Utah Hockey Club sign Kailer Yamamoto to one-year, two-way contract

The Utah Hockey Club announced that they have signed Kailer Yamamoto to a one-year, two-way contract.

Yamamoto joined Utah on a player tryout agreement (PTO) last month. He notched three goals in four preseason games.

The 26-year-old spent the 2023-24 campaign with the Seattle Kraken where he tallied eight goals and eight assists for 16 points in 59 regular-season games.

Yamamoto was originally selected No. 22 overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2017 NHL Draft. He made his NHL debut during the 2017-18 season, registering three assists in nine games. Throughout seven seasons in the NHL with Seattle and Edmonton, Yamamoto has racked up 58 goals and 76 assists for 134 points in 303 regular-season games. Yamamoto has also appeared in 34 Stanley Cup Playoff contests, scoring three goals and nine assists for 12 points.

Prior to turning pro, the Spokane, Washington native spent four seasons with the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) Spokane Chiefs, scoring 105 goals and 186 assists for 291 points in 230 regular-season games. His best season was his draft year in 2016-17, where he racked up 42 goals and 57 assists for 99 points in 65 regular-season games.

Internationally, Yamamoto has represented the United States several times. He won silver with the Under-17 team in 2014, bronze at the U-18 tournament in 2016 and another bronze at the 2018 World Junior Championships; where he played on a team that featured Jeremy Swayman, Brady Tkachuk, Quinn Hughes, Adam Fox and more.

Utah will kick off the 2024-25 campaign with the franchise’s first-ever home game on Tuesday, October 8 against Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks.