t know if I can pinpoint one, but just very fortunate to be a part of this organization and the people here make it such a great spot.
