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Utah Signs Tij Iginla To Entry-Level Contract

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The Utah Hockey Club has signed its first-ever selection in franchise history as the organization announced an entry-level contract for forward Tij Iginla. According to PuckPedia, Iginla will earn $877.5K at the NHL level with a signing bonus of $97.5K each season and $1MM worth of ’A’ Performance Bonuses included in each year of the deal.

The son of Hall of Fame forward Jarome Iginla officially joins the new Utah franchise after being selected with the sixth overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft. Iginla has spent the last two years in the Western Hockey League playing for the Seattle Thunderbirds and Kelowna Rockets and may very well end up back in Kelowna for the 2024-25 WHL season. During his rookie campaign in Seattle, Iginla scored six goals and 18 points in 48 games while playing with fellow Utah forward, Dylan Guenther. The Thunderbirds would eventually win the WHL playoffs but Iginla only factored into three games in the first round.

The Thunderbirds traded Iginla to his hometown Kelowna team and he was not viewed as a top draft prospect heading into the 2023-24 campaign. However, Iginla became one of the highest risers in the 2024 NHL Draft after scoring 13 goals and 21 points in the first 12 games of the season. He finished the year with 47 goals and 84 points in 64 games while posting another nine goals and 15 points through 11 postseason contests. Iginla also suited up for Team Canada in the 2024 under-18 World Junior Championship where he collected six goals and 12 points in seven tournament games en route to a gold medal.

Due to the depth up front possessed by Utah entering the 2024-25 season, it is highly unlikely that Iginla will crack the roster. However, after a near 50-goal campaign in the WHL last year, Iginla has little else to prove in major junior. It will be interesting to see where Utah places Iginla for the upcoming season as his development will surely be top of mind as the organization’s new top forward prospect.

Utah Signs Artem Duda To Entry-Level Contract

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July 10: Utah announced the signing Wednesday morning.

July 9: The Utah Hockey Club has signed defenseman Artem Duda to a three-year entry-level contract (as per PuckPedia). The 20-year-old was the Arizona Coyotes second-round pick in 2022 (36th overall) and spent last season at Toronto Metropolitan University, where he tallied two goals and five assists in 12 games.

The two-way defenseman’s contract comes in with an average annual value of $950K at the NHL level and a salary of $82,500 if he plays in the American Hockey League. It also includes a $95K signing bonus.

The Moscow native was supposed to play at the University of Maine this past season but was deemed ineligible by the NCAA due to his time spent in the KHL. He made several unsuccessful appeals and eventually pivoted to playing in USports Hockey for the second half of the season.

Duda will likely find his way onto the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL as Utah has acquired defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino this offseason which has pushed him down the team’s depth chart. He is an excellent skater and has good size, but won’t wow people with his offensive skills or his shot. However, he is a good passer and is poised with the puck on his stick. Given his skill set, Duda should find his way into the NHL before the end of his ELC.

Utah Signs Egor Sokolov To Two-Way Contract

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The Utah Hockey Club has signed forward Egor Sokolov to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal was first reported by Mike Gould of Daily Faceoff (Twitter link). Utah acquired Sokolov from the Ottawa Senators on July 3rd, sending forward Jan Jenik the other way.

This deal will mark Sokolov’s first move away from the Senators organization after the club selected him in the second round of the 2020 NHL Draft, after a breakout year in the QMJHL, with 92 points, split evenly, in just 52 games. He turned pro immediately following the draft, recording 15 goals and 25 points in his first 35 games with the Belleville Senators. That production earned Sokolov the first eight NHL games of his career in 2021, though he went without any scoring. Still, he’s maintained his strong offense at an AHL level, ranking in the top three of Belleville’s scoring in each of the last three seasons. That notably includes a career year in 2022-23, when Sokolov managed 21 goals and 59 points in 70 games. He once again earned NHL games with the high-scoring, netting two points in five additional games with Ottawa.

Sokolov again recorded 21 goals this season, though he was limited to 46 total points in 71 games. A hefty, shoot-first winger, he’s still finding how to create and maintain tempo at the pro level, though Sokolov has shown a strong ability to produce on both a juniors and minor-league stage. A two-way deal will give him a chance to prove that potential with the NHL’s newest club this season, though he may have to first work his way up from the minor leagues.

Tucson Roadrunners Re-Sign Three Players

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Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports reports the Tucson Roadrunners of the American Hockey League have brought back a trio of players for the 2024-25 AHL season. Goaltender Dylan Wells and forwards Ryan McGregor and Hunter Drew will all be back with the Roadrunners next year on one-year AHL contracts.

Wells and Drew are the only individuals of the trio that have made their NHL debut with Wells making one start in 2023 with the Chicago Blackhawks and Drew making his a year earlier with the Anaheim Ducks. The goaltender has almost a decade of experience at the professional level between the AHL and ECHL. Overall, Wells has produced a record of 26-23-7 in 60 AHL games throughout his career while posting a .898 save percentage and 3.20 goals against average. He will likely continue his role as backup goaltender for Tucson behind Matt Villalta.

