NEWARK, N.J. -- The New Jersey Devils are strengthening their blue line.
On Monday afternoon, general manager Tom Fitzgerald announced the team signed 29-year-old defenseman Brett Pesce to a six-year contract worth $33 million ($5.5 million AAV).
On Saturday, June 29, New Jersey made space for Pesce on their blue line by trading defenseman John Marino to the Utah Hockey Club during the second day of the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft. The club additionally let veteran defenseman Brendan Smith head to free agency.
Related: Devils Trade Defenseman John Marino to Utah
Pesce was drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes 66th overall in 2013 and has spent the past nine seasons patrolling the blue line in Raleigh. The veteran has appeared in 627 NHL games and has 198 points and 958 blocked shots. He additionally appeared in 57 postseason games.
In the 2023-24 season, Pesce appeared in 70 games, averaging 20:17 of ice time. He spent time killing penalties, averaging 2:20 of ice time per game, second-most on the Hurricanes behind Jaccob Slavin .
At Devils training camp, the Tarrytown, New York native will reunite with familiar faces from his time in Carolina, including Dougie Hamilton, Erik Haula , and Stefan Noesen.
He joins a blue line that has undergone an extreme makeover over the past two seasons. The Devils' defensive core currently consists of Hamilton, Jonas Siegenthaler, Luke Hughes , Simon Nemec, Johnathan Kovacevic, and Nick DeSimone.
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