Jets sign Phillip Di Giuseppe to one-year, two-way contract

According to PuckPedia, the Winnipeg Jets have reached an agreement on a one-year, two-way contract with veteran forward Phillip Di Giuseppe.

The deal will reportedly pay Di Giuseppe $775,000 at the NHL level and $450,000 at the AHL level.

Di Giuseppe, a second round pick by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2012, has carved out a career as a strong presence around the AHL who is capable of filling in as a depth forward in the NHL.

In his NHL career, the Toronto native has played 302 regular season games with 28 goals and 53 assists for a total of 81 points.

His career high in goals, assists and points came in his rookie campaign with the Hurricanes in 2015-2016. After his time in Carolina, he spent the end of the 2018-2019 season in Nashville before a two-year stint with the New York Rangers and a three-year run with the Vancouver Canucks.

This past year, Di Giuseppe played a key role for Vancouver’s AHL affiliate in Abbotsford, which went on a run to win the Calder Cup championship.

In 24 postseason appearances, Di Giuseppe racked up 6 goals and 5 assists for 11 points, as his Canucks defeated the Charlotte Checkers in the final.

The 31-year-old will provide a versatile veteran presence in the Winnipeg Jets organization, likely primarily for the Manitoba Moose, but he’ll certainly be in the mix for call-ups to the Jets should injuries bring about the need.

Di Giuseppe is one in a long line of signings the Jets have made so far this summer with an eye toward building up their organizational depth.

Veteran center Jonathan Toews will return to the NHL and try to spark the middle six of his hometown team, while Tanner Pearson, Cole Koepke and Haydn Fleury have all inked deals to either join or remain with the Winnipeg organization in the past several days.