The Ducks have signed their top pick from last month’s draft. The team announced that they’ve signed winger Nikita Klepov to a three-year, entry-level contract. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed by the team but PuckPedia reports that it carries a $1.075MM cap hit, a $1.575MM AAV, and breaks down as follows.
Year NHL Salary Signing Bonus Perf. Bonus AHL Salary Year 1 (TBD) $922.5K $102.5K $500K $87.5K Year 2 (TBD) $967.5K $107.5K $500K $87.5K Year 3 (TBD) $1.0125MM $112.5K $500K $87.5K Anaheim wasn’t slated to pick that high on draft night as they came into the evening without a first-round selection. However, they picked up the 15th and 29th picks from St. Louis in a draft night deal that sent Mason McTavish to the Blues.
They used the 15th pick on Klepov and moved up from 29 to 28 to secure Marcus Nordmark, who signed his entry-level deal last week. Klepov had a dominant rookie season with OHL Saginaw last season. He played in 67 games, tallying 37 goals and 60 assists to not only lead the Spirit in scoring, but the whole league as well.
He became the third player to do that and win Rookie of the Year in the same season, joining Patrick Kane (who did so in 2006-07) and Jack Valiquette (1973-74). He added five points in four playoff contests but that wasn’t enough to avoid a sweep at the hands of Kitchener, who went on to win both the OHL title and the Memorial Cup. Back in 2024, Klepov had committed to play at Michigan State University for the 2026-27 season.
However, that is no longer an option thanks to this contract. Given that he’s unable to play full-time in the AHL next season, his options are to stay in junior with Saginaw or to play with Anaheim. If it winds up being the former, his contract will slide and still have three years left on it as long as he plays in nine or fewer games with the Ducks.