Kyle Turris

As a youth, Turris played in the 2002 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from North Vancouver.[1]

As a 16-year-old in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), Turris scored 72 points in 57 games for the Burnaby Express in 2005–06 and was awarded the Bruce Allison Memorial Trophy for the Coastal Conference as rookie of the year.[2] The following year, he finished second in BCHL scoring with 121 points and was named the Coastal Conference's Most Valuable Player.[2] Adding 26 points in 14 games, Turris led the Express to the BCHL championship, advancing to the 2006 Royal Bank Cup, Canada's national Junior A championship. He scored a hat-trick in the final game against the Yorkton Terriers of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) and led the tournament in scoring as the Express won the championship.[3][4]

Named the 2007 Canadian Junior A Player of the Year, he was ranked first overall among North American skaters by Central Scouting and third among all skaters by International Scouting Services for the upcoming draft.[5][6] In the subsequent 2007 NHL Entry Draft, he was drafted third overall by the Phoenix Coyotes, behind Patrick Kane and James van Riemsdyk. Turris stands as the highest ever drafted Tier II Junior "A" player since the level's inception by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1970.

Turris had the option of playing major junior rather than Junior A, as his Western Hockey League (WHL) rights were held by the Vancouver Giants, but he opted to stay with the Express so that he could play collegiate hockey in the U.S. once eligible.[6] Accordingly, Turris joined the Wisconsin Badgers of the NCAA's Western Collegiate Hockey Association in 2007–08 and recorded a team-high 35 points in 36 games. While at the University of Wisconsin, Turris' roommate was Ryan McDonagh, who went on to play with the New York Rangers.[7]

Turris and teammate Taylor Pyatt (left) practising with the Phoenix Coyotes.

After Turris's season in Wisconsin ended, he signed an entry level contract with the Phoenix Coyotes on March 31, 2008, and joined the team for their final three games of the season.[8] He made his NHL debut on April 3 against the Dallas Stars and recorded his first point, an assist, in his third game on April 6 against the Anaheim Ducks.[9]

Starting 2008–09 with the Coyotes the following season, Turris scored his first NHL goal on October 12, 2008, digging a rebound out from under goaltender Jean-Sébastien Giguère's pad in a 4–2 win against the Anaheim Ducks.[10]

After becoming a restricted free agent on July 1, 2011, failed contract negotiations with the Coyotes resulted in Turris holding out for the start of the 2011–12 season. With Turris absent from Phoenix's training camp, ESPN reported in September 2011 that Turris had requested a US$3–4 million salary. His demands caused speculation in the media he wanted to be traded from the team.[11] By late October, a month into the season, Turris' agent, Kurt Overhardt, confirmed the player had requested a trade, asserting contract negotiations had "never been about money".[12] Turris agreed to a two-year, $2.8 million contract with the Coyotes on November 22, 2011.[13]

On December 17, 2011, Turris was traded to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for David Rundblad and a second-round pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.[14] He registered an assist in his first game with Ottawa, a 4–1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on December 20, 2011. On April 18, 2012, Turris scored two minutes into the first overtime period, earning the Senators a come-from-behind 3–2 victory over the New York Rangers, as well as their first home playoff win since Game 3 of the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals against the Anaheim Ducks. After establishing new career highs in goals (12), assists (17) and points (29) in his first season in Ottawa, Turris agreed to a five-year, $17.5 million contract extension with the club in late August 2012.[15] Since joining the Senators, Turris has scored at least one point during each of the team's season-opening games, from his first game on December 20, 2011 to the season opener on October 12, 2016. Turris finished the season with a career-high 27 goals. The Senators advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals during the playoffs, but were eliminated in seven games by the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins. In 19 games, Turris recorded 4 goals and 10 points.

Entering the 2017–18 NHL season, Turris and the Senators had not reached agreement on a new contract. On November 5, 2017, Turris was traded to the Nashville Predators in a three-team trade that also included the Colorado Avalanche. The Senators acquired Matt Duchene from the Avalanche, while Colorado acquired Samuel Girard, Vladislav Kamenev and a 2018 second-round pick from the Predators, as well as Andrew Hammond, Shane Bowers and 2018 first- and third-round picks from the Senators.[16] Turris was immediately signed to a six-year, $36 million contract extension.[17] In his Predators' debut, he scored and recorded an assist in a 5–4 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.[18]

On October 7, 2020, Turris was placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a buyout by the Predators. The following day, Turris cleared waivers, making him a free agent for the first time in his career. Turris had four years remaining on his contract that carried an annual cap hit of $6 million. His buyout will save the Predators $4 million in cap space in each of the next four seasons, but add a cap charge of $2 million in each of the following four years.[19]

On October 9, 2020, Turris with the intention to re-establish himself in the league signed as a free agent on a two-year, $3.3 million contract with the Edmonton Oilers.[20]