The Florida Panthers announced today that they’ve signed forward Jonah Gadjovich to a one-year, one-way NHL contract. The 25-year-old native of Whitby, Ontario played with the San Jose Sharks last season where he dressed in 35 games and registered three goals and four assists.
The contract is a nice development for Gadjovich who previously signed in July with Florida’s AHL affiliate the Charlotte Checkers. That was a one-year AHL contract for the former 2017 second-round pick, but it likely contained an out clause allowing him to sign in the NHL with Charlotte’s parent club.
Gadjovich was non-tendered by the Sharks after last season in a move that wasn’t all that surprising given that he was due a qualifying offer of $787,500 and hadn’t produced much offense in the NHL. While he won’t fill the net for Florida, he will offer some sandpaper to the Panthers. Last season Gadjovich threw 92 hits in the NHL while playing less than nine minutes a night in just 35 games. And while those types of hit numbers usually indicate a player who’s chasing the puck, his underlying analytics don’t paint that picture.
The biggest knock on Gadjovich has been his inability to stay on the ice. Over the last two seasons with San Jose, he dressed in just 78 games and found himself out with injury four separate times. The Panthers are hoping that the big forward can have a change of injury luck and become a rugged fixture in the bottom six for the remainder of this season.
1yr 810k one-way per capfriendly