After making his NHL debut this season with the New York Rangers, Slovak netminder Adam Huska has signed a one-year contract with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in the KHL for 2022-23, as announced by the KHL on Twitter today.
Huska, 25, was a seventh-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft by the Rangers. After the draft, he immediately showed why it was a worthy pick. Huska won the USHL Goaltender of the Year Award and led the league in both goals-against average (1.82) and save percentage (.931) in 37 games with the Green Bay Gamblers.
Then, after a three-year collegiate career with the University of Connecticut, Huska turned pro, primarily spending each of the last three seasons with the Rangers AHL affiliate in Hartford. He had his best AHL season yet in 2021-22, posting a 10-13-6 record and a .902 save percentage in 29 games. He also represented Slovakia at the World Championship for the second straight season, this time as the bona fide starter.
The Rangers didn’t issue him a qualifying offer this offseason, however, making him an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career. With a bit of a higher-upside prospect in Olof Lindbom likely heading to Hartford this season (and Team Canada World Junior goaltender Dylan Garand), there was an organizational crunch for goalie spots. Huska was the odd man out after not displaying great numbers in the AHL the past few seasons, despite the hot start to his development.