Jujhar Khaira reportedly closing in on a new team.
The former Edmonton Oiler and Chicago Blackhawk has reportedly found a new team.
It sounds as though National Hockey League veteran Jujhar Khaira has found himself a new team.
On Saturday, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported that the 29 year old forward was closing in on a deal with the Minnesota Wild, although he did not provide any details regarding the nature of that deal. Friedman did indicate that he believes Khaira will be at training camp with the Wild, which could indicate that this will be a professional tryout offer rather than an NHL contract.
Khaira, a former 3rd round pick (63rd overall) of the Edmonton Oilers at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, spent last season with the Chicago Blackhawks where he had 6 goals and 8 assists for a total of 14 points over 51 regular season games.
It's hard to imagine the Wild taking a chance on Khaira with a full time NHL contract given that he has struggled with some fairly serious injuries over the last two seasons, playing in a total of just 78 games over the course of his two seasons in Chicago. Khaira underwent surgery on his lower back in 2022 and missed several months of action last season as a result of back issues.
A PTO would give the Wild an opportunity to gauge how much, or how little, the back injury is still hampering him in training camp without committing cap space to Khaira for this upcoming season. While this is important for any team in the NHL, it is especially true when it comes to the Wild who have over $14.7 million in dead cap space committed to the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter.
