Kailer Yamamoto Agrees To PTO With Western Conference Club

Former first-rounder and 20-goal scorer Kailer Yamamoto has finally landed with a team for training camp, signing a PTO with the Utah Hockey Club.

We’ve signed Kailer Yamamoto to a PTO.

He will report to training camp on September 18. pic.twitter.com/9uOmLESkQt
— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) September 11, 2024

Yamamoto will turn 26 just over a week after camp begins on Sept. 18th.

After being selected with the 22nd overall pick by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, he spent the first six years of his career with the team, recording 50 goals and 118 points in 244 games, playing an average of 16:25 per night.

Despite his diminutive size, the 5'8", 153-pound forward isn't shy about throwing his body around, handing out a career-high 114 hits in the 2021-22 season in Edmonton, also a career year for him in goals with 20, and points with 41. However, a concussion and neck injury kept him out of the lineup for significant time the following season, and he registered just 10 goals in 58 games.

Last year, with the Seattle Kraken on a one-year, $1.5 million free agent deal, Yamamoto struggled again, dropping down the depth chart for the team as the season progressed, finding himself scratched from the lineup on many occasions, and playing only 58 games while recording just eight goals and eight assists.

With a good camp on his professional tryout, he'll try to win a bottom-six role with Utah.