The Arizona Coyotes announced today that they signed forward Jan Jenik to a one-year contract for the upcoming season. This marks a drastic turn from what seemed likely a month ago. At the time it was reported that Jenik was seeking a trade after not accepting his qualifying offer, but for now, it appears that his trade request is on hold, although nothing has been reported.
The native of Nymburk, Czech Republic was drafted by the Coyotes in the third round of the 2018 NHL entry draft and has yet to make much of a mark on the NHL. In 17 career games with the Coyotes the 23-year-old has posted just four goals and a single assist while posting a -3. While those numbers don’t jump off the page, context is important as he has a very small sample size and has started almost 61% of his shifts in the defensive zone.
As you would expect, Jenik has had far more success in the AHL as last year he registered seven goals and 16 assists in 30 games with the Tucson Roadrunners. Over the course of his AHL career, Jenik has posted 30 goals and 54 assists in 110 games all with the Roadrunners.
No financial details of the contract have been released and the deal appears to be of the two-way variety. This contract probably wasn’t Jenik’s first choice, but he has stated previously that his dream is to play in the NHL, and this will allow him to become a restricted free agent once again next summer.
“This contract probably wasn’t Jenik’s first choice” but it was his ONLY choice. If he proves his worth. Next year he should see multiple offers. Otherwise, its back to one year deals. He either got some bad advice holding out he doesn’t understand his value.