Utah HC signs forward Egor Sokolov to one-year contract

The Utah Hockey Club has signed forward Egor Sokolov to a one-year, two-way contract, the club announced Tuesday afternoon.

Sokolov, 24, collected 21 goals and 46 points in 71 American Hockey League games with the Belleville Senators during the 2023-24 regular season. The Yekaterinburg, Russia product added four points (one goal, three assists) in seven playoff contests with the club.

Utah HC acquired Sokolov from the Ottawa Senators on July 3 in exchange for forward Jan Jenik. The Senators originally selected Sokolov in the second round (No. 61 overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft.

Sokolov is a 6’3″, 222-pound right wing who spent the first four seasons of his professional career in the Senators organization after being drafted in 2020 as a 20-year-old.

In 13 career NHL games over parts of two seasons with the Senators, Sokolov has collected one goal and one assist. He has yet to make his Stanley Cup Playoff debut; Ottawa has not qualified for the playoffs since 2017.

The Senators drafted Sokolov after his third season of eligiblity, during which he collected 46 goals and 92 points in 52 QMJHL games with the 2019-20 Cape Breton Eagles.

Sokolov immediately emerged as one of AHL Belleville’s leading scorers on a yearly basis and was selected to attend the AHL All-Star Classic on their behalf in 2023. He remains one of Belleville’s all-time leaders in every major statistical category.

With Sokolov now under contract, Utah has just one restricted free agent left to deal with this summer: Victor Soderstrom, the Arizona Coyotes’ first-round pick from 2019. The 5’11” Soderstrom appeared in just three NHL games with the Coyotes during the 2023-24 season.

Utah has been one of the most active teams in the NHL this summer, acquiring Mikhail Sergachev, John Marino, Ian Cole, Kevin Stenlund, and Sokolov through free agency and trades while also drafting Tij Iginla and re-signing Sean Durzi, Barrett Hayton, Michael Kesselring, Juuso Valimaki, and Liam O’Brien.