The Utah Hockey Club has announced a two-year extension for defenseman Michael Kesselring that carries an AAV of $1.4 million.
Kesselring, 24, is a very good defensive depth signing for GM Bill Armstrong. He is a right-handed shot that likely will split time between the last pairing and the seventh defenseman.
Utah will be active in the free-agent market, especially for blue-liners, and this signing provides them with more depth on the back end.
There have been reports that Utah will be aggressive during free agency and will be targeting a defenseman. Some names out there are Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei, Brandon Montour, Matt Roy, and a few others.
If they only land one or two of those, they will have Kesselring slot in as the everyday bottom-pairing defender that they are lacking currently.
However, internally, Armstrong and his team could have Kesselring as an everyday player and potentially look at re-signing Josh Brown as the depth defenseman option.
Only time will tell. Right now, their focus shifts to the 2024 NHL Draft tonight and then to free agency on July 1. Somewhere in between that, they will also need to look at their RFA's, which include three defensemen.