Wedgewood Re-Signs

Today the Devils announced the re-signing of goaltender Scott Wedgewood. He signed a one-year, two-way contract. The deal is worth $825,000 at the NHL level and $375,000 in the AHL.

The 28-year-old goalie was 3-8-3 last year over 16 games – 15 of them starts according to the press release put out by the Devils. He ended 2020-21 with a 3.11 goals against average and a .900 save percentage. The presser also noted that he set a career best with two shutouts. He was ultimately named the Devils’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy in 2021. He was chosen as such by “the New Jersey members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.”

Over Wedgewood’s three years in the NHL, he has posted a 10-18-8 record (40 games – 36 of them starts) and a 3.07 GAA and .902 save percentage. He also has four shutouts.

In 2019-20, while with the Tampa Bay Lightning organization (spending the majority of the year with the AHL Syracuse Crunch), he won a Stanley Cup as the Bolts’ third goalie in the bubble.

Wedgewood has played in the Devils’ organization (he was picked 84th overall in the third round with New Jersey’s second choice in the 2010 Draft. He played in the Ontario Hockey League for four years with the Plymouth Whalers before moving on to the Trenton Devils of the ECHL and the Albany/Binghamton Devils of the American League.

In the AHL, he has a career 51-36-16 record with eight shutouts and a 2.45 GAA and .906 save percentage over 190 games.

He made his NHL Devils debut during the 2015-16 season and went 2-2-0 over four games with one shutout and a 1.25 GAA and a .957 save percentage.

The Brampton, Ontario-native was dealt to the Arizona Coyotes on October 28, 2017, for the ‘Yotes’ fifth-round pick in 2018 according to the press release.

Internationally, he played for Canada at the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship, winning a bronze.

But, as one person is back in the fold for the Devils, the organization is losing another in the front office.

Director of player and team development, Aimee Kimball left the Devils back on July 2.

She announced via Twitter that she “made the hard decision to leave a great org, but I have goals that superseded available opportunities so I’m testing free agency.”

She noted in her post that she has “15 years of NHL experience, 2 Stanley Cups” which she won while with the Penguins, and “a PhD, and a strong desire to help a team go from potential to dominance.”

Devils Re-Up Nate Bastian

Nathan Bastian has been re-signed by the Devils to a two-year contract worth $1,650,000 ($775,000 in 2021-22 and $875,000 in 2022-23) according to Amanda Stein. He was to be a restricted free agent this summer.

The 23-year-old forward comes off of his best year at the NHL level, playing in 41 games and notching three goals and seven assists (ten points) according to Stein.

He was also a known physical commodity. Stein said that he had 136 hits to lead the team in that category this season. That made him two off the pace in hits to lead NHL rookies. He finished second behind the Montreal Canadiens’ Alexander Romanov, who had 138 in 12 more games played than Bastian.

He was drafted by the Devils 41st overall in the second round of the 2016 Draft.

Bastian told Stein during the May exit interviews: “Most nights we were playing against the top lines,” in reference to he, Miles Wood and Michael McLeod. “At the end of games, if we’re up, defending a 6-on-5, our line is probably out there. Earning that respect from your coach is everything. I started to feel as the year went on gaining the respect of your teammates and the respect of your coach. You wake up one day and feel like an NHLer. I think if you told me coming into the year, I’d be a regular, I’d say that’s a success for me.”

Stein mentioned the faith that Devils coach Lindy Ruff placed in Bastian, noting that “Ruff could rely on [Bastian] during the penalty kill and defending a lead in the final minutes of a game.”

As Bastian told Sam Kasan for a feature on the fourth line (or BMW Line as they are known) on the Devils’ website, “[a]s the year went on, we got more and more comfortable. Later in the year we learned to play 16, 17 minutes a night. At the start of the year I was getting nine, 10, 11 minutes. Which is fine. I think we became more responsible and I think we handled it pretty well.”