Winnipeg Jets sign forward Rasmus Kupari to two-year contract
The Winnipeg Jets have signed forward Rasmus Kupari to a two-year contract, the club announced Wednesday afternoon.
Kupari, 23, collected 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) in 66 games with the Los Angeles Kings during the 2022–23 regular season. He did not record a point in six games with the Kings in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Kings traded Kupari — alongside Alex Iafallo, Gabe Vilardi, and a 2024 second-round pick — to the Jets on June 27 in exchange for forward Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Kupari had been a restricted free agent coming off the end of his entry-level contract. His new deal with the Jets runs through the end of the 2024–25 season and carries a $1 million average annual value.
The Kings originally selected Kupari in the first round (No. 20 overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft. The six-foot-two center, who shoots right, spent his first post-draft season with the Liiga club Karpat before entering the Kings’ professional ranks in 2019.
Kupari appeared in his first seven NHL games with the Kings in the 2020–21 season. He established himself as a regular NHL presence the following year, racking up five goals and 13 points in 57 games in 2021–22.
Through 130 career games over parts of three seasons with the Kings, Kupari has collected nine goals and 29 points. He has yet to record a point through 11 career playoff contests.
The Jets previously agreed to terms on a two-year, $3.4 million AAV deal with Vilardi earlier this summer. Iafallo has two years remaining on a four-year deal he signed with the Kings back in 2021.
After signing Kupari, the Jets have two restricted free agents remaining to deal with this off-season, and they’re both defensemen: Logan Stanley and Declan Chisholm remain unsigned with approximately six weeks left until the start of training camps.