The New Jersey Devils have agreed to a one-year, two-way contract with forward Adam Beckman. Beckman will earn the league minimum of $775K in the NHL with a salary of $125K in the AHL ($150K guaranteed).
Beckman was recently acquired from the Minnesota Wild organization in exchange for Graeme Clarke. Beckman spent three professional seasons for the Wild after finishing his major junior career with the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League. He quickly became one of the better point producers with the team’s AHL affiliate in Iowa as he scored 57 goals and 108 points in 181 games.
There is some criticism of Beckman’s play on the defensive side of the puck during his time with the AHL Wild as he finished with a -29 rating in total. Iowa finished top-15 in goals against during the first two years of Beckman’s tenure with the team but finished tied for 29th this past season with the San Diego Gulls.
Beckman did suit up in 23 games for Minnesota over the last three years as an injury replacement but didn’t factor too much as he averaged 10:02 of ice time per game. He still has yet to register his first goal at the NHL level but has collected three assists up to this point.
It’s unlikely that Beckman will start the season in New Jersey as he’s most likely destined for the AHL with the Utica Comets. The Devils improved their forward depth this offseason by bringing in Tomas Tatar, Stefan Noesen, and Paul Cotter which should eliminate space for Beckman to crack the roster. Beckman should likely serve as an injury replacement in New Jersey while adding solid scoring depth to the Comets.