The Penguins have re-signed restricted free agent forward Sam Miletic to a one-year, two-way contract worth $700,000.
Miletic, 23, was the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ lone representative to the American Hockey League’s (AHL) All-Star Classic in 2019-20. In his second professional season, he appeared in a team-leading 62 games and scored 34 points (nine goals, 23 assists).
“He’s a really smart player,” general manager Jim Rutherford said by telephone on Saturday. “He has really good hockey sense. He’s still in his development stage of bringing it all together, getting it all together. But with the hockey sense that he has and just continuing to play … he could have a chance.”
By the time the AHL’s season was halted in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, Miletic was manning the left wing on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s second line.
Initially signed as an undrafted free agent in 2017, Miletic (6-foot, 197 pounds) just completed a three-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $710,000. He has yet to play an NHL game.
With Miletic’s signing, the Penguins’ lone remaining unsigned restricted free agent is forward Pontus Aberg. Acquired in an August trade from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Miletic is currently playing for Traktor Chelyabinsk in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League.
