The Edmonton Oilers have signed prospect Jordan Eberle to a three-year NHL entry level contract, the team announced Monday.
Eberle, the Oilers first-round pick (22nd overall) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, recently completed his third season of junior hockey with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League. The 5’10”, 181-pound centre from Regina, Saskatchewan led the Pats in scoring with 35 goals and 39 assists for 74 points in 61 games.
The 18-year-old forward, who will turn 19 on May 15th, was a member of the WHL East Division First All-Star Team in 2007-08. Eberle scored 105 goals and 99 assists (204 points) with 72 penalty minutes in 197 career regular season games with Regina in three seasons from 2006-07 to 2008-09. He scored a single-season high 42 goals and 33 assists in 70 games in 2007-08 to finish 15th in the WHL scoring race.
Eberle became a Canadian hockey hero at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa, Ontario, when he scored the tying goal in Canada’s 6-5 OT win over Russia in the tournament semi-final. Eberle, who finished third on the Team Canada scoring list with 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in six games, tied the game with five seconds remaining in regulation and after a scoreless overtime, he was one of two Canadians to score in the shootout as Canada earned the semi-final victory and advanced to the gold medal final where they defeated Sweden.
Eberle was second on Team Canada in both goals and assists, while scoring two powerplay goals and was +9 with two penalty minutes.
