The Devils today re-signed right wing Kyle Palmieri, who is a New Jersey native, to a five-year contract.
“I think for me, it just bring pure excitement,” Palmieri said of re-signing with the Devils. “Obviously, I had a great time, lot of fun this year. With the additions we made this summer, I really look for to what future hold for this team.”
The average annual value of the contract is $4,650,000. The salary breakdown is: 2016-17: $4,500,000; 2017-18: $4,500,000; 2018-19: $5,000,000; 2019-20: $5,000,000; and 2020-21: $4,250,000.
This past season, Palmieri led New Jersey with a career-high 30 goals, 27 assists, and 57 points, while playing in all 82 games. He also added 11g-12a-23pts on the power play, all new personal bests.
Palmieri was born in Smithtown, NY but grew up in Montvale, NJ. He is the second New Jersey native to ever skate for the Devils.
The 25-year-old Palmieri was acquired from Anaheim on June 27, 2015 for a second- round choice in the 2015 Draft and a third-round selection in 2016.
He was Anaheim’s first choice and the 26th overall selection in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and spent five seasons with the Anaheim organization.
In 280 career NHL games, he has 73 goals and 73 assists for 146 points with 129 penalty minutes. Palmieri has seven goals and five assists with 22 penalty minutes in 33 career Stanley Cup Playoff games.
On Wednesday, the Devils re-signed restricted free agent center Sergey Kalinin to a one-year, $800,000 contract.
In his first NHL season, Kalinin scored eight goals and seven assists for 15 points with 33 penalty minutes in 78 games. He also added three assists in 10 games for Russia at the 2016 IIHF World Championships, winning a Bronze Medal.
The Devils also re-signed restricted free agent center Jacob Josefson to a one year, $1,100,000 contract.
Josefson, 25, set a new career high in assists (10) and points (14) in 58 games played this season. He appeared in his 200th career NHL game November 22, 2015 at Vancouver.
Free agent left wing Luke Gazdic signed a one-year, two-way contract worth $700,000 at the NHL level with the Devils.
Gazdic, 26, spent the last three seasons with the Oilers’ organization. In 2015-16, he skated in 29 games, scoring one goal and accumulating 24 penalty minutes at the NHL level. Gazdic added one goal, two assists and six penalty minutes in 11 games for Bakersfield (AHL).