Eetu Makiniemi signs one year deal with Flyers

The Flyers didn't need a large sample size to decide on the fate of Eetu Makiniemi. The former fourth-round pick in 2017 earned himself a contract for the season as Philadelphia has signed him to a one-year deal.

As mentioned above, the deal will pay Makiniemi 775K if he ends up on the NHL roster at any time. Otherwise, he will earn 200K in the NHL. As a player with only two games of NHL experience, Makiniemi needs to play 26 games with the Flyers to become an RFA next season. If not, he will be classified as a Group 6 UFA again.

A Group 6 UFA is a player who is at least 25 years old and has three or more professional seasons. The amount of games played is different for a goaltender as the games classification is less than 28 games with more than 30 minutes of ice time.

As mentioned above, Makiniemi has appeared in two career games with the Sharks and has a total time on ice of 84:20. He will almost certainly play in the NHL this year, but unless someone suffers a long-term injury, getting above the necessary game mark feels unlikely to happen.

Makiniemi earns an NHL deal with the Flyers

Makiniemi came into Flyers camp with a huge opportunity in front of him. Sam Ersson and Ivan Fedotov are the NHL duo. But behind them, things are quite thin. Cal Petersen was the only other option available if either of those two were injured or faltered in their play. The other goaltenders with the Phantoms are on AHL-only deals and would need to be converted to NHL ones to play.

Alexei Kolosov would've been another option, but he has continued his firm stance on not reporting to the team if he is not going to be guaranteed an NHL spot. That left the door wide open for Makiniemi to steal his place.

Makiniemi started the Flyers' second preseason game against the Canadiens. In just over 31 minutes of play, he looked rather collected for a player with limited experience. He allowed one goal on 14 shots, and the goal he did allow came off a rough turnover in the zone. The Flyers didn't need to see much else to know that they could throw a contract this way.

It's more than likely that the team simply needed to see if he could hold his own enough and that a contract was coming his way unless he looked horrible. It was only a preseason game, but the Canadiens did some, including Patrik Laine and Alex Newhook. Makiniemi even made an impressive save on a Laine shot during his outing.

For now, Makiniemi may get some more playing time in the preseason but will find himself alongside Petersen in the AHL. If he plays well, he is likely to be the first option called up if need be.