Minnesota Wild signs Kyle Masters to entry-level three-year contract

Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin announced Thursday that the Wild have signed Kamloops Blazers defenseman Kyle Masters to a three-year, entry-level contract worth $2.59 million at from 2023-2024. Masters will earn $865,000 at the NHL level and $80,000 in the AHL.

✍️ SIGNING ✍️

We signed defender Kyle Masters to a three-year entry-level contract.

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— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) March 9, 2023

Masters, 19, was selected in the fourth round, 118th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft by the Wild. A former member of the Western Hockey League’s Red Deer Rebels, he was traded along with a first-round bantam pick to the Blazers in exchange for Mats Lindgren last summer. This season, he’s had a breakout campaign with the Blazers recording 59 points (11 goals, 47 assists) in 58 games. He ranks seventh among all WHL defensemen in points. He also had five power-play goals and 114 shots on goal with a plus-16 differential. He leads the Blazers defensemen in assists and is second in points.

Masters joins a growing list of current Blazers players who have signed entry-level contracts; captain Logan Stankoven signed with the Dallas Stars in 2021, Fraser Minten signed his entry-level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the fall, offensive guru Olen Zellweger with the Anaheim Ducks, Ryan Hofer recently signed his entry-level contract with the Washington Capitals and Caedan Bankier who just signed his entry-level contract with the Wild as well. The Wild have been busy lately signing prospects David Spacek, Hunter Haight, Bankier and Masters.

The Blazers are the hosts of the 2023 Memorial Cup, they went all-in at the WHL trade deadline, completing what is widely considered the biggest major junior hockey trade in history by acquiring Zellweger and Hofer from the Silvertips for four players and 10 draft picks. The Masters and Blazers have a great chance to stand out.