Tanner House is heading home to Alberta.
The University of Maine senior center has signed a two-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers, the NHL team announced Sunday.
House is from Cochrane, Alberta, which is a suburb of Calgary.
“I grew up a bit of a Calgary Flames fan but my father (Calvin) is a huge Oilers fan and it was his birthday yesterday,” said House on Sunday. “He’s pretty excited.”
So is his son.
“My goal for a long time was to play in the NHL and now I’m closer to reaching that goal,” said the 24-year-old House. “I’m pretty excited.”
He signed a two-way contract, meaning his salary is dictated by whether he plays in the National Hockey League or the American Hockey League, which grooms players for the NHL.
“I’m happy with the terms of the contract,” he said. “They were straight-forward with me.”
He will receive a signing bonus but he preferred not to discuss the terms of the contract.
The minimum salary in the NHL is $500,000 while the minimum in the AHL is $37,500.
He joined the Oilers’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Barons, on Sunday in Chicago where they were in the midst of a nine-game, 13-day road trip. He didn’t play but said he will practice with the team on Monday.
He could be in the lineup on Tuesday when Oklahoma City visits Milwaukee. That will be the sixth game on the trip.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound House just completed his senior season at Maine two weekends ago when the Black Bears were eliminated in the Hockey East quarterfinals by Merrimack. He finished tied for fourth on the team with 35 points (10 goals, 25 assists) in 35 games and ended his career with a seven-game points streak (1 goal, 10 assists). The 6-foot-1 195-pound House won the Gladiator Hockey Best Defensive Forward award in Hockey East.
He was a plus-13 in Hockey East play and a plus-8 overall. A player receives a plus-one if he is on the ice when his team scores and even-strength or shorthanded goal and a minus-one if the other team scores one.
He had 56 penalty minutes.
He concluded his career with 109 points (39 & 70) in 138 games. He had 18 & 21 in 35 games a year ago, including a team-high 10 power-play goals.
He said his role will be similar to the one he has had at Maine.
“They want me to be defensive centerman who kills penalties. They want me to be a two-way player so that won’t change my role that much,” he said.
Maine coach Tim Whitehead called House a “tremendous two-way centerman, penalty-killer and faceoff man” and compared him to former Bear center Ben Guite, who has had an 11-year pro career, including 175 games in the NHL.
He said the fact House was a rare two-year captain says a lot about his character and thinks House has a very legitimate chance to play in the NHL as a third- or fourth-line center/defensive specialist.
House had never scored more than 14 goals in a season during his two years with the Penticton Vees in the British Columbia Junior Hockey League prior to coming to Maine.
However, he became a top-end point producer when he was placed on a line between two-time Hobey Baker Award finalist Gustav Nyquist and Brian Flynn, who have combined for 76 goals and 119 assists the past two seasons.
The Barons are battling for a playoff spot and took a record of 36-25-2-7 into the Chicago game. The two represents two overtime losses and the seven represents seven shootout losses.
“Our season at Maine didn’t end the way we wanted it to end. It was too short,” said House. “But coming to Oklahoma City gives me another chance to battle for a playoff spot.”
Edmonton won’t make the NHL playoffs as the Oilers have the worst record in the league (23-39-10, 56 points).
Last season, House received the Dean Smith Award, given to the top male and female student-athletes at UMaine.