- Moving west of UBS Arena, the New Jersey Devils will similarly have a prospect coming overseas, this time with the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels (Article Link). Although signing a three-year extension with TPS earlier this offseason, the Devils third-round pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, Kasper Pikkarainen, will join Red Deer for the 2024-25 WHL season. Pikkarainen played well for TPS U20 last year as he scored 12 goals and 28 points in 34 contests.
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Devils Rumors
Devils Invite Igor Mburanumwe To Training Camp
Wes Crosby writes on NHL.com that newly acquired Pittsburgh Penguins forward Kevin Hayes has something to prove with his new team. Hayes was traded for the second consecutive summer, this time from the St. Louis Blues to the Penguins, as he plays out the final two seasons of the seven-year $50MM contract that he signed with the Philadelphia Flyers on June 18th, 2019.
The Flyers traded Hayes to the Blues last summer for a sixth-round pick and retained 50% of his cap hit, and the Blues dealt Hayes to Pittsburgh on July 1st along with a second-round pick in a salary cap dump. Penguins’ general manager Kyle Dubas has said that the Penguins expect Hayes to start the season at center, and given the Penguins’ depth, he will likely start on the third line. Hayes is coming off back-to-back disappointing seasons and posted a career-low 13 goals and 16 assists in 79 games last season.
Hayes told NHL.com that he is feeling inspired as he heads into his first season in Pittsburgh and believes that he needs to develop more of a shoot-first mentality to fit in with the team.
In other Metropolitan Division Notes:
- Philadelphia Flyers top prospect Matvei Michkov has officially landed with the team after a 22-hour flight to the United States (team tweet). The 2023 seventh overall pick was greeted at the airport by Flyers general manager Danny Briere and president of hockey operations Keith Jones and wanted to get on the ice immediately but wasn’t able to. The 19-year-old forward signed his ELC three weeks ago and his arrival to Philadelphia comes much earlier than had been anticipated. Many believed it would be another two years before Michkov would play in North America, but with his release from SKA St. Petersburg a month ago, it cleared the way for him to make the move to the NHL.
- James Nichols of NJ Hockey Now is reporting that the New Jersey Devils have invited defenseman Igor Mburanumwe to training camp this fall. Mburanumwe stands an imposing 6’5” tall and weighs 206 pounds. The 20-year-old spent most of his QMJHL career with the Victoriaville Tigres but was traded to the Acadie-Bathhurst Titan early last season and finished his junior career with the team. The Chambly, Quebec native doesn’t offer much offensively, having posted just nine goals and 29 assists in 188 QMJHL games, however, 20 of those points came last season in just 57 games with the Titan.
Devils Re-Sign Santeri Hatakka To Two-Way Deal
The Devils announced Monday that they’ve re-signed defense prospect Santeri Hatakka to a one-year, two-way deal with a $775K cap hit. He was an RFA after receiving a qualifying offer last month and will earn $125K at the AHL level with a $150K guarantee.
Hatakka, 23, has appeared in parts of two NHL seasons, logging a career-high 12 games played with the Devils last year. He didn’t see any NHL action in 2022-23, limited by injuries to just eight AHL games after receiving a nine-game trial with San Jose in 2021-22.
In 21 overall appearances in the NHL, Hatakka has four assists and an even rating while averaging 13:47 per game. A 2019 sixth-round pick of the Sharks who was acquired in 2023’s Timo Meier blockbuster, he has eight goals and 26 assists for 34 points in 97 AHL games over the past three years. He’s coming off a career-best five goals and 20 points in 48 games while on assignment to Utica last season.
Hatakka was solid when called upon for NHL minutes in his first full campaign in the New Jersey organization. The smooth-skating left-shot Finn had a 49.8 CF% at even strength, 1.9% better than his teammates’ average in games he played in. He still has some room to grow, but he checks in as a reliable No. 8/9 option on the Devils’ depth chart entering 2024-25.
