The Ducks have re-signed winger Nikita Nesterenko to a two-year contract, the team announced in a Wednesday news release.
This deal carries a value just above the league minimum of $775,000. Notably, the pact being a one-way contract might signal a more consistent, more permanent role for Nesterenko, who has mostly been featured at the minor-league level over the past three seasons with the organization.
The 6-foot-2-inch, 195-pound Brooklyn-born forward of Russian descent played a career-high 20 contests with the parent club last season. He accumulated four goals and two assists in the NHL in addition to his 34 points in 50 games at the American Hockey League level with the San Diego Gulls.
Originally a sixth-round selection (No. 172 overall) of the Minnesota Wild in 2019 as a prep standout, he played junior B hockey in Western Canada before starring at Boston College for three years, culminating in a season where he fell just short of a point-per-game pace.
Nesterenko, 23, was part of a trade package the Ducks received in exchange for ephemerally tenured defenseman John Klingberg in March 2023, ahead of the trade deadline. He made his NHL debut and later scored his first goal in the same month.
In all, he has played 32 games as a Duck, registering six goals and eight points in the process.
Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek spoke of wanting to enrich the bottom six with more dynamic players that could produce more energy and more offense before last season.
By season’s end, the third line of Mason McTavish, Cutter Gauthier and Sam Colangelo fit that bill. The fourth line’s contributions were almost exclusively defensive, something Nesterenko might help balance out with more regular playing time.