The Vegas Golden Knights will sign 30-year-old KHL winger Sakiri Manninen, according to NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman. The deal has not been officially announced by the team, so details of the contract have yet to be disclosed.
Vegas is signing Sakari Manninen, who scored gold medal winner for Finland in Worlds and won at Olympics
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 13, 2022
Vegas also made three depth signings, adding goaltender Michael Hutchinson and forwards Byron Froese and Sheldon Rempal.
A couple more signings for ya ✍️
– Forward Sheldon Rempal has signed a two-year contract
– Forward Byron Froese has signed a two-year contract
– Goaltender Michael Hutchinson has signed a one-year contract #VegasBorn— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) July 14, 2022
In four seasons in the KHL, Manninen scored 68 goals in 211 games while being a force on the power play with his stellar wrist shot. In fact, he scored 46 of his 68 goals on the man advantage during that time.
Manninen is coming off a strong season in which he recorded 19 goals and 32 points in 38 games with the Salavat Yulaev Ufa of the KHL.
Sakari Manninen laukoo kiekon oikeaan yläkulmaan 🔥🇫🇮 2-1🇺🇸 #cmoresportfi #mmkisat #leijonat #makingmiracles pic.twitter.com/nQPbJcAOVF
— C More Sport 🇫🇮 (@CMoreSportFi) May 28, 2022
The 5-foot-8, 179-pound forward won gold medals for Finland in the 2022 IIHF World Championship and the 2022 Olympics, scoring the medal-clinching goal for Team Finland in the Olympics.
Finland’s Sakari Manninen scores on the PP to defeat Team Canada 4-3 in overtime. #IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/fJn2cWNzB8
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 29, 2022
Manninen is an intriguing addition up front and could immensely help the Vegas power play, which has struggled mightily over the past few seasons and will now be without its best finisher in Max Pacioretty.
Hutchinson, 32, signed a one-year, two-way deal worth $750,000 at the NHL level. He has played just 10 NHL games in the last two seasons with Toronto but went 4-2-1 in eight starts in 2020-21, posting a 2.42 goals-against average and .919 save percentage.
Hutchinson has a career record of 55-55-15 with a 2.79 goals-against average, .905 save percentage and six shutouts in 116 starts with Winnipeg, Florida, Toronto and Colorado. He gives Vegas organizational depth in the crease.
Froese and Rempal both signed two-year, two-way deals carrying average annual values of $762,500 at the NHL level.
Froese has played just six NHL games since 2017-18 but scored 20 goals and 37 points in 55 games with the AHL Stockton Heat last year.
Rempal is another solid depth piece who brings solid offensive upside to the Henderson Silver Knights. He scored 33 goals and 69 points in 55 games last year with the Abbotsford Canucks.