The Kraken have signed one of their draft picks from 2022 as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve signed forward Jani Nyman to a three-year, entry-level contract. The deal will carry an AAV of $950K and breaks down as follows:
2023-24: $775K salary, $95K signing bonus, $80K games played performance bonus
2024-25: $855K salary, $95K signing bonus
2025-26: $855K salary, $95K signing bonus
The 18-year-old was a second-round pick last year (49th overall) following a strong season in Finland’s second-tier Mestis league. This season, Nyman moved up to the SM-liiga, the top division in Finland, on a full-time basis and didn’t look out of place playing for Ilves, scoring 10 goals in 29 games while averaging over 12 minutes a night. He also suited up for the Finns at the World Juniors, picking up two goals and an assist in three games.
Nyman still has one year left on his deal with Ilves and it seems likely that Seattle will opt to let him stay and play at home for next season. If that happens, his contract will slide, meaning it will still have three years left on it heading into the 2024-25 season.
TopDownHockey has a high outlook for him:
– 78% chance of becoming a full time NHLer (play in > 200 games in meaningful minutes)
– 11% chance of becoming a star (top 18.5% WAR)
Good for 41st out of 683 prospects and 45th in chance of becoming a star.
I tried looking into topdown and I didn’t get anything past 2021 draft