Early life

Skinner was born to lawyers Andrew Skinner and Elisabeth Campin. He has five siblings, each of whom either are or have been involved with hockey. He is the second-youngest among those siblings, four of which are sisters: Jennifer (a former Harvard Crimson forward); Andrea (a former Cornell Big Red forward and lawyer at Bay Street law firm Aird & Berlis); Erica (current Carleton Ravens defence); and the youngest of the Skinner family, Jillian (currently a defenseman wearing the number 25 at Mercyhurst University). He also has one brother, Benjamin, who was in the Kitchener Rangers system, but now plays for the Golden Hawks at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo.

Skinner attended William Armstrong Public School and then Markham District High School. Involved in both ice hockey and figure skating growing up, he won a bronze medal in the juvenile division at the 2004 Canadian Junior National Figure Skating Championships. Soon after, he made the decision to focus solely on hockey. Skinner played his minor hockey with the Toronto Jr. Canadians and Toronto Young Nationals of the GTHL and the Markham Waxers of the OMHA. He grew up cheering for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Playing career

Junior

Skinner was drafted 20th overall in the 2008 OHL Draft by the Kitchener Rangers from the Toronto Young Nationals, where he played on the wing with future Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog . After leading the Rangers in goal scoring in his rookie season, Skinner participated in the 2009 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, scoring 6 goals for 6 points, while winning the gold medal with Team Canada. In his second OHL season, Skinner scored 50 goals and led all CHL draft-eligible forwards in goal scoring. He became the first Ranger in 23 years to reach the 50-goal milestone.

Despite leading the league in goals at the time, Central Scouting ranked Skinner as the 47th best North American skater during their midterm rankings, and only 34th during the final rankings. This contrasted ratings from other organizations such as ISS and TSN's Bob McKenzie who had him much higher. During the 2010 NHL Draft, he was taken 7th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes.

Professional

During his first NHL training camp, he signed a three-year, entry level contract with the Hurricanes on September 21, 2010, worth $2.7 million. On October 7, Skinner made his NHL debut with the opening roster in the Hurricanes' 4-3 win against the Minnesota Wild during the NHL Premiere Series in Helsinki, Finland. In 16 minutes of ice time, he had two shots. The following day, Skinner recorded his first career NHL point with an assist on Tuomo Ruutu's goal. He also scored the game winning shootout goal to become the third-youngest player in NHL history to score a shootout goal. On October 20, Skinner scored his first NHL career goal against Jonathan Bernier of the Los Angeles Kings in his fifth game of the season.

Midway through the campaign, Skinner was named to the 2011 All-Star Game roster as an injury replacement for Sidney Crosby, making him the first member of the 2010 draft class to be named to the All-Star Game, and the first 18-year-old NHL All-Star since Steve Yzerman. He was later named January 2011's NHL Rookie of the Month.

At the NHL Awards ceremony on June 22, 2011, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Skinner was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's top rookie, beating-out fellow rookies Logan Couture of the San Jose Sharks and Michael Grabner of the New York Islanders.

Skinner was suspended for two games after kicking Scott Nichol of the St. Louis Blues during a game on March 15, 2012.

On August 7, 2012, Skinner extended his contract to a six-year, US$34.4 million deal.

On October 6, 2014, Skinner sustained a concussion on a hit from Washington Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2007-08	Toronto Young Nats	GTHL		50	62	35	97	137		—	—	—	—	—
2008-09	Kitchener Rangers	OHL		63	27	24	51	72		—	—	—	—	—
2009-10	Kitchener Rangers	OHL		64	50	40	90	34		20	20	13	33	14
2010-11	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		82	31	32	63	46		—	—	—	—	—
2011-12	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		64	20	24	44	56		—	—	—	—	—
2012-13	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		42	13	11	24	26		—	—	—	—	—
2013-14	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		71	33	21	54	22		—	—	—	—	—
2014-15	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		77	18	13	31	18		—	—	—	—	—
2015-16	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		82	28	23	51	38		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				418	143	124	267	206		—	—	—	—	—

Medal record
Representing Canada
Ice hockey
Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament
	2009 Slovakia

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2009	Canada Ontario	U17	01 !		6	2	4	6	4
2010	Canada	IH18	01 !		4	6	0	6	16
2011	Canada	WC	5th		7	3	3	6	8
2012	Canada	WC	5th		8	3	2	5	4
2013	Canada	WC	5th		8	2	2	4	2
Junior totals					10	8	4	12	20
Senior totals					23	8	7	15	14

Achievements and awards

• Named to play in the (2011 All-Star Game), youngest All-Star selection ever in the four major North American sports (baseball, basketball, American football, ice hockey) (18 years, 259 days)
• Calder Trophy winner as best NHL rookie during the 2010-11 season.
• Named Sporting News Rookie of The Year
• Named The Hockey News Rookie of the Year

[ Source: Wikipedia ]