Penguins sign Kasperi Kapanen to two-year, $6.4M contract

Among other offseason moves, the Pittsburgh Penguins did well to keep their "big three" of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang together for the 2022-23 NHL season and beyond. 

Pittsburgh held onto another one of its own on Thursday. 

Per an official media release, Penguins general manager Ron Hextall announced on Thursday that the club has re-signed forward Kasperi Kapanen to a two-year contract. The NHL's website notes the deal is worth $6.4 million and carries an average annual value of $3.2 million.

Kapanen appeared in 79 regular-season games for the Penguins in 2021-22 and recorded 11 goals and 21 assists over those contests. The 25-year-old then went on to add three assists in seven Stanley Cup Playoff matchups before Pittsburgh was eliminated from the tournament by the New York Rangers in the first round. 

The Penguins originally drafted Kapanen in the first round with pick No. 22 overall in 2014 but then traded him to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the summer of 2015. He went on to spend five seasons with Toronto but then re-joined the Penguins on Aug. 20, 2020.

Overall, Kapanen has tallied 63 goals and 89 assists in 321 career NHL regular-season games. He's also accumulated five goals and eight assists over 38 career playoff contests.