Columbus Blue Jackets Sign Jerry D’Amigo

After making the trade that sent Matt Frattin back to his debut NHL team in Toronto, the Columbus Blue Jackets signed left wing Jerry D’Amigo to a one-year, two-way contract today. The Jackets acquired D’Amigo’s rights as an RFA in the trade with Toronto, meaning they had the rights to negotiate with him and match any contract offers he might have gotten, but they still needed to sign him. You can read about that trade here.

“When I got the call from the GM, it was a reassurance from him that there’s a spot for me and if I work hard this summer, I’ll have a really good chance.”

They took care of that today, signing a one-year contract without disclosing the financials. The 23-year old split last season between the NHL and AHL. In 51 AHL games, he scored 20 goals and added 13 assists for 33 points and was +10. In 22 NHL games, he had one goal and two assists and was -1.

At 5’11”, D’Amigo is tied with Matt Calvert for the fourth shortest player on the Jackets roster, and at 23 he is tied with David Savard for the fourth youngest on the team. Safe to say he isn’t expected to be the best player on the team, but he is the replacement for Matt Frattin. Those aren’t very big skates to fill.

Frattin only appeared in 4 games with the Jackets after coming to Columbus at the trade deadline. He wasn’t sent down to Springfield, but was scratched for the majority of his time in the Jackets franchise. Hopefully D’Amigo doesn’t do the same. With a two-way contract, they can send him down to Springfield and pay him a lower salary, so if he doesn’t make the Jackets roster it won’t hurt the club to send him down for some AHL development time.

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Acquiring D’Amigo this off-season was an example of the Jackets’ commitment to young, relatively unproven players, and signing him solidifies that. The club is making a name for itself as a team willing to sign and develop young players in the hopes that they will be the NHL stars of tomorrow. At 26, Frattin wasn’t an old player, but he wasn’t young either. It was likely sending him down to Springfield w0uldn’t be much of a development. Hopefully 23-year-old D’Amigo will be a better player and have a greater presence for the Jackets.