Jack Skille

Jack Skille (born May 19, 1987) is an American professional ice hockey right winger currently playing for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played in the NHL for the Chicago Blackhawks, Florida Panthers, Columbus Blue Jackets and Colorado Avalanche.

Amateur

Jack Skille scores the game-winning goal against Cornell University.

As a highly-regarded forward prospect, Skille was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks with the seventh overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft out of USA Hockey's National Team Development Program. Skille was the third in the group of eight American-born players that were selected in the first round, surpassing the previous record of seven Americans selected in the first round in both 1986 and 2003.

In his freshman campaign at the University of Wisconsin–Madison for the Badgers men's ice hockey team, he made an immediate impact, leading all Badger freshmen in scoring with 12 goals and seven assists for 19 points. He also finished the season as the eighth-leading point-scorer for the team. Skille’s goal 11:13 into the third overtime propelled the top-seeded Badgers past Cornell University 1–0 on March 26, 2006, in the NCAA Midwest Regional Final at the Resch Center, and into the team's first Frozen Four since 1992.

In his sophomore year, Skille suffered an injury that made him sit out a good portion of the season. After the Badgers failed to qualify for the 2007 NCAA tournament, Skille signed with the Norfolk Admirals, the Anaheim Ducks' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate.

Professional

Skille during his tenure with the Blackhawks.

After signing with the Blackhawks to a three-year, entry-level contract, Skille was assigned to the team's AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs.

Skille made his NHL debut against the Los Angeles Kings on December 30, 2007. He was brought up from the IceHogs to cover for an injured player, and later scored his first career NHL goal and assist on January 8, 2008, against Cristobal Huet of the Montreal Canadiens. Skille was later selected to represent Rockford at the 2010 AHL All-Star Game.

Prior to signing with the Blackhawks for the 2010–11 season, Skille appeared in 30 games with the Blackhawks over three seasons (2007 to 2010), collecting eight points (five goals and three assists) and five penalty minutes, including two points (one goal and one assist ) in six regular season games with Chicago during the team's 2009–10 Stanley Cup-winning campaign.

During his first full season with the Blackhawks, on February 9, 2011, Skille was traded, along with Hugh Jessiman and David Pacan, to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Michael Frolík and Alexander Salák.

As a result of the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Skille signed with the GET-ligaen side Rosenborg of Norway to play until the end of the lockout. Skille did not receive any wages from Rosenborg, and was the first NHL player to play in the Norwegian league during the lockout.

On July 6, 2013, Skille was signed as a free agent by the Columbus Blue Jackets to a one-year, two-way contract. During a stretch with the Blue Jackets, he scored four goals in seven games played at the time.

On July 1, 2014, Skille was again on the move, signing as a free agent on a one-year, two-way contract with the New York Islanders. However, Skille returned to the Blue Jackets at the beginning of the 2014–15 season, on October 5, 2014, after being claimed off waivers. As a depth forward in his second season with the Blue Jackets, Skille appeared in 45 games scoring 6 goals.

As an unrestricted free agent, Skille left the Blue Jackets for a second successive season, however was unable to secure a contract in the off-season. On September 16, 2015, Skille signed a professional try-out contract to attend the 2015 training camp of the Colorado Avalanche. On October 6, 2015, after impressing in depth position in the pre-season the Avalanche announced they had signed Skille to a one-year, two-way contract. In a fourth line role, Skille remained with the Avalache for the duration of the 2015–16 season, appearing in 74 games and registering 8 goals for 14 points.

Over the following off-season, Skille agreed to attend the Vancouver Canucks training camp, as a free agent, on a professional try-out basis on September 19, 2016. On October 11, 2016, the Vancouver Canucks announced that Skille had made it into the team's 23-man opening roster. On October 13, 2016, Skille was awarded a one-year, $700,000 contract with the Vancouver Canucks.

Prior to joining the Badgers was a member of the USA Hockey-sponsored National Development Team. He won a gold medal at the 2005 IIHF World U18 Championships in the Czech Republic collecting a goals and three assists in six games at the championship. Skille collected 24 goals, 31 assists and 55 points in 54 games for the U.S. National Under-18 Team during 2004–05 and was whistled for 76 penalty minutes during the season. In international play as a NDTP player, Skille had tournament-best seven points to lead the Americans to first place at the Four Nations Cup in Ann Arbor, Michigan and led tournament with eight points as U.S. team placed first at Five Nations Tournament in Tjörn, Sweden.

He split the 2003–04 season with the U.S. Under-17 Team and U.S. Under-18 Team, playing in 61 games total, posted 25 goals, 19 assists and 44 points to go along with 61 penalty minutes. He also had a goal and an assist to help U.S. Under-18 Team to silver at 2004 IIHF World U18 Championships in Minsk, Belarus. Prior to him joining the US Development Team, Skille led the Verona Area Wildcats to two WIAA State Hockey Tournament appearances. He had a total of 99 points in the two years with Verona Area.

Skille is the son of Lee and Carrie. Father Lee skated at Wisconsin in the mid-1970s, served as the head hockey coach at Century High School in Bismarck, ND and head hockey coach and athletic director at Madison West High School. Skille has two sisters, Maggie and Claire. He attended Huron High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Verona Area High School in Verona, Wisconsin.

Skille in 2012 with the Panthers.

Regular season and playoffs

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2004	United States	U18	02 !		6	1	1	2	4
2005	United States	U18	01 !		6	1	3	4	8
2006	United States	WJC	4th		7	2	0	2	4
2007	United States	WJC	03 !		7	1	5	6	14
2011	United States	WC	8th		2	1	0	1	0
Junior totals					26	5	9	14	30
Senior totals					2	1	0	1	0