After missing most of 2024-25 due to a hip injury, Adam Erne was able to return to the NHL last season, albeit in a sparing role. Now an unrestricted free agent once again, it appears he has caught the eye of a KHL team. Sport-Express’ Artur Khairullin reports (Telegram link) that Dinamo Minsk has the veteran on their shortlist of players that they’re hoping to add for the upcoming season.
Erne spent last season with Dallas after inking a one-year, two-way contract worth the league minimum of $775K after a successful training camp PTO. He wound up spending the entire year on the NHL roster, getting into 45 games during the regular season while also having a five-week stint on LTIR due to a lower-body injury along the way. The 31-year-old had six goals and two assists along with 141 hits in those outings while averaging ten minutes per night of ice time. He also made one postseason appearance.
Erne has a total of 424 career NHL appearances under his belt over parts of nine seasons with four different teams. He started off with Tampa Bay after they drafted him in the second round in 2013 but he was moved to Detroit after three seasons with the Lightning. Erne added four more seasons with the Red Wings before one-and-done years with Edmonton and Dallas. Overall, he has 47 goals, 52 assists, and 1,021 hits in his NHL action.
Having gone the PTO-to-contract route for the last two years, it’s fair to assume that Erne’s preference would be to land a guaranteed contract much earlier this time around. That doesn’t appear to be materializing, however, so it will be interesting to see how much he wants to reciprocate the KHL interest. Signing over there would lock in a guaranteed deal but also might mark the end of his NHL playing days. Erne has a few more weeks at least to decide which route he wants to take.