Red River graduate Jon Lizotte signs with Minnesota Wild
Jul. 28—Jon Lizotte has signed his first NHL contract.
Lizotte, who starred at Grand Forks Red River before embarking on a four-year college career at St. Cloud State, inked a one-year, two-way contract with the Minnesota Wild.
Lizotte's deal will be worth $750,000 if he's in the NHL and $175,000 if he's in the American Hockey League.
Lizotte has been with Pittsburgh's organization since turning pro in 2019. He signed a pair of one-year deals with Pittsburgh's top minor-league affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
During his rookie season of 2019-20, he had 17 assists in 59 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He followed that up by scoring three goals and nine points in 32 games as a second-year pro. The 26-year-old served as an alternate captain for the Penguins last season.
The 6-foot, 209-pound defenseman graduated from Red River in 2013 after leading the Roughriders to a North Dakota state boys hockey title.
He played two years of junior hockey in Minot before heading to St. Cloud State. Lizotte helped the Huskies to back-to-back Penrose Cups as National Collegiate Hockey Conference champions as a junior and senior.
Minnesota's top four defensemen are set with Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, Matt Dumba and new signee Alex Goligoski. But after that, the door is still open for the final two roster spots on the back end.
Other defenders under contract with Minnesota are Ryan O'Rourke, Daemon Hunt, Calen Addison, Fedor Gordeev, Joe Hicketts and Dakota Mermis.
Devils Lake's Keaton Thompson is under contract with Minnesota's top minor-league affiliate, the Iowa Wild.
