The Penguins have signed UFA defenseman Sebastian Aho to a two-year deal carrying the league minimal $775K AAV, per a group announcement. Stefen Rosner of NHL.com and The Hockey News was the primary to report the signing Tuesday afternoon.
Aho, 28, isn’t associated to the Hurricanes star middle of the identical title. The left-shot Swede had been a profession Islander up up to now, enjoying in elements of 5 NHL seasons after being drafted by them within the fifth spherical in 2017.
He’d needed to stay round with the Islanders, per Rosner, however both wasn’t supplied an extension or felt he might land a greater deal elsewhere. Whereas he doesn’t get a ton of money in his settlement with Pittsburgh, it’s a one-way deal and provides him some stability by way of 2025-26.
Aho is in his prime and isn’t far more than a run-of-the-mill third-pairing defender, however he has proved he can deal with common NHL motion. He was an everyday on the Isles’ blue line one season in the past, recording a career-high 23 factors in 71 video games with a +9 ranking. He’s a strong puck-mover with good defensive instincts who hasn’t seen minor-league motion since earlier than the pandemic, incessantly giving New York strong depth minutes in his fringe function.
Signing Aho indicators a desire for extra offensively-inclined depth on protection than Pittsburgh had final yr. He, together with current UFA signing Matt Grzelcyk, has extra ceiling and upward mobility than the rotating forged of John Ludvig, Ryan Shea and John St. Ivany that the Pens used in-depth roles final season. For now, he and Grzelcyk mission as a possible backside pairing on opening night time. The aforementioned trio can even be in rivalry for roster spots.
Aho additionally marks a less expensive substitute with the same skillset to Pierre-Olivier Joseph, who was left unqualified over the weekend and have become a UFA. Joseph, 25, has had comparable manufacturing to Aho the previous two years however was due a barely richer qualifying supply of $892.5K and was eligible for wage arbitration.