{"id":824833,"date":"2026-07-26T11:41:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T11:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/824833\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T11:41:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T11:41:13","slug":"ducks-sign-top-prospect-nikita-klepov-to-entry-level-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/824833\/","title":{"rendered":"Ducks sign top prospect Nikita Klepov to entry-level contract"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Anaheim Ducks<\/a> have signed 2026 first-round pick Nikita Kelpov to a three-year, entry-level contract.<\/p>\n

Klepov\u2019s deal will hold a cap hit of $1.075 million.<\/a><\/p>\n

Klepov was the 15th overall pick this past June. The 18-year-old is coming off one of the best seasons in the OHL, registering a league-high 97 points (37 goals and 60 assists) with the Saginaw Spirit. He did it as a rookie, having played with the USHL\u2019s Sioux City Musketeers the year prior. Just before kicking off his tenure in Saginaw, Klepov helped the United States win gold at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup thanks to his six points in five games. <\/p>\n

Notably, Klepov was set to play for the NCAA\u2019s Michigan State University Spartans in 2026-27. The Spartans even listed him on their roster in a social media post on Friday. The deal prevents Klepov from going the college route, with Anaheim and Saginaw being the only options for the winger. Klepov was drafted 35th overall by the Spirit during the 2025 CHL Import Draft.<\/p>\n

The Deerfield Beach, Florida native was rated as the No. 1 prospect on Daily Faceoff\u2019s <\/a>Anaheim Ducks prospect pool rankings earlier this summer.<\/p>\n

Klepov is a tremendous playmaker, with many considering him to be among the best in the CHL. But he\u2019s also a stout shooter and wasn\u2019t far off from reaching the 40-goal barrier, too. It was surprising, given he only put up 31 points in the USHL the year prior. Klepov plays with a ton of finesse, but he\u2019s also physically strong, too. He\u2019s just an OK skater, but it doesn\u2019t feel like something that scouts are too worried about eventually.<\/p>\n

PRESENTED BY THE DAILY FACEOFF NEWSLETTER<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Your daily hockey fix, delivered straight to your inbox. Get connected to every NHL storyline with breaking news, lineup updates, trade buzz, and expert analysis\u2014delivered every morning. Sign up for the Daily Faceoff newsletter and don\u2019t miss a <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Anaheim Ducks have signed 2026 first-round pick Nikita Kelpov to a three-year, entry-level contract. Klepov\u2019s deal will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":824834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-824833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=824833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/824834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=824833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=824833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=824833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}