Utah HC signs Curtis Douglas to two-year, two-way contract

The Utah Hockey Club has announced that forward Curtis Douglas has signed a two-year, two-way contract, starting with the 2024-25 season.

The deal marks Douglas’ second consecutive NHL contract after previously signing a two-year deal with Toronto back on March 22, 2022.

Drafted 106th overall by the Dallas Stars in 2018, but never signed by the club, Douglas is known for his towering 6-foot-9 frame. Douglas turned pro with the AHL’s Belleville Senators in 2020-21 before spending his first full year in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies the following season. The Oakville, Ontario native had 13 goals and 34 points to go along with 86 penalty minutes in 2021-22, showing he had decent as a middle-six AHL forward.

But Douglas seemingly lost his place in Toronto’s lineup the following year, and after just one assist in 13 games, he was moved to Arizona in a deal that sent Conor Timmins the other way. Douglas has spent the past two seasons with the Tuscon Roadrunners, scoring five goals and 21 points to go along with a career-high 148 penalty minutes in 57 games in 2023-24.

Douglas, 24, has yet to play a regular season game in the NHL. But if he was with Utah, he’d tie Zdeno Chara for the tallest player in league history.

According to CapFriendly, Utah has $15.164 million in projected cap space. Barrett Hayton, Egor Sokolov and Victor Soderstrom are the lone RFAs needing a new deal, with Hayton, the lone NHLer of the three, being the biggest priority. Utah has gone under extreme rennovations in the early days of their franchise, bringing in Mikhail Sergachev, John Marino and Ian Cole to the team’s blueline, among other signings.