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Otto Salin

Los Angeles Kings Sign Otto Salin

at CDT | by 2 Comments

Apr. 1: PuckPedia provided an overview of Salin’s three-year entry-level contract:

  • Year 1: $775K salary, $87.5K signing bonus, $12.5K unspecified games played bonus
  • Year 2: $775K salary, $87.5K signing bonus, $12.5K unspecified games played bonus
  • Year 3: $812.5K salary, $87.5K signing bonus

Mar. 31: Over the weekend, a report from Mayor’s Manor suggested that the Kings were on the verge of signing defenseman Otto Salin to an entry-level deal.  That deal is indeed now done, with the team announcing that they’ve signed Salin to a three-year contract that begins next season.  While not confirmed by the team, it’s expected that he’ll join AHL Ontario on a tryout deal, allowing him to play with the Reign down the stretch.

The 21-year-old was a fifth-round pick by Los Angeles back in 2022, going 148th overall in a season riddled by some injuries.  To that point, Salin had primarily played in Finland’s junior level but he has played exclusively in the pros since then.

Salin spent most of his post-draft year with HIFK at the top Liiga level while getting into a handful of Mestis games (minor league level) as well.  He split time between the two levels last season as well while only managing six assists in 29 games with HIFK.

This season, his fortunes changed for the better.  Salin notched eight goals and 20 assists in 56 games during the regular season with TPS while averaging 17:32 per game.  He added two goals and two assists in five postseason contests in over 23 minutes per night of playing time before being eliminated by SaiPa, a decent way to cap off his season.  That was good enough to earn an NHL contract while likely getting his feet wet in the minors in the days to come as well.

West Notes: Salin, Buchnevich, Kupari

at CDT | by 2 Comments

Should everything go according to plan, the Los Angeles Kings are expected to sign Otto Salin to an entry-level contract this weekend (Twitter Link). Salin has reportedly already landed in Los Angeles, and he’s expected to join the Kings’ AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, for the remainder of the season.

Los Angeles selected Salin with the 148th overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft. That season, the native of Helsinki, Finland, scored four goals and 12 points in 11 games for HIFK 20 of the U20 SM-sarja league, and another one assist in six games for HIFK’s Liiga team.

He posted similar results for HIFK and TPS during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons but has found another level to his game this year. The right-handed defenseman finished seventh on the team in scoring (second among defensemen), scoring eight goals and 20 assists in 56 contests, including the goal that clinched TPS’s spot in the 2024-25 Liiga playoffs. Unfortunately, their postseason run ended relatively quickly, with SaiPa besting them in the first-round matchup in five games.

Other notes from the NHL’s Western Conference:

  • The St. Louis Blues will have an important top-six forward back in the lineup tomorrow night against the Colorado Avalanche. According to Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic, Pavel Buchnevich feels “really good” and will return from his illness-related four-game absence. While Buchnevich’s significance to the Blues’ offense is undeniable, his absence from the lineup seems to have gone unnoticed by the team. Despite being on a winning streak before Buchnevich exited the lineup, St. Louis managed a 4-0-0 record without him, averaging 4.25 goals per game.
  • Although he returned from concussion protocol a few days ago, Winnipeg Jets’ color analyst, Mitchell Clinton, reports forward Rasmus Kupari has suffered a setback and will miss the next few days. It’s been another difficult year for the former 20th overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft, who’s registered five goals and three assists in 59 games for the Jets. Still, it’s an improvement over last year’s numbers, when Kupari tallied only one assist in 28 contests.

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