The Capitals have re-signed left-shot defenseman Hardy Häman Aktell and right winger Riley Sutter to two-way deals, according to a team release. Both contracts carry $775K cap hits with a $350K AHL salary for Häman Aktell and a $150K AHL salary for Sutter.
Häman Aktell, who turns 26 tomorrow, returns for his second season in North America after signing a one-year entry-level contract with the Caps last offseason. Nashville’s 2016 fourth-round pick never signed with the Preds, staying in his native Sweden up until last season and letting his exclusive signing window lapse.
It took a while for Häman Aktell to land an everyday role in the top-level Swedish Hockey League, but upon doing so in 2020, he immediately became a part of a strong Växjö Lakers club that won two SHL titles in the span of three seasons. Between the 2020-21 and 2022-23 campaigns, Häman Aktell recorded 63 points (17 goals, 46 assists) in 151 games along with a +40 rating.
His first season with the Caps was unimpressive, though. He spent most of it on assignment to AHL Hershey, where he didn’t make as much of an impact offensively as expected, with only 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in 55 regular-season games. A rash of injuries on the Washington blue line early in the season did give Häman Aktell the chance at his NHL debut, recording an assist and a -2 rating in six appearances while averaging an extremely limited 10:38 per game.
He ended his season on a high note, though, breaking out for five goals and four assists in 17 postseason games as he helped guide Hershey to its second straight Calder Cup. His signing rights stuck with the Caps as an RFA this summer after they issued him a qualifying offer prior to the June 30 deadline.
Sutter, 24, will return for his sixth campaign in Hershey next season. A third-round pick of the Caps in 2018, he’s yet to make his NHL debut but has garnered over $700K in estimated career earnings (CapFriendly) and has played a depth role in Hershey’s back-to-back championships. The son of NHL veteran Ron Sutter had a career-high nine goals and 23 points in 66 games for the Bears last season and is one of their biggest bodies at 6’4″ and 207 lbs. Like Häman Aktell, Washington had issued him a qualifying offer to keep him as an RFA.