The Montreal Canadiens have signed former Winnipeg Jets defenceman Sami Niku to a one-year, two-way contract that will pay $750,000 in the NHL and $425,000 in the AHL, with a guaranteed salary of $475,000.
The Jets bought Niku out of the final year of a two-year deal with an average annual value of $725,000 earlier this week.
The 24-year-old from Haapavesi, Finland, played in just six games with the Jets last year and recorded zero points.
He has two goals and eight assists in 54 games over parts of four NHL seasons since he was drafted in the seventh round, 198th overall, by Winnipeg in 2015.
Niku won the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s top defenceman and earned first all-star team and all-rookie team honours after registering 16 goals and 38 assists in 76 games with the Manitoba Moose during the 2017-18 season.
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