Predators Sign Forward Rocco Grimaldi to One-Year Contract

Nashville, Tenn. (July 1, 2018) - Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced Sunday that the club has signed forward Rocco Grimaldi to a one-year, two-way contract worth $650,000 at the NHL level and $175,000 at the AHL level in 2018-19.
Grimaldi, 25 (2/8/93), spent the majority of the 2017-18 season with the American Hockey League's San Antonio Rampage, where he recorded 31 points (15g-16a) in 49 games. He also skated in six games for the Colorado Avalanche, posting a goal and two assists and recording his second-career two-point game (1g-1a) on Oct. 28, 2017, vs. Chicago. The 5-foot-6 forward is a veteran of 237 AHL games, in which he has tallied 76 goals and 85 assists for the Rampage and Portland Pirates since entering the league in 2014-15. Grimaldi logged a career-high and team-high 31 goals and 55 points for the Rampage two seasons ago and had a career-best 28 assists in his rookie AHL season. He made his NHL debut with the Panthers on Nov. 1, 2014, and posted six points (4g-2a) in 27 games with the club from 2014-16 before being traded to the Colorado Avalanche.

Originally drafted in the second round (33rd overall) by the Florida Panthers in the 2011 NHL Draft, Grimaldi starred for the U.S. National Team Development Program from 2009-11. The Anaheim, Calif., native sits ninth in the USNTDP record books in points with 136 (60g-76a) and won four gold medals with the United States, including the 2013 World Junior Championship in Russia. Following his stint with the USNTDP, Grimaldi played three seasons at the University of North Dakota, posting 77 points (31g-46a) in 86 games. He led North Dakota in points with 39 (17g-22a) during his third and final season with the school.