The Nashville Predators have dipped their toes into the undrafted free agent market, signing Navrin Mutter to a three-year entry-level contract. The deal starts in 2022-23 season and Mutter will continue to play with the Kitchener Rangers for the rest of this season.
Mutter, 20, has split this season between the Rangers and the Hamilton Bulldogs, where he previously served as an alternate captain. The 6’4″ forward has little offensive upside–he has 17 points in 44 games this season–but brings an impressive physical game, sometimes even going over the line. Mutter’s 88 penalty minutes this season is second in the entire OHL, after finishing second in 2019-20 with 107.
That brand of physical hockey has obviously interested the Predators, who have now signed the undrafted forward to an NHL deal. He’ll likely join the Milwaukee Admirals on an amateur tryout when the OHL season ends, but that actually won’t be his first taste of professional hockey. During the 2020-21 season when the OHL was shut down due to COVID restrictions, Mutter played three games with the Stockton Heat, recording two penalty minutes in the process.
“The 6’4″ forward has little offensive upside”
The proto-typical Preds forward prospect. :/
His mutter was a Mutter.