UPDATE: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the contract breakdown is $2.35MM in 2023-24, $1.9MM in 2024-25, and $1.45MM in 2025-26. The low actual salary in the final year of the contract makes it a more appealing sell at the trade deadline or pre-season if Washington opts to move on from Milano at the end of his contract.
The Washington Capitals have extended an offseason acquisition for the second day in a row. NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti reports the team re-signed forward Sonny Milano to a three-year contract extension today, with an average annual value of $1.9MM.
Milano had a long and winding road to joining the Capitals for 2022-23, but it’s a shrewd move for general manager Brian MacLellan that’s paid off so far. The 26-year-old American has been a productive depth piece, scoring eight goals and 22 points in 40 games.
The news comes after Washington signed fellow newcomer Dylan Strome to a five-year, $25MM extension yesterday.
It’s a good bit of financial security for Milano, who cycled through a first-line role with the Anaheim Ducks, a failed professional tryout with the Calgary Flames, and now an almost $6MM commitment from the Capitals in less than a calendar year. He signed a one-year, league-minimum one-way contract with Washington on October 15, 2022, after he was cut from Flames camp and subsequently cleared waivers.
Milano was set to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.