Colorado has agreed to terms on a two-year contract with winger Matt Nieto, per a team release. Mike Chambers of the Denver Post reports that (Twitter link) the deal will carry a $1.975MM cap hit.
The 25-year-old is coming off of his first full season with the Avalanche after he was claimed on waivers partway through the 2016-17 campaign. It’s safe to say he has emerged as a quality contributor since then. Nieto spent a fair bit of time in Colorado’s top six and made the most of it, scoring a career-high 15 goals in 74 games while averaging just shy of 15 minutes per game. He followed that up with a good showing in the postseason, collecting three assists in six contests.
Nieto was among the players to file for salary arbitration yesterday but clearly, that won’t be needed now. This contract will carry him to unrestricted free agency in the 2020 off-season. The Avalanche now have four restricted free agents who remain unsigned: defensemen Patrik Nemeth, Ryan Graves, and Mason Geertsen and goaltender Spencer Martin. Of that group, only Nemeth filed for salary arbitration.
Leave a Reply
Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register