Today, the New Jersey Devils took care of two more pieces of business in the 2024 Offseason. They re-signed goaltender Nico Daws to a two-season contract. They announced that they will attend the 2024 Prospects Challenge. This post covers both news.

The 2024 offseason for the New Jersey Devils took two steps towards being completed on this day. This morning, the Devils announced that they have re-signed goaltender Nico Daws to a two-season contract. Around noon, they announced that they will be participating in the ninth annual Prospects Challenge at the LECOM Harborcenter in Buffalo, New York. With these news, all that is left are new deals for the two remaining restricted free agents in Dawson Mercer and Nolan Foote and any invitations for training camp.

First things first, the signing. Like Santeri Hatakka before him, Daws was a restricted free agent with no arbitration rights. He was set to be re-signed at some point in the Summer. Today was the day for Daws. According to the team’s announcement, it is a two-season contract that starts as a two-way deal for 2024-25 and a one-way deal for 2025-26. In this coming season, he will get paid at a rate of $775,000 at the NHL level and a rate at $350,000 at the AHL level with a guarantee of making $465,000. That is definitely on the higher end of salaries for AHL players. The following season has a raise for Daws. Regardless of where he is in the organization, he will make $850,000.

The contract structure clearly tells the tale of how management sees Daws. Right now and for 2024-25, he is the team’s third string goaltender on paper. Jakob Markstrom and Jake Allen will be in charge. Until one of them get hurt, perform miserably, and/or get dealt, Daws will likely remain in Utica. He is clearly fine with that given his sort-of raise. Sort of because his NHL salary is the same as last season’s from his entry level contract. The raise is really with the AHL level as given he went from $80,000 in the minors to securing six-figures with the Comets. That said, with Allen set to be a UFA after 2024-25, the second season on the contract being one-way strongly suggests that management is giving him an opportunity to backup Markstrom for 2025-26. Should that go well, his next contract should be more substantial than $850,000. Of course, much can change between now and then. The Devils’ goalies to start 2023-24 were, in order, Vanecek, Schmid, and Daws; it ended with Allen and Kahkonen. Now it is Markstrom, Allen, Daws, and Isaac Poulter on an ELC. It is a conventional kind contract for a #3 goalie that could be a #2 goalie real soon.

I will say that Daws’ career path has not been conventional. Since being drafted in the third round of 2020, Daws spent a COVID-shortened 2020-21 with ERC Ingolstadt of the German DEL, signed his ELC, and debuted for a bad New Jersey team in 2021-22 amid injuries and terrible goaltending sinking that season. He played 21 games with Utica and 25 with New Jersey. He remained with Utica for 2022-23 as Vitek Vanecek was acquired and Akira Schmid jumped him and MacKenzie Blackwood on the depth chart to be the team’s #2 goalie. Daws’ one (and so far only) Comets-only season was cut short due to a hip injury that required surgery. A surgery that he recovered from by end of calendar year 2023, almost immediately called back up to New Jersey after being cleared, used a ton in a short while, and flung back to Utica after 21 appearances such that Daws ended up being in the Comets’ net for 10 games. Daws’ NHL stints saw him post overall save percentages of 89.3% in 2021-22 and 89.4% in 2023-24. And both were not the worst on the team – in fact, his 2021-22 run was the second best on the team behind the final appearances of Jonathan Bernier. Daws has had an eventful career already. A healthy, full season in Utica may be what he and the organization needs for development purposes. Or just stability.

What Daws will not be is a prospect as he is 23 with 46 games under his belt. He can watch as the Devils participate in what has become a pre-preseason tradition: the Prospects Challenge. Hosted by the Sabres, the Devils have been involved in each one since 2015. They typically play in three games to have the rookies, prospects, and even some invited players to get some minutes in before training camp and the full preseason begins. Today’s announcement by the team has the following details:

• In what has also become a tradition, the Devils’ official website will livestream each game. Matt Loughlin will do the play by play as he does for the radio team. Sam Kasan will be the color commentator once more.
• The Devils will play Ottawa on Friday, September 13 at 3:30 PM ET; Buffalo on Saturday, September 14 at 7 PM ET; and Boston on Monday, September 16 at 10 AM ET.
• The Devils named the following players as expected to play in the tourney: Seamus Casey, Topias Vilen, Mikeal Diotte, Josh Filmon, Chase Stillman, Cam Squires, and Dylan Wendt. This will be the Prospect Challenge debut for Casey, Diotte, and Wendt. I imagine Casey will be the big draw for this year’s group. Squires, Stillman, Filmon, and Vilen played in last year’s group.

While a full roster will be announced closer to September 13, I would guess that the James Nichols-reported invitation given to defenseman Igor Mburanumwe would apply for this roster. The Devils had four players on a tryout at the 2023 Prospects Challenge, so it would understandable to have some for this year’s tourney. He would count as one. I would also guess that Kasper Pikkarainen will not be attending as he signed a pro contract with TPS that runs through 2026-27. Liiga’s season starts on September 10 and their preseason starts on Friday, August 2. I doubt he will be allowed to pass up on that to play in exhibition games at the Harborcenter. Which is fine.

What is also fine is that we are definitely in the slow part of the Summer. Once Mercer and Foote are re-signed, the Devils are basically done until the Prospects Challenge. Of course, once that begins, the activities will pick up as preseason will follow soon after and then a game in Prague to start the 2024-25 season. This is all to say to enjoy the relative quiet for now. Perhaps start thinking about, say, under-25 year old Devils players in the system instead. We will be doing something about that real soon.

What do you make of Daws’ new deal? Or the 2024 Prospects Challenge? Please leave your answers and other thoughts about today’s Devils news in the comments. Thank you for reading.