Saint Paul, Minn. – Minnesota Wild President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Guerin today announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club has signed forward Marat Khusnutdinov (mah-RAHT HOOST-nuh-DEE-nov) to a two-year, entry-level contract running through the 2024-25 NHL season.

Khusnutdinov, 21 (7/17/2002), recorded 20 points (6-14=20) and 10 penalty minutes (PIM) in 49 games with HK Sochi of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) during the 2023-24 season, ranking fifth on the club in assists, seventh in points and serving as the team’s captain. Khusnutdinov began the season with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL, skating in six games, before being traded to HK Sochi on Oct. 10.

The 5-foot-11, 176-pound native of Moscow, Russia, totaled 41 points (11-30=41) and 18 PIM in 63 games for SKA St. Petersburg during the 2022-23 KHL season, ranking second on the team in assists, sixth in goals and T-7th in points. He tied Artemi Panarin for the seventh-highest single-season point total in KHL history by a player 20 years or younger and became the youngest player in SKA St. Petersburg history to reach 50 career points (20 years, six months and 13 days), doing so in his 116th career game. Khusnutdinov appeared in 162 career KHL games over four seasons (2020-24) with SKA St. Petersburg (2020-23) and HK Sochi (2023-24), finishing with 75 points (22-53=75), 38 PIM and a plus-6 rating. He also played in 32 career Gagarin Cup playoff games as a member of SKA St. Petersburg, posting 11 points (2-9=11) and 12 PIM.

Khusnutdinov has represented Russia at multiple international competitions. He served as captain for Russia at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship, tallying one assist in two games before the tournament was canceled. He recorded five points (3-2=5) in seven games for Russia at 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship, including one power-play goal (PPG) and one game-winning goal (GWG), while ranking T-2nd on the team in scoring. He also captained Russia at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and 2019 IIHF World Under-18 Championship, helping the team to gold and silver-medal finishes, respectively.

The Wild selected Khusnutdinov in the second round (37th overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft. He will wear sweater No. 22 with Minnesota. The Wild will play at the Nashville Predators on Thursday, Feb. 29 at 7 p.m. CT on Bally Sports North and KFAN 100.3 FM.

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