Milic signs entry-level deal with Jets

Have yourself a year, Thomas Milic.

The 21-year-old goaltender capped off quite the stretch Friday, signing his first NHL contract with the Winnipeg Jets. Milic inked a three-year entry-level deal with an average big-league salary of US$841,700 that begins in 2024-25.

Milic was selected in the fifth-round (151st-overall) of last summer’s draft. He was the reigning Western Hockey League goaltender of the year and was coming off a huge season with the Seattle Thunderbirds in which he helped lead them to the Memorial Cup and was named MVP of the WHL playoffs.

Milic also helped Canada win a gold medal at the 2023 World Juniors and played for Team Canada at the 2023 Spengler Cup.

After aging out of junior, the B.C. product began last season in the ECHL with the Norfolk Admirals, going 11-3-2 with two shutouts, a 2.45 GAA and .908 save percentage. He won ECHL Goaltender of the Week for the period ending Oct. 29 and was selected to the all-star game.

All of which earned him a promotion to the Manitoba Moose, where he helped salvage their season. Milic played in 33 games with a 19-9-2 record. one shutout, a 2.72 GAA and .900 save percentage. He won 14 of his final 19 games for Manitoba and was AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Mar. 17.

There could be some changes in Winnipeg’s goaltending depth chart coming for next season, as Jets backup Laurent Brossoit and Milic’s job-share partner with the Moose, Colin Delia, are pending unrestricted free agents.

Oskari Salminen, who began the year as on the Moose with Delia, finished up in the ECHL and is a restricted free agent this summer. Domenic DiVincentiis, who was the Ontario Hockey League’s goaltender of the year last season, just finished his third season with the North Bay Battalion and has previously signed an ELC with the Jets after being drafted in 2022.