Defenceman Sami Niku is back in the fold for the Winnipeg Jets for another two years, after the two sides agreed to a contract worth $1.45 million on Friday.
The new deal for 24-year-old Haapavesi, a native of Finland, carries an average annual value of $725,000 — and he will remain a restricted free agent in 2022 when it expires.
Niku had a less-than-ideal start to his 2019-20 campaign, suffering an injury in a car crash during Jets’ training camp that sidelined him to start the season, one he eventually began with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.
He suited up for the Jets 17 times last season, recording five assists and a -2 rating, to go along with 12 penalty minutes.
In 48 career games with the Jets, he’s scored two goals and added eight assists.
Niku was a 2015 seventh-round draft pick of the Jets, 198th overall.
With Niku now under a new deal for 2021, only Jack Roslovic a Jets forward remains unsigned.
According to salary cap tracking website CapFriendly, the Jets are nearly $700,000 over next year’s $81.5 million salary cap — something allowable under the NHL’s current contract bargaining agreement, which allows teams to go up to 10 per cent over the cap in the off-season.
The Jets still have several options at their disposal to get under that number before the puck drops next year.
After longtime centre Bryan Little was advised by doctors not to play next season as he continues his recovery from a head injury, the Jets could gain some cap relief by moving his contract to long-term injured reserve before the start of the season.
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