Utah has signed RFA winger Miloš Kelemen to a one-year, two-way deal, per a team release. After spending the last two seasons with the Coyotes, Utah retained Kelemen’s signing rights last week by issuing him a qualifying offer.
The 24-year-old Kelemen made 10 appearances for the Yotes this past season, posting an assist and a -2 rating while averaging 7:41 per game. He’s got a good set of wheels, reaching a top speed of 22.58 mph last season, and has historically demonstrated good scoring ability in the minors and European pro leagues, but that hasn’t translated to NHL action yet. He’s scored only once in 24 games over the past two years on 17 shots in his extremely limited usage.
Things have gone much better in the minors for Kelemen, where he’s served as a solid contributor for AHL Tucson since coming to North America as an undrafted free agent signing by the Yotes in 2022. There, he scored 30 goals and 62 points in 112 games, including 16 goals in 54 games last season.
Utah’s retained almost all of Arizona’s forward group from last season and brought in Kevin Stenlund in free agency, so the chances of Kelemen carving out an NHL role to start the season are slim. Instead, he’ll likely return to Tucson for his third season with the Roadrunners. Prior to coming to the NHL, Kelemen was named the Czech Extraliga Rookie of the Year in 2021-22 and led the league’s playoffs in goals that year with nine in 14 games.