He won’t be in contention for an opening night roster spot after New Jersey brought in Brenden Dillon and Brett Pesce in free agency and Johnathan Kovacevic via trade, but he should be one of their first call-up options when injuries strike. He’ll compete for that right with veteran Nick DeSimone, who played a career-high 34 NHL games split between the Devils and Flames last season. 20-year-old right-shot defender Seamus Casey, who’s entering his first professional season after posting 45 points in 40 games at Michigan last season as a sophomore, will also be considered for call-ups.
Hatakka will require waivers to head to Utica to begin the season. He’ll be an RFA again upon expiry.
Devils Sign Cam Squires To Entry-Level Deal
The Devils have inked right winger Cam Squires to his entry-level contract, the team implied in an X post on Friday. It’ll be a three-year deal for the 19-year-old.
Squires has spent the past three seasons as one of the better offensive options for the QMJHL’s Cape Breton Eagles, where the Prince Edward Island native has totaled 79 goals and 91 assists for 170 points in 197 games. The 6’0″, 170-lb forward broke out for 30 goals and 64 points in 67 games in his draft year and improved to 33 goals and 72 points in 66 games last season.
New Jersey snagged Squires a tad later than some expected him to go in last year’s draft, taking him with their lone pick in the fourth round (No. 122). TSN’s Craig Button had him as the No. 87 prospect in the class, while FC Hockey had him at No. 95. In their 2023 NHL Draft Guide, Elite Prospects’ David St-Louis called him “an intelligent player, one who can intercept opposing plays and transform them into offense, make imaginative passing plays, fakes, and who can find openings in goalie’s coverage.” The scouting site listed his puck protection game and his overall agility as his biggest weaknesses.
Squires is still too young for a full-time AHL assignment, per the NHL’s transfer agreement with the CHL. He’s not projected to make a push for a roster spot out of camp in the fall, so he’ll likely be loaned back to Cape Breton for his final season of junior hockey. As such, his ELC will slide to 2025-26 and expire in the 2028 offseason, at which point he’ll be an RFA.
Evening Notes: Utica, Marchenko, Pavelski
The Utica Comets have signed defenseman Will MacKinnon and goaltender Jeremy Brodeur to one-year, one-way AHL contracts. MacKinnon has spent the bulk of his three professional seasons in the ECHL but dressed in 40 AHL games last season with the Comets, posting three goals, three assists, and a +7 rating. The 24-year-old is the son of Comets general manager Dan MacKinnon, who is also the assistant general manager of the New Jersey Devils.
Brodeur has dressed in just five AHL games across his seven-year professional career and played in one AHL game last season. He has never won an AHL game, but the 27-year-old did have a career year last year in the ECHL going 18-9-3 with a .918 save percentage and a 2.56 goals-against average. The son of NHL Hall-of-Famer Martin Brodeur might not see a lot of AHL time as the Comets have goaltenders Isaac Poulter and Nico Daws ahead of him on the depth chart.
In other evening notes:
- Aaron Portzline of The Athletic is reporting that the Columbus Blue Jackets and forward Kirill Marchenko will go to arbitration on July 31st. It was reported earlier this week that the Jackets and the 23-year-old had discussed both a short-term and long-term contract, but at this point, it appears likely that Marchenko’s next deal could be decided by an intermediary. The 2018 second-round pick has 44 goals and 23 assists in 137 NHL games over two seasons and was reportedly looking for a long-term deal this summer.
- Max Miller of The Hockey News is reporting that recently retired Joe Pavelski spoke with the San Jose Sharks about a potential return to the organization where he spent the first 13 years of his NHL career. The 40-year-old played 963 games for the Sharks before departing in free agency to join the Dallas Stars in July 2019. Pavelski played five seasons in Dallas and ultimately never won a Stanley Cup during his playing career, although he was a big-time playoff performer during runs to the Stanley Cup Final with San Jose and Dallas.
