Brady Skjei, number 76 on the Nashville Predators, is entering his ninth full season playing in the NHL. Born on March 26, 1994, in Lakeville, Minnesota, Skjei has become one of the league’s top defensemen and hopes to continue his dominance in the first year with his new club.
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In his youth, Skjei split his high school career playing for the Lakeville North High School Panthers during his first two years, where he won Rookie of the Year after his freshman year and MVP after his sophomore year. He then spent his last two years with the USA Hockey National Development Team. After his final year in the program, Skjei entered the 2012 NHL Entry Draft and was selected in the first round, 28th overall by the New York Rangers.
Skjei joined the University of Minnesota in the NCAA for the next three years. He played in 109 games for the Golden Gophers, notching eight goals and 19 assists through the three seasons, and finished with a strong +33 rating. He also represented the United States internationally at the IIHF World Junior Championships.
After his junior year, Skjei signed his Entry Level Contract with the Rangers and reported to the Hartford Wolfpack (AHL), where he played in eight regular season games and 15 post-season games to finish the 2014-15 season. The following season, Skjei played in 68 games with the Wolfpack, where he scored four goals and 24 assists. He was able to make his NHL debut with the Rangers on December 15, 2015, and played in seven regular season games as well as five playoff games, where he notched two assists and a +1 rating.
His first season as a full-time NHLer came in the 2016-17 season where he suited up for 80 games for the Rangers and notched his first NHL goal on December 11, 2016. He finished the season with five goals and 34 assists and finished with a +11 rating. He also played in 12 playoff games, scoring four goals and one assist and a +6 rating.
For the next two seasons, Skjei stayed consistent with his numbers, although they were a little step back from his first season as the Rangers headed into a rebuild. In the 2017-18 season, he played his first full 82-game season and earned himself a six-year, $31.5 million contract extension. In the following 2018-19 season, Skjei played 78 games. In both seasons, he tallied 25 points but ended both with negative ratings. During these years, Skjei also represented the United States internationally at the IIHF World Championships in 2016, 2017, and 2019.
Skjei was putting up slightly better numbers in the 2019-20 season, so on February 24, 2020, the Rangers traded Skjei to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a 2020 first-round draft pick. Skjei only played in seven games for the Hurricanes before COVID hit and shut down the season and then played eight games in the bubble where he notched two assists and a +6 rating, foreshadowing his return to form in Carolina.
During his four full seasons with the Hurricanes, Skjei established himself as a top defenseman in the league. From the 2020-21 season to the 2023-24 season, he played in 295 games where he scored 43 goals and 91 assists for 134 points, and an impressive +50 rating overall, never finishing a full season with a minus rating. During those years, he also played in 51 playoff games, where he scored three goals and thirteen assists. His numbers may not have been the most flashy of any defenseman, but he proved himself as a top-pairing two-way defenseman who was always on the right side of the puck and had sustained reliability to back that up.
Skjei’s contract extension ended after the 2023-24 season, which led him to move to his third team in the league. On July 1, 2024, Skjei signed a seven-year, $49 million contract with the Nashville Predators, giving him security until 2031.
Outside of the rink, Brady has been married to his wife, Gracia, since 2021. He was also portrayed on an episode of Saturday Night Live in 2017 during his time with the Rangers, which poked fun at the spelling of his last name.
Catch Brady Skjei in gold this season with the Nashville Predators!
