Minnesota Wild President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Guerin announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club has signed forward Nico Sturm to a two-year, $4,000,000 contract ($2 million average annual value) that goes through the 2026-27 season.
Sturm, 30 (5/3/95), tallied 14 points (7-7=14), 20 penalty minutes (PIM) and 59 shots in 62 games with San Jose and Florida last season. He also skated in eight playoff games with the Stanley Cup champion Panthers. The 6-foot-3, 209-pound native of Augsburg, Germany, returns to Minnesota where he made his NHL debut on April 4, 2019, vs. Boston. He collected 36 points (20-16=36), 25 PIM and 146 shots in 111 games with the Wild over four seasons (2018-22). He also appeared in nine Stanley Cup Playoff games with Minnesota (2020-21), recording three points (2-1=3). Sturm tallied his first career NHL goal in Game 4 of the Qualifying Round series against Vancouver on August 7, 2020, to become the second player in franchise history to record his first career NHL goal in the playoffs (Jordan Greenway).
Sturm has tallied 92 points (46-46=92), four GWG, 421 shots on goal and owns a 56.5 FO% in 331 career games over a span of seven seasons with Minnesota (2018-22), Colorado (2021-22), San Jose (2022-25) and Florida (2024-25). He also has five points (2-3=5) and 19 shots in 30 Stanley Cup Playoff games and has won two Stanley Cups (Colorado, 2022; Florida, 2025).
Prior to his professional career, Sturm collected 103 points (36-67=103) and was a plus-47 in 118 games during three seasons at Clarkson University (2016-19). He led Clarkson with 45 points (14-31=45) in 39 games and won 392-of-677 faceoffs taken (57.9%) as a junior in 2018-19. He was named the ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Forward for the second consecutive season, a Top Ten Hobey Baker Award Finalist, a finalist for the ECAC Hockey Player of the Year Award, to the 2019 ECAC Hockey All-Tournament Team and an ECAC First-Team All-League selection in 2018-19.
Sturm originally signed as a free agent with Minnesota on April 1, 2019.
(info courtesy of Wild)
