Former Penguins forward prospect Dillon Hamaliuk signs in Slovakia

Former Pittsburgh Penguins forward prospect Dillon Hamaliuk has signed with HC Nove Zamky of the Slovak Extraliga.

That team announced the transaction via Instagram on Friday.

The Penguins acquired Hamaliuk from the San Jose Sharks via a trade in August as a spare part of the blockbuster deal that also brought All-Star defenseman Erik Karlsson to Pittsburgh.

Hamaliuk, a second-round draft pick (No. 55 overall) of the Sharks in 2019, spent most of the 2023-24 season with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL and wound up as a selection to that league’s All-Star Game. In 36 contests with the Nailers, Hamaliuk scored 39 points (15 goals, 24 assists).

A native of Leduc, Alberta, Hamaliuk (6-foot-4, 205 pounds) also appeared in eight games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League last season, recording a single assist.

A left-handed shot, Hamaliuk just completed the final year of a three-year entry-level contract that carried a salary cap hit of $789,167. The 23-year-old entered the offseason as a pending restricted free agent but the Penguins opted not to extend a qualifying offer, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent with regard to his NHL rights.

Following this transaction, the only players who finished the 2023-24 campaign under an NHL contract with the Penguins who have not signed elsewhere or retired are defensemen Taylor Fedun and Dmitri Samorukov.

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