The Calgary Flames have re-signed defenceman Yan Kuznetsov to a one-year, two-way contract, the club announced Monday afternoon.
Kuznetsov, 22, collected five goals, 13 points, and 27 penalty minutes in 63 AHL games with the Calgary Wranglers during the 2023-24 regular season. The 6’4″, 209-pound left-handed defenceman added one goal in six playoff contests with the club.
The Flames originally drafted Kuznetsov out of the University of Connecticut in the second round (No. 50 overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft. The Murmansk, Russia product has appeared in 144 AHL games with the Wranglers and Stockton Heat over the last four seasons and also skated in his first NHL game with the Flames in 2023-24.
Kuznetsov’s new two-way contract with the Flames will see him be paid a $775,000 salary for the time he spends in the NHL during the 2024-25 season. The Flames did not specify how much Kuznetsov will earn if he plays with the Wranglers again this year, but sources tell FlamesNation that the AHL salary on the deal is $100,000, a decent raise from the $70,000 Kuznetsov earned on his entry-level deal.
Kuznetsov racked up three goals and 17 points in 50 games over two seasons at UConn and also played with Team Russia at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship before turning pro with the Heat at the end of the 2020-21 campaign.
The big Russian defender spent the remainder of that season and the first part of the next one as a reserve player with Stockton before joining the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs for the stretch drive in 2021-22, ultimately helping the team win the Memorial Cup that year alongside fellow Flames prospect Jeremie Poirier.
Kuznetsov subsequently became an AHL regular with the Wranglers in the 2022-23 season, collecting five goals and 19 points in 63 games as a rookie. He added two assists in five games during the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs.
The Flames made use of 15 different defencemen during the 2023-24 regular season, and Kuznetsov became one of them when he made his NHL debut against the Ottawa Senators on January 9. Wearing No. 37, Kuznetsov logged 11:58 of ice time over 16 shifts and fired two shots on goal in his only NHL game of the season.
Much like forward Adam Klapka, who also signed a one-year extension with the Flames on Monday, Kuznetsov enters the 2024-25 season exempt from waivers and could be demoted to the Wranglers at any point without any other team being able to claim him. He’ll likely be competing with the likes of Poirier, Ilya Solovyov, and Artem Grushnikov for NHL playing time this coming season.
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