'You can't lose hope': Perseverance pays off as Summerside's Bennett MacArthur lands NHL contract

There was a time, Bennett MacArthur admits, when he thought a career in hockey was not in his future — at least not on the ice.

A chiropractor, maybe, but not a player.

He was 15, waiting to be drafted into the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the natural path many young players from the Maritimes take on their journey to the National Hockey League.

The call never came.

"That was a really tough day for me," he recalled in a recent interview with CBC.

But now, a distant memory.

On March 1, the 21-year-old MacArthur signed a three-year contract with the Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning worth, according to CapFriendly.com, $2.7 million.

"Everybody peaks at a different time," he said. "And the biggest thing is just you can't lose hope and faith and just keep working on your game."

We have signed unrestricted free agent forward Bennett MacArthur to a three-year, entry-level contract.<br><br>