Carolina Hurricanes re-sign forward Ray Whitney to three-year deal

The Carolina Hurricanes re-signed their leading scorer to a US$10.65-million, three-year contract on Friday.

Whitney would have been an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

``Ray's leadership on and off the ice is important to our success in the future,'' said Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford. ``He has the dedication and desire to win that a team needs, and he makes the players around him better.''

Whitney led Carolina with a career-high 83 points this season. He tied for 21st in league scoring.

The native of Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., was part of Carolina's Stanley Cup-winning team last spring.

The 15-year NHL veteran has 254 goals and 673 points in 844 regular-season games with San Jose, Edmonton, Florida, Columbus, Detroit and Carolina.