New Jersey Devils News
Tufte only appeared in five NHL games with Colorado in 2023-24 and earned himself a one-year, $775,000 deal with Boston on Monday. The 26-year-old left-winger spent most of his season last year with the Colorado Eagles (AHL) and had 23 goals and 45 points in 67 games played.

New Jersey continued their impressive offseason by adding veteran defenseman Brenden Dillion to a three-year contract worth $12.0 million ($4.0M AAV). The 33-year-old is entering his 14th NHL season and is 108 games from the 1000 games played mark. In 2023-24 he had eight goals, 20 points, 92 PIMs and a +20 plus/minus in 77 games played with Winnipeg.


Mantha will join his third team in two seasons as he signed a one-year deal worth $3,500,000 with the Calgary Flames on Monday. The 29-year-old spent 2023-24 with both Washington and Vegas and had 23 goals, 44 points, 25 PIMs and 113 SOG in 74 games played.

One of the biggest defensive pieces on the open market is gone early on Monday as New Jersey has signed nine-year veteran Brett Pesce to a six-year deal worth $33.0 million ($5.5M AAV). The 29-year-old has spent his entire career with Carolina and had three goals, 13 points and a +10 plus/minus in 70 games played last year.

Brown did not do much in his first regular season with the Oilers, posting just four goals and eight assists (12 points) in 71 games. However, he was much more noticeable during their run to the Stanley Cup Final, posting two goals and four assists (six points) in 19 playoff games. Expect him to be used in the bottom-6 and on the PK again in 2024-25.

Kovacevic is a solid two-way defenseman and penalty-killer who appeared in 62 games with the Canadiens last season. With the Devils reportedly interested in signing a couple free agent defensemen, Kovacevic could end up serving as the No.7 entering the season.

Kolyachonok had a goal and four points in five total games played in 2023-24 with Arizona and signed a two-year contract extension on Monday. The 23-year-old was originally drafted by Florida in 2019 in the 2nd round (52nd overall) and has seven points in 39 total NHL games played across three seasons.

Pesce was a full participant in Wednesday's practice and Thursday's morning skate but skated as an "extra," and is not yet ready for game action as he will sit out Game 6 on Thursday. The 29-year-old has only been able to compete in two playoff games so far this year and has an assist, one SOG, two PIMs and a +1 plus/minus.

Rittich excelled in his first season in Los Angeles, finishing with his most wins (13) since 2019-20 and career highs in both SV% (.921 SV%) and GAA (2.15) and has signed a one-year, $1 million contract extension with Los Angeles. The 31-year-old is entering his ninth NHL season and has a career record of 92-57-24, 2.78 GAA and .906 SV% with five separate franchises.

Pesce was a full participant in Wednesday's practice but skated as an "extra," which suggests that he won't be available for Game 6 on Thursday. Monitor his status during Thursday's morning skate to get a concrete answer on his availability.

With Adam Henrique missing his second game of the playoffs due to injury, Connor Brown will draw back into the Oilers' lineup on Sunday for Game 3 vs. Vancouver. The 30-year-old right-winger made his Oilers' playoff debut in Game 1 of their second series and failed to pick up a point while also grabbing two PIMs in 7:35 TOI.





