The Vegas Golden Knights had themselves quite the busy Saturday when they signed five of their players to new deals totaling nearly $17 million. Three of the five were the team’s first round picks from the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
Vegas Golden Knights Sign Three First Rounders, Two Others New Deals
The first signing they made was forward Brendan Leipsic, selected from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Expansion Draft. Leipsic has played in six NHL games so far in his career putting up a goal and an assist. However, he’s played 188 AHL games scoring 57 goals and adding 107 assists for 159 career points thus far. The deal is worth $1.3 Million for the two years which works out to an annual average of $650,000 per season.
Next, the team signed Griffin Reinhart, who was picked up from the Edmonton Oilers. Reinhart has played in 37 games so far in the NHL only putting up two assists in the process. Like Leipsic though, he has played significant time in the AHL appearing in 143 games tallying 16 goals and 37 assists for 53 points. He too received a two-year contract but his pay was a tad higher at $1.6 million which works out to $800,000 per season.
NEWS: We have signed Cody Glass, Nick Suzuki and Erik Brannstrom to three-year, entry level contracts.
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— 🏆 – Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) July 15, 2017
The Knights also signed defenseman Erik Brannstrom who was selected in the first round 15th overall. His contract is a standard entry level deal worth $4,125 million for three years. He has a shot to make the roster but if he doesn’t he can opt to play either back home in Sweden or the AHL. He posted just one goal and six assists for HV71 in the SHL, but is just 17 years old playing in a men’s league with glorious room to improve.
They also signed Nick Suzuki who was taken two picks before Brannstrom at 13th overall. It’s unlikely that Suzuki makes the Vegas roster next season, but signing him was a very important thing to do in terms of housekeeping. His deal is also an entry level contract worth a bit more than Brannstrom’s at $4.6 million with an annual average value of $1,542,166 per season. He was one of the more electrifying players in the OHL last year, scoring 45 goals and 96 points in 65 games for the Owen Sound Attack.
And finally they signed 6th overall selection Cody Glass to an entry level deal as well, and it’s also expected that he too returns to junior for another season. The 6’2” center received an entry level deal from the club worth $5.325 million over the course of the next three seasons which works out to $1.775 million per season. This past season for the Portland Winterhawks, he scored 32 goals and 94 points in 69 games.
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