Since making his professional debut in the 2012-13 season, forward Michael Chaput has been a quality depth contributor for five NHL franchises. In 445 career AHL games, Chaput has 292 points, and he also has nearly 200 NHL games on his resume.
Now, Chaput will continue his professional career overseas. Kazakhstan’s KHL club, Barys Astana, announced today that they’ve signed Chaput to a one-year contract.
Chaput signs this deal after a moderately successful 2021-22 campaign. While he was a solid contributor for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, scoring 33 points in 57 games, Chaput didn’t find his way into any NHL games. That marked 2021-22 as Chaput’s first season since his rookie pro season in 2012-13 where he couldn’t crack an NHL lineup at least once.
Now 30 years old, Chaput will head to Kazakhstan likely with the goal of playing well and earning a shot in an NHL training camp next fall. Chaput will join Linden Vey, Jeremy Bracco, Nelson Nogier, and Chris Bigras as former members of NHL organizations now looking to help Barys Astana (four wins, six losses through ten games) make the KHL’s playoffs.