Kailer Yamamoto turns a PTO into a two-way deal with the league's newest team.
Kailer Yamamoto turns a PTO into a two-way deal with the league's newest team.
A former Oilers first-round pick has found a new home.
Utah Hockey Club announced on Sunday that they've signed right winger Kailer Yamamoto to a one-year, two-way contract. Yamamoto joined Utah on a PTO during training camp.
Drafted 22nd overall by Edmonton in 2017, the diminutive Yamamoto scored 118 points in 244 games with the Oilers from 2017-18 to 2022-23. Yamamoto's best season in Edmonton came in 2021-22, when he scored 20 goals and 41 points, adding seven more points in the playoffs.
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The Oilers traded Yamamoto and Klim Kostin to the Detroit Red Wings for future considerations in June 2023. The Red Wings didn't offer Yamamoto a contract, letting him become a free agent. He signed with the Seattle Kraken, where he scored 8 goals and 16 points in 59 games.
Yamamoto will be a depth forward in Utah, likely spending some time with the Tuscon Roadrunners of the AHL. He'll fight for playing time in Salt Lake City with Alex Kerfoot, Michael Carcone, and 2024 Stanley Cup Champion Kevin Stenlund.
Yamamoto will also join a couple of other former Oilers: centre Nick Bjugstad, who played 19 games with Edmonton in 2023 between two stints in Arizona, and defenceman Michael Kesselring, who was traded for Bjugstad at the 2023 trade deadline.
The Oilers will make their first-ever visit to Utah on November 29th before welcoming the Utahns (we really need to get this team a name) to Rogers Place on New Year's Eve and March 18th.
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