Panthers sign Matt Kiersted on one-year, two-way contract

Florida Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito announced Friday that the club has agreed to terms with defenseman Matt Kiersted on a one-year, two-way contract.

The contract will have an average annual value (AAV) of $775,000. Kiersted is coming off a two-year $1,525,000 contract he signed with the Panthers in 2022.

Kiersted spent the 2023-24 regular season with the Panthers’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate the Charlotte Checkers where he collected four goals and 11 assists for 15 points in 57 games.

The 26-year-old appeared in 20 games with Florida during the 2022-23 NHL season and tallied one goal and four points. He scored his first NHL goal on December 16, 2021, against the Los Angeles Kings. Kiersted has appeared in 37 games over parts of three seasons with the Panthers. In 169 career AHL games with Charlotte, Kiersted has registered 56 points and 161 penalty minutes.

Prior to signing with the Panthers as a free agent in 2021, Kiersted spent four years with the University of North Dakota, helping the team to a 2020-21 National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Title and Penrose Cup. IN 127 NCAA games, Kiersted registered 20 goals and 57 assists for 77 points. He was a finalist for NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year in 2019-20 and in 2020-21 was named an NCHC First Team All-Star.