The Manitoba Moose, the AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks, announced today they have signed defenseman Nick Kuiper to an American Hockey League contract.
Kuiper, 24, appeared in 70 games last year with the Norfolk Admirals, where he scored two goals and seven assists for nine points and recorded 104 penalty minutes.
Kuiper also finished second on the Admirals in plus/minus with a plus-16 rating.
In two seasons with Norfolk, the Montreal native appeared in 143 games, scoring five goals and adding 12 assists for 17 points, to go with 213 PIM.
Kuiper played the previous four seasons at the University of Massachusetts.
The Moose also re-signed forward Jason Jaffray to a new American Hockey League contract.
Jaffray, 25, appeared in 73 games last year with the Moose. In his first full season in the AHL, the Olds, Alta., native finished third in team scoring by collecting 12 goals and 35 assists for 47 points along with 58 penalty minutes.
In 13 games in the 2006 Calder Cup playoffs, Jaffray was tied for the team lead in goals scored with six and finished with seven points and 11 penalty minutes. At the end of the season, Jaffray was named co-winner of the team’s unsung hero award.
Jaffray has appeared in 124 career AHL games over parts of four seasons with Manitoba, Cleveland, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Norfolk. In that span, he has scored 26 goals and 46 assists for 72 points.
