The Minnesota Wild have signed forward Jujhar Khaira to a one-year, two-way contract, the club announced Sunday afternoon.
Khaira, 29, collected eight goals and 14 points in 51 games with the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2022–23 regular season.
The Edmonton Oilers originally selected Khaira in the third round (No. 63 overall) of the 2012 NHL Draft. The 6-foot-4 left wing spent parts of six seasons with the Oilers before signing a two-year deal with the Blackhawks as a free agent in 2021.
Khaira’s new two-way contract with the Wild carries a $775K NHL cap hit, according to CapFriendly. If Khaira is assigned to the American Hockey League at any point during the season, he’ll be paid at a rate equivalent to a $300K salary.
Khaira made his debut with the Oilers in the 2015–16 regular season after spending one year at Michigan Tech University, one with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips, and parts of three in the AHL.
After being held to just one goal and two assists in his first 25 NHL games with Oilers over the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons, Khaira established himself as an NHL regular with the team in 2017–18. The Surrey, BC product racked up 11 goals and 21 points in 69 games with the club that year.
Khaira remained a consistent presence in the Oilers lineup over the following three seasons and helped the club reach the playoffs in both 2020 and 2021 before leaving Edmonton to join the Blackhawks. He managed nine goals and 17 points in 78 games over his two seasons in Chicago.
The Wild have had a relatively quiet offseason, with general manager Bill Guerin’s biggest moves having been trading for Patrick Maroon, extending Filip Gustavsson and Marcus Johansson and selecting Charlie Stramel in the first round of the 2023 NHL Draft.
Khaira will be looked upon to provide some help in the defensive zone as Wild aim to improve upon their first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Dallas Stars earlier this year.
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