Montana Onyebuchi

The Utah Mammoth have signed bruising depth defenseman Montana Onyebuchi to a two-year, two-way contract extension. The deal will carry a league-minimum, $775K salary at the NHL level. Onyebuchi was set to become a restricted free agent on Tuesday.

Onyebuchi has yet to make his NHL debut, but he’s found a niche as the hard-hitting presence backing the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners. He stands at an imposing 6-foot-3, 220 pounds and used that size to rival Curtis Douglas for the Roadrunners’ lead in penalty minutes over the last two seasons. This year, Onyebuchi posted 10 points and 112 penalty minutes through 64 appearances. That mark falls just shy of the mammoth 145 penalty minutes he recorded in 49 games last season, to go along with nine points.

The bruising role has long been a familiar one for Onyebuchi. He played his junior hockey years in the WHL and routinely rivaled one penalty per game on average. That presence peaked in the 2018-19 season — his age-19 season — when Onyebuchi amassed 122 penalty minutes and 20 points through 66 games with the Kamloops Blazers. He’d continue to post high-end PIMs through the next two WHL seasons, doing just enough to catch the eyes of the San Jose Sharks organization ahead of the 2021-22 campaign. San Jose signed Onyebuchi to a minor-league contract and he quickly brought his imposing presence to the pro flight — racking up 137 PIMs in 46 games of his AHL rookie season, a mark that was underlined by his 20 PIMs in eight ECHL games that season as well.

While hard-hits and time in the penalty box are the core of Onyebuchi’s game, his presence in the lineup has still proven invaluable. He recorded an assist and no PIMs in three games of the Calder Cup Playoffs this season. A two-year deal will put Onyebuchi back on the path to carving out an everyday role with the Roadrunners, and will continue to make him an option should be the Mammoth ever need a fighter at the top flight.

Jul 11: Arizona has confirmed the two-year agreement over a week later.

Jul 2: The Coyotes are set to add to their prospect pool as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that Arizona is signing defenseman Montana Onyebuchi to an entry-level deal.  As a 23-year-old, that should be a two-year agreement for Onyebuchi; financial terms are not yet known.

The blueliner went undrafted after a five-year WHL career between Everett and Kamloops but landed in San Jose’s system in 2021 on an AHL contract.  After splitting the season between the Barracuda and Orlando of the ECHL, Onyebuchi again inked a one-year AHL pact with the Barracuda.  Last season, he put up three goals and seven assists in 35 games while picking up 73 penalty minutes.

Since the start of free agency yesterday, we’ve seen a handful of players that were on minor league contracts earn NHL entry-level deals with new organizations and it appears that Onyebuchi will be the next to do so.  He’ll push for playing time with AHL Tucson, Arizona’s affiliate, next season in the hopes of moving up their depth chart.