Veteran forward signs PTO after more than three years out of NHL

The Carolina Hurricanes have added another PTO to their upcoming training camp as the club has announced that they’ve inked forward Nick Shore to a PTO. Shore last dressed in an NHL game back in 2019-20 when he split the season between the Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs. Shore scored three goals and three assists that season in 63 games and hasn’t found an NHL job since.

Shore was on a point-a-game pace in the AHL when he was promoted to the NHL and began his career with the Los Angeles Kings. Unfortunately for the Denver, Colorado native, his offensive success in the AHL didn’t translate to the big leagues, and Shore was in a constant struggle to crack 15 points a season.

In 2017-18 Shore posted a career-high 19 points in 64 games split between the Kings, the Ottawa Senators, and the Calgary Flames. During that year Shore was packaged with Marián Gáborík and shipped to Ottawa in return for Dion Phaneuf and Nate Thompson. Then 12 days later, he was flipped to the Flames for a seventh-round pick. He went unsigned through that summer and eventually signed in the KHL.

Shore would then take one more shot in the NHL signing with the Maple Leafs in 2019, but in that final NHL season, he struggled to find a role and find the scoresheet. His play overseas saw better offensive numbers as last year Shore spent 25 games with HV71 of the SHL and had five goals and 13 assists while going +7.

The 30-year-old will be in tough to crack the Hurricanes lineup as he will be battling against Carolina’s depth and prospects who will be hungry to prove their worth at training camp. The Canes don’t have the best prospect pipeline, but it certainly isn’t without solid forward prospects, and Shore will have to prove he can provide enough to the club in order to block a younger player from playing in the NHL.