The Arizona Coyotes made a move today, claiming forward Adam Ružička off waivers. Per CapFriendly, Ružička is in the final year of a two-year, $1.525 million deal.
A native of Bratislava, Slovakia, Ružička was drafted 109th overall by the Calgary Flames in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. Ružička had played in Slovakia and Czechia before making his North American debut during the 2016-17 season when he put up 25 goals and 21 assists in 61 games with the Sarnia Sting in the OHL.
Ružička started playing professional hockey in North America during the 2019-20 season with the Stockton Heat in the AHL. After scoring 27 points in 54 games, he split the next two seasons between the NHL and AHL and played 44 games with the Flames last season.
Before being put on waivers, Ružička played 39 games with the Flames this season, registering three goals and six assists. Perhaps more importantly for the Coyotes, he doesn’t take a lot of penalties, with only six penalty minutes this season. Daily Faceoff’s Mike Gould described Ružička on Twitter as a center who can play wing, a big player who doesn’t play big. He also characterized him as “wildly inconsistent,” making him a low-risk, high-reward player for the Desert Dogs.