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Hurricanes re-sign ‘high-character’ Ryan -- one year, $600,000

derekryan

James OBrien

Carolina has re-upped with veteran forward Derek Ryan on a one-year, two-way deal worth $600,000 at the NHL level, the club announced on Thursday.

“Derek is a high-character, veteran player who has contributed offensively at every level he has played,” GM Ron Francis said in a release. “He was a leader for Charlotte last season and played well when called up to the Hurricanes.”

Ryan, a journeyman that garnered headlines last season for making his NHL debut at age 29, scored two goals in six games for the ‘Canes, spending most of his time in AHL Charlotte, where he had 55 points in 70 games.

Prior to that, he was a bit of a hockey nomad.

Ryan played junior in WHL Spokane -- where he was coached by current Carolina bench boss Bill Peters -- then had stops in Kalamazoo (of the now-defunct United Hockey League), a four-year stint at the University of Alberta, three years in the Austrian League and, in ’14-15, a terrific campaign in Sweden.

With Orebro, Ryan scored a whopping 80 points in 55 games en route to capturing SHL Forward of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards.

He parlayed that into a one-year, two-way deal with the ‘Canes.

Earlier this month, we passed along a report that Ryan was considering a move back to Europe -- Switzerland, specifically.

In an interview with Swedish news outlet Expressen, Ryan and his agent discussed the possibility of signing in the Swiss National League “A” should he not receive an NHL contract for next season.