San Jose’s busy day continues. After acquiring Devan Dubnyk and Ryan Donato in separate trades from Minnesota, CapFriendly reports in a series of four tweets that they’ve re-signed center Maxim Letunov, defensemen Jacob Middleton and Nicolas Meloche, plus winger Jayden Halbgewachs.
Letunov’s one-year, two-way deal pays $700K in the NHL and $140K at the minor league level. Middleton receives a two-year, two-way pact worth $700K in 2020-21 and $750K in 2021-22 while paying him $225K in the minors both years. Meloche received a one-year, two-way deal worth $700K in the NHL and $100K in the minors while Halbgewachs signed for two years at the league minimum in the NHL ($700K and $750K) while getting $150K and $200K in the minors.
Letunov made his NHL debut this past season, getting into three games with the Sharks where he scored his first career goal. He was also quite productive in the minors, leading the Barracuda in scoring with 12 goals and 28 assists in 50 games, beating his numbers from his rookie season. The 24-year-old is still waiver-exempt but should push for more NHL ice time next year.
Middleton played in 10 games with the Sharks this season, logging just shy of 11 minutes a night on their back end. Most of his campaign was also spent in the minors where he played in 32 games with the Barracuda, recording a goal and five assists. With Brandon Davidson and Dalton Prout both eligible for unrestricted free agency this week, the 24-year-old should move up a couple of notches on the depth chart.
Meloche, 23, has been a stay-at-home defenseman over his three professional seasons but has yet to suit up in the NHL. He was acquired by San Jose last September from Colorado for goaltender Antoine Bibeau and had seven assists in 41 AHL games this past season.
As for Halbgewachs, he was a dominant scorer in the WHL with seasons of 101 and 129 points and has spent the last two years with the Barracuda. He finished only behind Letunov in scoring in the minors this past season with 19 goals and 16 assists in 55 games, equalling his rookie point total in nine fewer games. Like Letunov, the 23-year-old also has one more year of waiver exemption but should push for a chance to be recalled at some point in 2020-21.