Devils Loan Jakub Málek To Liiga’s Ilves
Ilves of the top-level Finnish Liiga announced they’ll receive Devils goaltending prospect Jakub Málek on loan for the 2024-25 season. New Jersey signed Málek to his entry-level contract earlier this offseason, and the Rome Daily Sentinel’s Ben Birnell reported at the time that he’d be heading to Ilves this year.
Málek, 22, will return to the club he’s spent the last two seasons with. He was a fourth-round pick of the Devils in 2021, and the 6’4″ Czech netminder has done well in European professional leagues since. His post-draft year was electric, backstopping VHK Vsetín of the second-tier Czech league with a .932 SV% and 1.95 GAA in 31 games en route to being named the circuit’s best goaltender. Clearly ready for top-flight action, he headed to Finland, where he’s put up a strong .910 SV% and 2.24 GAA with four shutouts and a 25-11-9 record in 49 appearances over the past two years.
Needless to say, he’s trending upward and his chances of making the NHL at some point over the next few seasons seem high. But it won’t be next year, as a bit of a goalie logjam in Newark means he’ll be better served getting some guaranteed playing time with Ilves. The Devils already had prospects Tyler Brennan and Isaac Poulter under contract and slated for AHL Utica this year, as well as unsigned RFA Nico Daws.
Málek will likely arrive in North America in the fall of 2025, better positioned to command AHL starts and eventually become a call-up option.
New Jersey Devils Sign Adam Beckman
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.
Devils' Seamus Casey Waited To Sign ELC
Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now writes that he feels the Pittsburgh Penguins should consider an offer sheet to one of the many teams that are in tough regarding the salary cap. Kingerski feels the Penguins could target Carolina Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis, Winnipeg Jets forward Cole Perfetti, and Edmonton Oilers defenseman Philip Broberg or forward Dylan Holloway.
If Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas opted to submit an offer sheet it would mark a departure from his plan to acquire draft picks with an eye towards the future. The Penguins also have just $3.5MM in salary cap space available, making a push for Jarvis very unlikely. Perfetti could be an option as the Penguins have a hole in their top-six forward group and an offer sheet north of $3MM would fall in the range of what Perfetti will likely sign for next season. However, the obvious issue would be that the Jets would likely match the offer as they have the cap space to do so and Perfetti is coming off a 19-goal season. Offer sheets are rarely used in the NHL and given the state of the Penguins, it seems unlikely they will do so this summer.
In other morning notes:
- James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now writes that New Jersey Devils defensive prospect Seamus Casey opted to hold off signing his entry-level contract with the Devils because he wanted to have a full three years on the deal and wasn’t in a rush to jump into an NHL game. Casey added that he wanted to take a different approach and was concerned about his development when he opted not to sign after his college season ended. Casey was the Devils’ second-round pick in 2022 (46th overall) and will be in tough to make the NHL lineup this year as the Devils have been busy adding defensemen this summer including Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon and Johnathan Kovacevic.
- Mike McIntyre of The Winnipeg Free Press joined Winnipeg Sports Talk and explained what he thinks the holdup to a potential Rutger McGroarty trade could be. The Winnipeg Jets have reportedly been shopping the 20-year-old since the NHL entry draft and according to McIntyre, they were close to a trade with another team at one point but the other team might have had reservations because of the same issues the Jets are having with the former first-round pick. Neither McGroarty’s camp, nor the Jets have spoken publicly about why there is a riff between the two sides, but as Scott Billick writes in the Winnipeg Sun, it is likely due to a disagreement about McGroarty’s development path.
Snapshots: Dillon, Swayman, Yager
The New Jersey Devils were quick to bring in defenseman Brenden Dillon when free agency opened on July 1st, signing him to a three-year, $12MM contract. But that wasn’t the first time the Devils tried to acquire the physical defender, with Dillon sharing on Sportsnet’s The Hockey PDOcast that the Devils also wanted to acquire him at the Trade Deadline. He added that Winnipeg was hesitant to move any of their pending unrestricted free agents amid a strong season.
