Denver forward Miko Matikka, who completed his freshman season with a national championship in April, has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the NHL’s Utah Hockey Club.
Matikka, 20, helped the Pioneers win their NCAA-record 10th national championship last season while ranking second on the team and fourth among all freshmen in the nation with 20 goals. He was the first DU rookie to reach the 20-goal threshold since fellow countryman Henrik Borgstrom in 2016-17.
The Helsinki, Finland, native added 13 assists to finish seventh on Denver with 33 points during the 2023-24 campaign. He also placed second on the squad in power-play goals (6) and shots (111) and was third with 41 penalty minutes while concluding the year with a plus-15 rating.
Matikka totaled nine multi-goal outings during the season and scored multiple times in four games, including against St. Cloud State on March 22 in the team’s overtime win in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. He went on to score again in the conference championship game the next day, earning all-tournament team honors. He later tallied the game-tying goal against Cornell in the NCAA Northeast Regional final on March 30 to wrap up a stretch of four goals in four games and had an assist in Denver’s OT win over Boston University in the Frozen Four semifinals on April 11 at Xcel Energy Center.
After making his NCAA debut on Oct. 7 at Alaska, Matikka recorded his first collegiate point with an assist on Nov. 3 versus Colorado College and scored his first goal the next day on Nov. 4 at CC. Those contests were the start of an 11-game point stretch (11 goals, four assists), the second-longest of the season by a Pioneer, and a six-game goal streak, the longest run by a Denver player since Dylan Gambrell had a seven-game goal stretch from Feb. 13-March 5, 2016 (eight goals, 14 assists). Overall, he scored 14 goals in a 14-game period from Nov. 4 to Jan. 13.
Matikka was recognized as the NCHC rookie of the week four times, including picking up consecutive awards on Nov. 13 and Nov. 20 to become the first Denver player to repeat as a weekly conference winner since Magnus Chrona as goaltender of the week on Jan. 17 and 24, 2022. He was also selected as the NCHC rookie of the month for November after leading all conference freshmen with seven goals and ranking second among rookies with 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in eight games.
A unanimous selection on the NCHC all-rookie team, his 20 goals led all league freshmen and tied for sixth overall in the conference. Matikka was also a member of the NCAA Northeast Regional all-tournament team and was named to the watch list for the Tim Taylor Award as the national rookie of the year.
Matikka was drafted in 2022 by the Arizona Coyotes in the third round (67th overall). He had his rights moved to the Utah Hockey Club after the hockey assets of the Coyotes were officially transferred to the new franchise on June 13. He previously attended Arizona’s summer development camps in 2022 and 2023.