Drew has become quite the enforcer in the minor leagues as he’s accrued 452 penalty minutes in 223 games split between the Roadrunners, San Diego Gulls, and Rockford IceHogs. He usually produces mildly on the offensive side of the puck but did register 10 goals for Tucson last season in a fine year for secondary/tertiary scoring.

McGregor, the former captain of the OHL’s Sarnia Sting, has become an effective bottom-six forward in Tucson. McGregor was originally drafted by the Maple Leafs in the sixth round of the 2017 NHL Draft but only suited up in four games for the Toronto Marlies before the organization decided not to keep him around. Since then, McGregor has scored 20 goals and 54 points for the Roadrunners in 156 games over the last four years.

Utah Signs Barrett Hayton To Two-Year Contract

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As alluded to earlier today, the Utah Hockey Club has signed Barrett Hayton to a two-year contract according to a team announcement. The contract will pay Hayton $2.65MM each year of the deal and will not include performance or signing bonuses.

In the press release the general manager of Utah, Bill Armstrong, said, “We are very pleased to sign Barrett to an extension. Barrett is a reliable two-way center who is strong in the face-off circle and is a great complement down the middle to our high-skilled forwards. We look forward to having him back with our organization“.

The extension for Hayton strikes as a modest commitment from the team as they hope he will be able to reach his draft expectations as the formal fifth overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft. Hayton has inarguably failed to reach his offensive ceiling compared to his time with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League, but has shown promising talents on the defensive side of the puck.

There was some optimism following the 2022-23 NHL season that Hayton could become more of a legitimate top-six option after scoring 19 goals and 43 points in 82 games but injuries prohibited any meaningful steps forward this past season. In mid-November of the 2023-24 NHL season, Hayton suffered an upper-body injury in a game against the Dallas Stars that was originally only meant to keep him out of the lineup for a maximum of six weeks. Unfortunately, Hayton experienced a setback in his recovery which prolonged his return to nearly three months after the initial injury.

Because of his setback in the recovery process, Hayton was limited to 33 games last season where he mustered three goals and 10 points in total. Hayton still showed promising results on the defensive side of the puck despite the lagging offensive output as he achieved a 49.6% faceoff rate in the dot and a 56.0% CorsiFor% (ranking first on the team for players with 25+ games).

Utah should have sufficient depth to bump Hayton down to a middle-six role to start next season and use him in more favorable matchups. Logan Cooley is poised for more responsibility after a solid 2023-24 season which should take some stress away from Hayton down the middle. If he can stay healthy, Hayton should improve upon his previous output after a lost season.

Utah Making Progress With Barrett Hayton, No Word On Victor Soderstrom

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After an aggressive start to the offseason the Utah Hockey Club still has some work to do regarding a pair of restricted free agents. Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports reports Utah is closing in on a deal with forward Barrett Hayton and there has been no progress towards a new contract for defenseman Victor Soderstrom.

Hayton looked to be moving into the second-line center position for the 2023-24 NHL season after posting strong numbers in 2022-23. The former fifth-overall pick scored 19 goals and 43 points for the now-defunct Arizona Coyotes in 82 games while achieving a 51.1% success rate in the faceoff dot. Unfortunately, the 2023-24 season was not as kind to Hayton as he wasn’t able to get much consistency while dealing with injuries. In a major step backward in his development, Hayton posted three goals and 10 points in 33 games even while starting his shifts in the offensive zone 56.6% of the time.

Soderstrom spent most of the year with the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. In 62 games at the AHL level, Soderstrom scored nine goals and 32 points which tied him in fourth on the team in scoring and first amongst defensemen. The former 11th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft may be serviceable as an extra defenseman on a revamped Utah blue line for the 2024-25 NHL season but could become a trade candidate towards the end of the offseason. Soderstrom has proven to be a quality offensive defenseman in the minor leagues and may be looking for a legitimate opportunity at the NHL level which has not come yet.

Other Central notes:

  • The Minnesota Wild have loaned prospect Rasmus Kumpulainen to the Lahden Pelicans of the Finnish Liiga where he is also signing a two-year contract according to the team. Minnesota drafted Kumpulainen with the 53rd overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft out of the Pelicans’ farm system where he had spent all of his professional career. The young Finnish prospect spent last year with the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League where he scored 28 goals and 56 points in 58 games and will now return to his hometown team to continue his development.
  • In a ’first-of-its-kind’ move from the Dallas Stars organization; the team announced it had severed its ties with Diamond Sports Group for broadcasting the team’s games on television and will enter a seven-year agreement with A Parent Media Co. Inc. (APMC). In conjunction with the new broadcasting agreement, APMC and the Stars organization have set up a new streaming service named VICTORY+ which will allow in-market fans of the team to stream the games for free. In regards to the new methods of distributing game content, President of the Dallas Stars and CEO Brad Alberts said, “After years of researching the right solution and careful planning with our partners at APMC, we’re proud to announce this pioneering streaming platform that will literally change the game for sports distribution on VICTORY+“.

