The Wild announced on Wednesday that they had signed forward prospect Marat Khusnutdinov to a two-year entry-level contract. According to team and league sources, the deal is for the maximum allowable base salary of $925,000, plus performance bonuses in year two.
According to a source close to the 2020 second-round pick, his representatives got signed documentation for a mutual contract termination with KHL Sochi on Wednesday morning. They had to check it to ensure that it met the conditions for a contract release before signing with the Wild officially. Even though Sochi’s season had concluded, Khusnutdinov’s contract was valid until April 30.
The Wild will cancel his contract for the first year and have him report to Minnesota once his work visa and immigration paperwork are completed in the United States. The paperwork process has commenced.
During that time, the Wild will have the option of designating Khusnutdinov as non-roster, according to an NHL source. While his pro-rated average yearly value will count against the cap, it will give the Wild time to make roster changes. They are now at the limit of 23 players, therefore in order to fit Khusnutdinov on the roster, they must place a player on waivers, trade a player, or experience an injury that requires the player to be placed on injured reserve.
If Khusnutdinov’s work visa is not completed by the March 8 trade deadline, all of this becomes irrelevant because teams can exceed the 23-player roster restriction after the deadline as long as they remain cap-compliant. He would still be postseason eligible as long as his NHL contract was finalized.
Wild general manager Bill Guerin told The Athletic that he wants Khusnutdinov to play and contribute, but they will do “the right thing for the team.” Guerin realizes that his club is fighting for a postseason place, and that coach John Hynes would stick with the players he trusts the most.
Khusnutdinov will wear No. 22 for the Wild.
“He’s been playing in the KHL for the past four seasons and has played over 160 games in total,” said Brad Bombardir, director of player development. “At only 21 years old, he already has valuable experience playing in a very competitive and skilled league. Some claim that it is the world’s second-best league. That experience, combined with his overall role, particularly over the last two seasons, should help his game transition over here. Plus, he’s competitive and plays responsibly away from the puck, which should help.
“However, Marat is still experiencing a significant transition, both in terms of hockey quality and new surroundings. It is critical that we all acknowledge this and remain patient with his development and growth. He’s only 21 years old and has lots of room to improve his game.”
The Wild see Khusnutdinov growing into a middle-six center and believe he is ready for the NHL. He has 162 regular-season and 32 playoff games of men’s league experience and plays a mature 200-foot game. He’s versatile enough to play anywhere in the lineup, is strong away from the puck, is extremely fast, a ball of energy, a 50% faceoff guy in the KHL, and has the ability to make plays.
“He skates very well, can push the pace of a game and gets on pucks quickly,” Bombardir told reporters. “He can use his feet to keep things alive offensively and has demonstrated offensive support. We still believe he has room to improve on the offensive side of the puck. He can be overly responsible in the offensive zone at times, but he should trust his skating skills more and be active in pushing offensive-zone puck play.”
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