The Columbus Blue Jackets announced on Monday that they have signed Niagara IceDogs centre Jordan Maletta to a three-year entry-level contract.
Maletta scored 34 goals for the IceDogs in his final Ontario Hockey League season, good for 19th in the OHL. The 20-year old also added 25 assists (20 primary), for 59 points. He plays a valuable role in Niagara’s top six forwards, which includes two NHL 1st round picks in Brendan Perlini (ARI) and Josh Ho-Sang (NYI). Additionally, Maletta is a key penalty killer for the 2nd ranked IceDogs penalty kill. The St Catharines native also popped in nine power play goals, rotating with the first and second units.
Maletta is a hard working forward, and uses his 6’3” frame to drive to the net and win board battles. Among the 105 overagers playing in the Canadian Hockey League (OHL, WHL, QMJHL), Maletta’s 54 primary points ranks 16th, 4th in the OHL alone. He’s also fourth on Niagara in Goals For % Relative to Team (+7.1%), with a 58.1% Even Strength Goals For rate. He can be compared to current Blue Jackets prospect Josh Anderson as a player who is ferocious in all three zones, although doesn’t have the same mean streak as Anderson does. On the penalty kill, maybe look towards the “blood and guts” style of Gregory Campbell as a comparison.
In a post outlining the top ten overage OHL players worth signing to an NHL deal, OHL Prospects’ Brock Otten ranked Maletta third, citing his wrist shot and excellence in the face-off dot as two pro-level qualities.
Maletta’s contract is a two-way pact, carrying an NHL-level cap hit of $792,500, per Cap Friendly.
For now, Maletta will stay with his team in Niagara as they embark on their OHL play-off run. During an interview on TSN 1150 in Hamilton, Maletta said that should the IceDogs be eliminated, he expects to report to Lake Erie in the AHL.
– Jeremy
Follow me on Twitter, @307x.
Featured image courtesy of Terry Wilson/CHL Images.
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