Pius Suter, the leading scorer and most valuable player of the top professional league in Switzerland, signed a one-year, $925,000 contract with the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.
The 24-year-old forward, playing for ZSC, led National League A with 30 goals and 53 points in 50 games. The contract will begin next season.
In five seasons with ZSC, he scored 168 points (81 goals, 87 assists) in 210 games. He tied for the Switzerland lead with five points (three goals, two assists) in four games at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.
Blackhawks assistant Marc Crawford was coach of ZSC in Suter's first season, when Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews was a teammate.
The Blackhawks also signed defenseman Ian Mitchell, a second-round pick (No. 57) in the 2017 NHL Draft, to a three-year, entry-level contract (average annual value $925,000).
The 21-year-old was tied for sixth among NCAA defensemen with 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists) in 36 games for the University of Denver. Mitchell scored two points (one goal, one assist) in four games to help Canada win the Spengler Cup.
Suter and Mitchell are not eligible to play for the Blackhawks during the Stanley Cup Qualifiers or Playoffs. Chicago will play the Edmonton Oilers in a best-of-5 series at Rogers Centre in Edmonton, the Western Conference hub city, starting Aug. 1 at 3 p.m. ET.
The winner will advance to the playoffs, and the loser will have a chance at the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft in the Second Phase of the NHL Draft Lottery, to be held Aug. 10.
