Free-agent forward Drew Stafford has signed a one-year, $800,000 contract with the New Jersey Devils, the team announced Friday. It’s a one-way contract, so Stafford will receive the same salary even if he’s reassigned to the minors.
Drew Stafford signs 1-year contract with Devils
It’s an $800,000 cap hit for Stafford.
Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
While we’re getting to that time of the offseason when teams stop offering contracts and start offering PTOs, Stafford managed to land a guaranteed deal with the Devils. He was one of the bigger names left on the free-agent market, which has dried up over the past few weeks following the initial rush in early July.
A first-round pick in the 2004 NHL Draft, Stafford has recorded four 20-goal seasons in his career, including a 21-goal, 38-point effort with the Winnipeg Jets in 2015-16. He stumbled last season with just 21 points in 58 games, although he finished strong after a midseason trade to the Bruins with eight points in his final 18 games.
Stafford isn’t much more than someone who can provide scoring punch in the bottom six at this point, but the Devils needed depth. Even after adding him, New Jersey still has just nine healthy forwards on its active NHL roster for next season. Reinforcements will likely be coming from the prospect pool, but there was lots of room on the roster for a veteran like Stafford.
The Devils now have nearly $18 million in cap space with 11 forwards, five defensemen, and two goalies on the roster, per Cap Friendly. Two of those forwards are Ryane Clowe and Travis Zajac, who will likely be on injured reserve to open the season, but New Jersey has more than enough space to fill out its roster.
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