The Blue Jackets made their first roster addition of the off-season.
The club signed 2019 fourth-round draft pick Dmitri Voronkov to a two-year, entry-level contract with a $925k AAV/cap hit, per capfriendly.com. He will earn a $92.5k yearly signing bonus a base salary of $832.5k in the NHL and $70k in the minors.
Voronkov’s two-year entry-level contract contains a European Assignment Clause that applies to the 2023-24 season. Typically, an assignment clause gives a player options when coming to the NHL from Europe or Russia. According to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline, Voronkov’s clause is triggered if he’s not on the Blue Jackets’ roster at the end of December 2023.
Dmitri Voronkov #CBJ
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) May 4, 2023
2 year entry-level
$925k cap hit
Breakdown each season:
$832.5k + $92.5k SB ($70k minors)
European Assignment Clause in 2023-24https://t.co/gwnneAIWLa
Voronkov is a 22-year-old center who just finished his fifth season with Ak Bars Kazan of the KHL, where he helped his team reach the Gagarin Cup Final.
“Dmitri is a big, strong forward who can play at center ice or on the wing and is coming off an outstanding season in the KHL,” Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said in the team's release. “He is a skilled player that has shown an ability to score goals while playing a physical two-way game. We believe he has tremendous upside and are looking forward to his joining our group and continuing his development as a Blue Jacket.”
In 182 regular-season KHL games, Voronkov posted 37-37–74, including 18-13–31 in 54 games in 2022-23. He additionally registered 14-10–24 in 49 KHL playoff games including 7-4–11 in 23 postseason contests this season.
Internationally, Voronkov took home silver medals for Russia and the Russian Olympic Committee at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship and 2022 Winter Olympics, respectively. At the World Juniors, he scored 3-4–7 in seven games, finishing fourth on his team in scoring, placing ahead of fellow Blue Jacket Kirill Marchenko.
