He was one of the top remaining free agents from the summer of 2024, especially so among defencemen. The right-shot D-man Justin Schultz has signed a contract today. This is a great pickup for the club as Schultz is a reliable, veteran defender who can provide offensive spark. However, given Schultz’s willingness to look for a unique opportunity, the team may come as a surprise within NHL circles. He has signed a one-year deal in Switzerland with HC Lugano.
As reported recently, Justin Schultz was searching for a unique opportunity in the later stages of his career. He's found that with HC Lugano in Switzerland and signed a contract for the remainder of the year.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) October 23, 2024
Justin Schultz Signs a Contract
The 34-year-old Schultz is a 12-year veteran of the NHL. Throughout his career, he has had stretches of great success. His most significant contributions came with the Pittsburgh Penguins during their back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships in 2016 and 2017. Furthermore, this included his best career season personally in 2016-17. That year he scored 12 goals, had 39 assists for 51 points, all three of which were career-highs. Nowadays, his ice time isn’t quite at that level, but he is still very efficient when he is on the ice. At the NHL level, as a depth, third-pairing guy, he provides a lot of the desirable intangibles teams fighting for the playoffs seek. He will do likewise for his new Lugano club.
What Can He Bring to Lugano in 2024-25
His best baseline for his expected performance in 2024-25, comes from his previous two season with the Seattle Kraken. At one point in his career, he was up over 23 minutes a game. However, the past two seasons seen him at 17:47 and 16:28, in 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively. Despite less ice, getting out against teams’ secondary wave of players has proved successful for his continued productivity. His Corsi rating is still very elevated at 9.0 CF% Relative in 2023-24. His points per 60 minutes in the past two years was 1.6 and 1.4. For a defenceman, there’s nothing wrong with that amount. How this translates to the Swiss league exactly is an unknown. However, expect him to be a main contributor to their backend.
Signing Justin Schultz to a contract is a great all-around move. This is the type of signing that competitive teams make. Adding a depth, veteran blueliner with Stanley Cup pedigree, what more could you ask for, especially for a Swiss-league club. He will slot in on the club’s defence and be able to fill most any role. This will be a great pickup for Lugano when it comes to big competitions featuring the top teams.
Main photo: James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports
