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Two-year contract for Nieto

July 6, 2018, 6:27 PM ET [11 Comments]
Rick Sadowski
Colorado Avalanche Blogger •Avalanche Insider • RSSArchiveCONTACT
So much for salary arbitration.

The Avalanche announced they’ve signed forward Matt Nieto to a two-year contract Friday, one day after he filed for arbitration.

The deal is worth $3.95 million, according to capfriendly.com, for an annual salary cap hit of $1.975 million. He was coming off a one-year, $1 million contract.

Nieto, 25, was a restricted free agent. The Avalanche had tendered a qualifying offer to retain his rights.

Nieto scored a career-high 15 goals last season, five more than he had with the San Jose Sharks in 2013-14 and 2014-15. He had 26 points in 74 games and three assists in six playoff games.

"Matt brings speed and offensive depth to our lineup," general manager Joe Sakic said in a release. "He adds a lot of energy to our team and was a big part of our penalty kill this past season. We're excited to have him back for the next two years."

Nieto spent most of the season on a line with Carl Soderberg and Blake Comeau. Newly-signed Matt Calvert could replace Comeau, who was an unrestricted free agent and signed a three-year contract with Dallas.

Nieto, who is from Long Beach, Calif., was claimed off waivers from San Jose on Jan. 5, 2017. He has 37 points (22 goals, 15 assists) in 117 games with the Avalanche, 107 points (50 goals, 57 assists) in 338 career NHL games with 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 29 career playoff games.

The Sharks’ second-round pick (No. 47) in the 2011 NHL draft, Nieto played college hockey at Boston University, where he had 102 points (44 goals, 58 assists) in 115 games.

Nieto played for the U.S. National Team Development Program from 2008-10. He won gold medals with Team USA at the 2009 and 2010 IIHF Under-18 World Championships.



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