Utah NHL team signs forward Noel Nordh to entry-level contract
The Utah NHL team has signed forward prospect Noel Nordh to a three-year, entry-level contract, CapFriendly reported Saturday evening.
Nordh, 19, became the first player to officially sign a contract with the Utah team since it relocated from Arizona in April. The Arizona Coyotes originally selected Nordh in the third round (No. 72 overall) of the 2023 NHL Draft.
The 6’2″ left wing spent the majority of the 2023–24 regular season with Brynäs IF in the second-tier Allsvenskan league in Sweden, collecting six goals and 15 points in 50 games. Additionally, he racked up 10 goals and 22 points in 15 games with Brynäs’ U20 affiliate team.
The Coyotes originally acquired the draft pick they used to select Nordh from the Washington Capitals in exchange for forward Johan Larsson ahead of the 2022 trade deadline.
Noel Nordh #Yotes
3 year entry-level
$865k cap hit | $900k AAV
Breakdown each season:
$775k base + $90k SB + $35k GP PBhttps://t.co/pTr6jUn0eG
Nordh’s contract with Utah will take effect in the 2024–25 season. He’ll be eligible to play in the American Hockey League immediately but could remain in Sweden for another year while on loan from Utah.
Born on January 25, 2005, Nordh is one of the oldest players eligible to participate at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa this coming winter, but it remains to be seen whether he’ll be picked to play for Team Sweden.
Nordh is the first member of the Coyotes’ 2023 NHL Draft class to sign a contract with the newly-relocated franchise. Utah retained previous Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong and the rest of his hockey operations department from Arizona through the move.
The Coyotes selected a pair of Russians in the first round of last year’s draft: Dmitri Simashev and Daniil But, both of whom will become eligible to sign with Utah after their KHL contracts expire at the end of next season. Nordh was the second of four players the Coyotes drafted in last year’s second round, along with Jonathan Castagna, Tanner Ludtke, and Vadim Moroz.
The final player to sign a contract with the Coyotes before the move was 2021 seventh-round pick Sam Lipkin, who won the NCAA Division I men’s national championship with Quinnipiac in 2023 and collected 78 points in 78 games over his two seasons of college hockey. As with the rest of the now-former Coyotes players, Lipkin’s contract transferred to Utah when Ryan Smith purchased the team from Alex Meruelo.