The Golden Knights aren’t wasting much time getting back down to their offseason business following their loss in the Stanley Cup Final. The team announced that they have signed winger Stefan Matteau to a one-year, two-way contract extension. The deal pays the league minimum $650K at the NHL level and $110K in the minors. TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie adds (Twitter link) that the deal contains a total guarantee of $200K which matches his guaranteed total from 2017-18.
The 24-year-old spent most of the season with their AHL affiliate in Chicago after signing as a free agent last summer. He suited up in 60 games for the Wolves, recording 15 goals and 12 assists along with 57 penalty minutes. Matteau also played in eight games with Vegas during the regular season, picking up an assist while averaging 8:12 per night in ice time. He was up with the team for their postseason run but did not see any game action.
Matteau has played in 64 career NHL games across three organizations with the majority of them coming with the Devils, who drafted him in 29th overall back in 2012 with the pick they were originally expected to forfeit as a penalty for circumventing the CBA when they first signed Ilya Kovalchuk to a contract extension. (The league rescinded that penalty back in 2014.) While he won’t live up to his first-round billing, Matteau appears to be at least carving out a niche for himself as a capable depth player that can be called up when injuries arise and hold his own on a fourth line.
How did they draft him in 2012 if the penalty wasn’t rescinded until 2014