The Montreal Canadiens have signed Sami Niku to a one year contract for the upcoming season.
The 24 year old defenceman adds an interesting element to the Canadiens organization. He was recently released from the Winnipeg Jets after his contract was mutually agreed upon to be terminated a year early.
That sounds like a bit of a red flag, but how many defencemen have we seen that want to get out of Winnipeg recently? Dustin Byfuglien, Tyler Myers, Jacob Trouba and Ben Chiarot all left in the same offseason.
For whatever reason, though geography and weather likely play a huge role, NHL players just don’t seem to fall in love with the city of Winnipeg. Perhaps that is what led Sami Niku to fall short of reaching his potential with the club.
That potential was sky high very recently. In his first AHL season, in 2017-18, Niku scored 17 goals and 54 points in 76 games. He was named the AHL’s Best Defenceman that year, and was just 21 years old. He was also chosen to be on the All-Rookie Team and the First AHL All-Star team at season’s end.
Since then, he has been up and down between the NHL and AHL, putting up big numbers in the minor league, but never quite making a big impact at the NHL level.
In total, over the past three seasons, he has played 38 AHL games, scoring six goals and 26 points. At the NHL level, he has played a total of 53 games and scored just one goal and nine points. Still, at the age of 24, it is a little early to write his off and he could work his way into a regular role with the Canadiens quickly.
Niku signed a one-year contract and will have a cap hit of $750,000. It is a two-way contract, however, the Finnish blue liner is guaranteed to make $475,000 next season even if he plays the entire year in the minor leagues. That’s a nice bonus for a young defender, but it also makes it more difficult for teams to claim him on waivers if the Canadiens find it necessary to put him up for grabs.
He would need to clear waivers before being assigned to the Laval Rocket, and that lucrative pay for an AHL level player might scare off a few teams that would otherwise be interested.
Niku has undoubtedly had a hard time finding a full time role at the NHL level. However, his skating and offensive instincts are something the Canadiens could really use on their blue line. If he can find a little more consistency and limit his defensive mistakes, while playing with a smart, defensive partner, he could have a big impact with the Habs.
It is a very low-risk with potentially high reward signing.