The Carolina Hurricanes have re-signed Clark Bishop to a one-year, two-way contract. The restricted free agent forward was not eligible for salary arbitration and will earn $700K in the NHL next season.
Bishop, 23, may be one of the players that suffer from the Hurricanes strong offseason. The team brought in Erik Haula, Ryan Dzingel and Brian Gibbons to lengthen out their forward group, leaving Bishop likely fighting for one of the last spots on the roster against other top young prospects. The fifth round pick made his NHL debut last year playing in 20 games but was used extremely sparingly and just as injury insurance. He actually struggled to produce offensively even at the minor league level, recording just nine points in a combined 58 NHL and AHL games.
Still, with some NHL experience and a recent Calder Cup victory under his belt, Brown will try to force his way onto the Carolina roster as a fourth-line option that can play center. He is no longer waiver-exempt, meaning he would have to clear in order to be sent to the AHL this fall—an advantage he has over players like Martin Necas and Janne Kuokkanen, who can both be sent down without risk.
Bishop will still be a restricted free agent at the end of this contract.