<p>The Calgary Flames have locked up one of their most promising college prospects. On Wednesday, the club announced that they&#8217;ve signed forward Aydar Suniev to a three year entry-level contract.</p>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2109" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="328"></div>
<p>Per Sportsnet&#8217;s Pat Steinberg, the first year of the deal burns <em>right away</em>, which means Suniev will be reporting to the NHL club.</p>
<p>According to PuckPedia, here are the terms of the deal:</p>
<ul>
<li>2024-25: $775,000 NHL salary, $95,000 signing bonus, $80,000 games played bonus</li>
<li>2025-26 &amp; 2026-27: $855,000 NHL salary, $95,000 signing bonus</li>
<li>The cap hit is $923,333 at the NHL level.</li>
</ul>
<p>The 20-year-old Suniev just completed his sophomore season with the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Minutemen, and he emerged as one of the better offensive players in the entire NCAA. He posted 20 goals and 18 assists for 38 points through 35 games as a sophomore. (For context, Flames forward Matt Coronato had 20 goals and 16 assists for 36 points in his sophomore year at Harvard, then signed with the Flames afterwards.)</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">AYDAR INKED!</p>
<p>We have signed forward Aydar Suniev to a three-year entry-level contract with an AAV of $923,333!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Flames?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Flames</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/original16beer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@original16beer</a> <a href="https://t.co/W1zVZ015ie">pic.twitter.com/W1zVZ015ie</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) <a href="https://twitter.com/NHLFlames/status/1907531131618209874?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>A product of Kazan, Russia, Suniev&#8217;s signing of an NHL contract represents a big accomplishment that&#8217;s been long in the making. He made the trek from Russia to North American hockey in 2019-20 – before his 15th birthday – and spent time in several different teams and leagues on both sides of the Canada/United States border. (The pandemic and the diplomatic tensions between the western world and Russia due to the Ukraine war undoubtedly added complications to his hockey journey that other players didn&#8217;t have to deal with.)</p>
<p>Partway through 2021-22, Suniev landed with the BCHL&#8217;s Penticton Vees and had a good finish to the season with 20 points in 17 games. The following season, just in time to become eligible for the NHL Draft, Suniev erupted for 90 points over 50 games on a powerhouse Penticton team. <a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2023/06/29/calgary-flames-select-aydar-suniev-at-80th-overall-in-2023-nhl-draft/">He was selected in the third round, 80th overall, by the Flames in the 2023 NHL Draft</a>, using a selection they acquired from New Jersey as part of the Tyler Toffoli trade. Suniev moved onto UMass in 2023-24, where he posted 12 goals and 25 points as a freshman as he learned the collegiate game.</p>
<p><a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2024/08/15/flamesnations-2024-calgary-flames-prospect-rankings-13-aydar-suniev/">Suniev was rated as the 12th-ranked Flames prospect in FlamesNation&#8217;s 2024 summer rankings</a>. We&#8217;re will to wager that he&#8217;ll be higher in this summer&#8217;s edition of that list.</p>
<p><strong>Sponsored by bet365:</strong></p>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="328" data-promotion-id="19111" data-context="web-content-promocard"></div>


The Calgary Flames have locked up one of their most promising college prospects. On Wednesday, the club announced that they've signed forward Aydar Suniev to a three year entry-level contract.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2109" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="328"></div>
Per Sportsnet's Pat Steinberg, the first year of the deal burns <em>right away</em>, which means Suniev will be reporting to the NHL club.

According to PuckPedia, here are the terms of the deal:
<ul>
 	<li>2024-25: $775,000 NHL salary, $95,000 signing bonus, $80,000 games played bonus</li>
 	<li>2025-26 &amp; 2026-27: $855,000 NHL salary, $95,000 signing bonus</li>
 	<li>The cap hit is $923,333 at the NHL level.</li>
</ul>
The 20-year-old Suniev just completed his sophomore season with the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Minutemen, and he emerged as one of the better offensive players in the entire NCAA. He posted 20 goals and 18 assists for 38 points through 35 games as a sophomore. (For context, Flames forward Matt Coronato had 20 goals and 16 assists for 36 points in his sophomore year at Harvard, then signed with the Flames afterwards.)

https://twitter.com/NHLFlames/status/1907531131618209874

A product of Kazan, Russia, Suniev's signing of an NHL contract represents a big accomplishment that's been long in the making. He made the trek from Russia to North American hockey in 2019-20 – before his 15th birthday – and spent time in several different teams and leagues on both sides of the Canada/United States border. (The pandemic and the diplomatic tensions between the western world and Russia due to the Ukraine war undoubtedly added complications to his hockey journey that other players didn't have to deal with.)

Partway through 2021-22, Suniev landed with the BCHL's Penticton Vees and had a good finish to the season with 20 points in 17 games. The following season, just in time to become eligible for the NHL Draft, Suniev erupted for 90 points over 50 games on a powerhouse Penticton team. <a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2023/06/29/calgary-flames-select-aydar-suniev-at-80th-overall-in-2023-nhl-draft/">He was selected in the third round, 80th overall, by the Flames in the 2023 NHL Draft</a>, using a selection they acquired from New Jersey as part of the Tyler Toffoli trade. Suniev moved onto UMass in 2023-24, where he posted 12 goals and 25 points as a freshman as he learned the collegiate game.

<a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2024/08/15/flamesnations-2024-calgary-flames-prospect-rankings-13-aydar-suniev/">Suniev was rated as the 12th-ranked Flames prospect in FlamesNation's 2024 summer rankings</a>. We're will to wager that he'll be higher in this summer's edition of that list.

<strong>Sponsored by bet365:</strong>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="328" data-promotion-id="19111" data-context="web-content-promocard"></div>

Flames sign 2023 third-rounder Aydar Suniev to entry-level contract

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