Dillon was a focal piece of the Jets’ success, once again returning to his stout role on the team’s second pairing and posting 20 points for the third year in a row. He found ways to make his presence felt every single game, leading Winnipeg with 241 hits in 77 games – 20 hits ahead of anyone else on the team – and ranking third with 111 blocked shots.
It’s clear to see why the Devils of all teams would be interested in Dillon’s services. New Jersey is entering next season with an incredibly skilled, but underdeveloped, blue-line – headlined by Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec. Both players are still rounding out their two-way game early in their careers and could stand to benefit from the physical punch that Dillon brings to the lineup. His veteran status is a nice perk as well, with Dillon appearing in 892 games across 13 seasons in the league.
Other notes from around the league:
- The deadline for clubs to file for salary arbitration with their arbitration-eligible restricted free agents passed on Saturday with no clubs filing additional cases, shares Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link). Notably, this leaves star goaltender Jeremy Swayman off the list of arbitration cases. Swayman has emerged as one of the league’s strongest goalies over the last four seasons, posting 79 wins and a .919 save percentage across 132 career games. All of those games came in tandem with Vezina Trophy goaltender Linus Ullmark, though, making Swayman’s value as a standalone starter hard to gauge. That led many to anticipating arbitration, though the Bruins will now get to negotiate with Swayman directly. He’ll be set up for the lions share of Bruins’ starts next season, regardless of how these contract talks pan out.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins are leaving the door open for top prospect Brayden Yager to make the 2024-25 roster, shares Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Yager is coming off a championship-winning season in the WHL, scoring 122 points across 77 games while serving as the Moose Jaw Warriors’ top centerman. He also posted five points in five World Juniors games – on the back of very dynamic playmaking in the middle lane. It was a standout year for Yager, capping off what’s been a stellar WHL career, with Yager totaling 250 points in 211 juniors games. Even with the optimism around his chances next season, Yager has not yet signed his entry-level contract and remains eligible for the WHL next season.
Devils Sign Tomáš Tatar
Winger Tomáš Tatar has landed back with the Devils on a one-year, $1.8MM deal, the team announced Tuesday.
Tatar will be set to return to the Devils after just one season away from the club. He signed a one-year, $1.5MM contract with the Colorado Avalanche last summer, but appeared in just 27 games before the team traded him to the Seattle Kraken for a 2024 fifth-round pick. Tatar played in 43 more games with Seattle, ultimately totaling a meager 24 points in 70 games this season. That’s a hefty step down from the 20 goals and 48 points that Tatar managed with New Jersey in 2022-23, though signs of bleak scoring shined through as he posted just one goal in 12 games during the 2023 playoffs.
But regardless of the down year, Tatar is still moving back to New Jersey as an acclaimed middle-six scoring winger. Tatar earned that role through five strong seasons with the Detroit Red Wings early in his career, continuously rivaling 20 goals and upwards of 40 or 50 points. Detroit traded Tatar to the Vegas Golden Knights ahead of the 2018 Trade Deadline, receiving a first, second, and third-round pick in return. Tatar was just a rental for the Golden Knights, though, getting dealt to the Montreal Canadiens alongside Nick Suzuki and a second-round ahead of the 2018-19 season in the deal that landed Vegas Max Pacioretty.
Tatar found the best years of his career in Montreal, setting a career-high 58 points in his first year with the club that he then topped with 61 points in the following year.
Now 33, Tatar likely won’t chase the same scoring heights he once managed. Instead, he’ll look to provide a bunch from the Devils’ bottom-six, likely set for a role alongside Erik Haula and Ondrej Palat. That’s a stout third-line, though New Jersey will certainly have to make up for their lack of speed elsewhere.