Seattle Kraken sign 2022 draftee Jani Nyman to entry-level contract
The Seattle Kraken are slowly building their farm system, two seasons into their NHL life, and they locked up one of their 2022 draftees on an entry-level deal over the weekend. They signed right winger Jani Nyman, 18, to a three-year contract with a cap hit of $923,333 on Sunday. They selected Nyman in the second round of the 2022 NHL Draft at 49th overall. He was their second of four second-round picks they made that year.
Nyman, already a beefy 6-foot-3 and 216 pounds, is a well-rounded offensive forward known to be equally threatening as shooter and passer, though his shot tends to turn heads. Playing against men this season in the Liiga, Finland’s top league, he managed 10 goals 29 games. Only Joakim Kemmell scored more goals in the Liiga among under-19 players. Nyman also competed for Finland at the 2023 World Junior Championship, tallying two goals in five games. In his draft year of 2021-22, he tore up the Mestis, Finland’s No. 2 league, for 18 goals in 34 games to boot.
The Kraken are gradually assembling their farm crop, having completed just two drafts so far in their existence. They landed centers Matty Beniers and Shane Wright with their first two first-round picks in franchise history but have used five second-rounders over that span, landing promising forwards David Goyette and Jagger Firkus, both of whom had strong 2022-23 seasons in major junior. Beniers and Wright, their highest-ceiling talents, are their only draftees to play NHL games to date and Beniers is a Calder Trophy finalist, heavily favored to take home the award later this month at the NHL Awards.
The Kraken are slated to pick 20th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, which begins June 28 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. The Kraken own 10 picks (one of which is conditional), including three more in the second round.