Hurricanes Ink Jack Drury to Three Year Deal

The Carolina Hurricanes announced today that they have agreed to terms with forward prospect Jack Drury on a three-year entry-level contract. The deal pays Drury $832,500 per season with signing bonuses of $277,500. The deal will pay Drury $70,000 at the AHL level. Drury was selected by the Hurricanes in the second round, 42nd overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft and has represented the United States at both the World Juniors and the World Championships.

GM Don Waddell commented on the signing, saying “Jack is an outstanding two-way forward who perfectly fits our system and plays the right way, we expect him to be an important piece for the Hurricanes in the very near future.”

Drury has taken a bit of a strange path to the NHL since he was drafted. He started his collegiate career at Harvard University, where he spent two seasons with the program. Over the course of those two seasons, Drury amassed a total of 63 points in 60 games.

After Harvard announced that they would not partake in the 2020-2021 season due to COVID restrictions, Drury signed with the Vaxjo Lakers in Sweden to begin his professional career. Drury emerged as a top line player in the SHL and finished with 30 points in 41 games in one of the top leagues in Europe. Drury contributed 11 points in 14 games on his way to an SHL championship, which then resulted in an invite to play for the United States at the Men’s World Championships. Drury appeared in nine games and scored two goals for the United States, winning bronze in his first stint with the men’s national team.

Hurricanes fans can expect Drury to be good at, well, everything. He is a much stronger skater than he was in his draft year and he’s a great player on both sides of the puck. You can trust Drury on your power play, penalty kill, even strength, when you need a goal, you name it. He has a good shot and great hockey sense, allowing for him to create offense and become a top two-way forward. I believe that Drury could contend for a bottom six role on the Hurricanes this season due to the way he plays. He can inject some much needed offense into the bottom six while still being that dependable defensive forward that Rod Brind’Amour wants. Drury is the third player from the Hurricanes’ 2018 draft class to sign a contract, with the others being Andrei Svechnikov and Jesper Sellgren.

The team’s official release follows:

‘CANES AGREE TO TERMS WITH JACK DRURY

Forward was finalist for SHL Rookie of the Year in 2020-21

RALEIGH, NC – Don Waddell, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has agreed to terms with forward Jack Drury on a three-year, entry-level contract. At the NHL level, the deal will pay Drury $832,500 per season. He will earn $70,000 at the AHL level for all three seasons, and will receive $277,500 in signing bonuses.

“Jack is an outstanding two-way forward who perfectly fits our system and plays the right way,” said Waddell. “We expect him to be an important piece for the Hurricanes in the very near future.”

Drury, 21, played his first professional season with Växjö Lakers of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) in 2020-21. He registered 30 points (10g, 20a) in 41 games and was named one of three finalists for the SHL’s Rookie of the Year award. The New York City native ranked second in the league with 11 points (5g, 6a) in 14 playoff games as Växjö Lakers won the Le Mat Trophy as league champions.

Prior to turning professional, Drury played two seasons at Harvard, posting 63 points (29g, 34a) in 60 collegiate games from 2018-20. The 5’11”, 174-pound forward was named Second Team All-ECAC and Second Team All-Ivy League in 2019-20 after ranking tied for sixth in goals (20) and third in power-play goals (11) among Division I skaters. In his first season with the Crimson, he was named to the ECAC All-Rookie Team after leading all Harvard forwards in power-play goals (6). Drury also played for Waterloo of the United States Hockey League (USHL) from 2016-18, earning 77 points (28g, 49a) in 100 games. As the Black Hawks’ captain in 2017-18, he led all USHL skaters in both power-play goals (12) and shorthanded goals (5), becoming the first player in the USHL’s Tier 1 history to accomplish the feat.

Drury has represented the United States during a number of international tournaments, including the 2019 and 2020 World Junior Championships, winning silver at the 2019 tournament in Canada. He won a bronze medal with the Americans at the 2021 IIHF World Championship in Latvia, scoring a pair of goals in nine games. Drury was selected by Carolina in the second round, 42nd overall, of the 2018 NHL Draft. His father, Ted, played 414 career NHL games with Calgary, Hartford, Ottawa, Anaheim, Columbus and the New York Islanders. His uncle, Chris, appeared in 892 career NHL games and is currently the President and General Manager of the New York Rangers.