Minnesota Wild sign Sam Steel to one-year contract
The Minnesota Wild have signed forward Sam Steel to a one-year contract worth $825k, the team announced on Tuesday.
The #mnwild has signed C Sam Steel to a one-year, $825,000 contract. He collected 20 points (6-14=20) in 68 games with Anaheim in 2021-22. Steel set career-highs in GP and blocked shots (27) and tied his career best in goals for the fourth straight season. https://t.co/jipmHFjXyI pic.twitter.com/TkcRS8tRpN
— Minnesota Wild PR (@mnwildPR) August 30, 2022Steel was selected by the Anaheim Ducks with the No. 30 overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft following a season with the Regina Pats in which he scored 70 points over 72 games. The following season, Steel broke out with 50 goals and led the WHL with 131 points.
After spending one more season with the Pats in the WHL, Steel turned pro in 2018-19. He split that season between the Ducks and their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. With the Gulls, Steel scored 20 goals and 41 points over 53 games, and with the Ducks, he scored 11 points in 22 games.
Since then, Steel hasn’t been able to establish himself as an NHL regular. He’s scored six goals in all four of his seasons in the NHL and his career-high in points is 22, which was set in 2019-20 over the course of 65 games.
Following the conclusion of Steel’s entry-level deal last year, the Ducks inked him to a one-year contract. This summer, Steel was again a restricted free agent, but the Ducks opted not to issue him a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.