Utah Signs Curtis Douglas

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The Utah Hockey Club has signed forward Curtis Douglas to a two-year, two-way contract extension. The details of the contract have not been disclosed.

Douglas was originally drafted by the Dallas Stars in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Draft. He played in the OHL for two seasons after his draft year, before spending the 2020-21 pandemic season with Austria’s Linz Steel Wings of the Alps Hockey League. It was Douglas’ first taste of professional hockey and he managed it well, recording 12 points in 16 games before joining the AHL in the year’s second-half.

Douglas was originally drafted by the Dallas Stars in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Draft. He played in the OHL for two seasons after his draft year, ultimately ending his juniors career left unsigned by Dallas. In response, Douglas moved to Austria’s Alps Hockey League for the 2020-21 pandemic season. It was his first taste of professional hockey and he managed it well, recording 12 points in 16 games while negotiating an amateur try-out agreement with the AHL’s Belleville Senators. He joined Belleville in the year’s second half, ultimately posting four points, eight penalty minutes, and a +6 in his first 11 AHL games.

That was enough of a showing to earn Douglas a contract with the Toronto Marlies for the following season. Under that deal, Douglas managed a career-high 13 goals and 34 points in 67 games – adding 86 penalty minutes to boot. But a midseason move to the Tuscon Roadrunners in the following year stalled out his scoring. Douglas has been much more of an intimidator now with Tuscon, totaling a whopping 267 penalty minutes across his 107 games with the club. That averages out to 2.5 penalty minutes each game.

And while Douglas seems far from the NHL lineup after his 21 points this season, his standout size and grit have proven worth investing in. With a new deal in place, he’ll plan to return to Tuscon next season, and hopefully find the scoring touch that’s eluded him over the last two years.

Utah Signs Jaxson Stauber To Two-Way Deal

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The Utah Hockey Club has signed goaltender Jaxson Stauber to a two-way contract, per a team announcement. He’ll participate in Utah’s first-ever training camp after being non-tendered by the Blackhawks last week.

Stauber’s NHL résumé consists of six games with Chicago in the 2022-23 season. He spent all of last year on assignment to AHL Rockford, where he had a .902 SV%, 2.85 GAA, two shutouts and an 18-8-3 record in 31 games.

An undrafted free agent signing by the Hawks out of Providence College in 2022, the 25-year-old Stauber has been largely solid since turning pro but didn’t have much of a future in Chicago with the younger, higher-ceiling trio of Drew Commesso, Adam Gajan and Arvid Söderblom also in the mix. He fared well in his limited NHL stint with the Hawks, posting a 5-1-0 record with a .911 SV% and 2.81 GAA.

Utah already has their NHL goaltending tandem set with Connor Ingram and Karel Vejmelka. That means Stauber is likely destined for waivers during training camp en route to beginning the season with AHL Tucson, where he’ll split duties with Matt Villalta, who’s signed through 2025-26.

They also have 21-year-old UDFA signing Anson Thornton under contract, but injuries limited him to just 13 combined AHL and ECHL games last season, and he didn’t perform well at either level. He needs more seasoning, and Utah will find a home for him in the low-level minors. Stauber thus serves as a one-year bridge with Villalta until Thornton or one of their high-end goalie prospects, Michael Hrabal and Rasmus Korhonen, sign their ELCs.

Senators Acquire Jan Jeník From Utah

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Utah has traded RFA forward Jan Jeník to the Senators, per a team announcement. Another unsigned RFA, forward Egor Sokolov, is heading to Utah in exchange for Jeník.

Jeník, 24 in September, had been with the Coyotes organization since being drafted in the third round in 2018. He’s never broken into a full-time NHL role, although he does have 22 games of experience over the past four seasons. He’s notched four goals and two assists, and a -4 rating in that time, averaging just 9:51 per game.

The Czech forward has been solid on the farm with AHL Tucson, though, peaking with 47 points in 51 games two years ago. He’s put up top-six numbers since, finishing this season with 16 goals and 36 points in 55 games. The move had been a long time coming – he was seeking trade options as far back as last August – and now gets the fresh start he desires in Ottawa.

Utah acquires a player just a few months older in Sokolov, although he wasn’t drafted until 2020 as an over-age selection in the second round. Like Jeník, he’s posted strong AHL numbers without getting an extended NHL look. He trailed off somewhat this past season, though, scoring 21 goals and 46 points in 71 games. It was his lowest per-game average with AHL Belleville since turning pro four years ago.

Both players need new deals, but they’ll come in as cheap two-way agreements over the next little while. The chances of either making their new teams’ rosters are slim, although Jeník arguably has a better chance with Ottawa’s slimmer forward depth and their need for players on six-figure cap hits.

Utah Re-Signs Milos Kelemen To Two-Way Deal

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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.

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