Yamamoto inks PTO with Utah

The Utah Hockey Club signed Kailer Yamamoto to a professional tryout, the team announced Wednesday.

Yamamoto, 25, tallied eight goals and 16 points in 59 games with the Seattle Kraken last season. He averaged 11:59 in Seattle, the lowest mark of his NHL career.

The Spokane, Washington native wasn't tendered a $1.5-million qualifying offer by the Kraken and became an unrestricted free agent.

Yamamoto played parts of six seasons with the Edmonton Oilers before joining Seattle last season. He recorded 26 points in 27 games in 2019-20 and netted a career-high 20 goals and 41 points in 2021-22.

The 5-foot-8 winger was traded to the Detroit Red Wings and bought out of his contract before last season. He had a cap hit of $3.1 million at the time.

Utah's projected depth chart on the right wing currently consists of Nick Schmaltz, Dylan Guenther, rookie Josh Doan, and the left-handed Alexander Kerfoot.

Yamamoto has accumulated 58 goals and 134 points in 303 career games over parts of seven seasons. He was drafted 22nd overall by the Oilers in 2017.

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