Wild re-signs Sturm to one-year, two-way deal

ST. PAUL -- Minnesota Wild General Manager Paul Fenton today announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club has re-signed forward Nico Sturm to a one-year, two-way contract ($874,125/$70,000) for the 2019-20 season.

Sturm, 24, signed a one-year, entry-level contract with Minnesota on April 1, 2018, and made his NHL debut on April 4 vs. Boston. He registered seven shots on goal in two games with the Wild. He led Clarkson University in scoring and assists with 45 points (14-31=45) in 39 games and won 392-of-677 face-offs taken (57.9%) as a junior last season. The team co-captain also led the Golden Knights with a plus-23 rating, ranked T-2nd in goals, third in shots on goal (94), and tallied 12 multi-point games. Sturm ranked T-4th in assists, T-8th in scoring and T-11th in points per game (1.15) in the NCAA last season. The 6-foot-3, 207-pound native of Augsburg, Germany was named the ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Forward for the second consecutive season, a Top Ten Hobey Baker Award Finalist, a finalist for the ECAC Hockey Player of the Year Award, to the 2019 ECAC Hockey All-Tournament Team and an ECAC First-Team All-League selection in 2018-19.

Sturm collected 103 points (36-67=103) and was a plus-47 in 118 games during three seasons at Clarkson University (2016-19). He led the NCAA with a 61.7% face-off win percentage (443-of-718) during his sophomore season and was named the 2017-18 ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Forward. Sturm recorded 39 points (14-25=39) in 57 games with the Tri-City Storm in the United States Hockey League (USHL) in 2015-16 and added six points (3-3=6) in five playoff games to help Tri-City win the 2016 Clark Cup. He played two seasons (2013-15) in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) and helped the Austin Bruins advance to the Robertson Cup Finals in 2014-15. Sturm also played for Germany at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship.
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