Despite putting up two straight seasons of more than 40 points, Daniel Sprong’s free agent market last summer could be described as tepid as best. Now, coming off a year that saw him spend time with three different organizations and an extended stint in the minors, it’s fair to suggest that his market is even weaker this time around.
With that in mind, it appears that another option could be on the table for the 28-year-old. Sport-Express’ Mikhail Zislis reports that Sprong is receiving interest from a pair of KHL teams, CSKA Moscow and Avangard Omsk.
Last season, Sprong started the season in Vancouver after inking a one-year, $975K contract with the Canucks nearly three weeks into free agency last summer. However, after playing sparingly with them over the first month of the season, Vancouver flipped the winger to Seattle for future considerations. Considering that his best NHL campaign came back in 2022-23 with the Kraken, the move made sense for Seattle.
Unfortunately for them, he wasn’t able to rediscover that level of success in his second stint with the franchise. Sprong played in just ten games with them before being placed on waivers in January. He cleared, spending the next two seasons with AHL Coachella Valley before being flipped to New Jersey at the trade deadline with the Devils looking for some low-cost depth heading into the playoffs.
Sprong played in 11 regular season games with them, bringing his 2024-25 total to 30 but he only managed two goals and five assists in those appearances, including just two helpers with the Devils. That resulted in Sprong being scratched in four of five postseason contests, a quiet end to a tough year.
Still, Sprong has had some NHL success, tallying 87 goals and 79 assists in 374 games over parts of nine seasons spread across seven different organizations. He’s someone who at this point profiles as a likely PTO candidate before training camps open up in September with a reasonable chance of landing at least a two-way deal. But if Sprong’s preference is to get something more guaranteed before then, it looks like he’ll have a chance to get a guaranteed deal in Russia in the coming weeks.