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Binghamton Devils Gearing Up For AHL All-Star Game

Since the New Jersey Devils are in the middle of their five-day bye week, I figured now would be a great time to travel down on the farm and take a look at some of what is going on in Binghamton.

The AHL All-Star Classic is coming up on January 28 and 29 in Utica, New York and the Devils will be well represented at the festivities. Firstly, forward Bracken Kearns will be one of the playing captains along with Brett Sutter of the Ontario Reign.

The Binghamton press release says that Kearns is in his first season with the Devils organization, having played 12 previous pro seasons in professional hockey. He has played in 692 regular season games in the American Hockey League (at the time of the press release’s writing on December 19, 2017) and 35 regular season and seven playoff games in the National Hockey League, spread out over the Florida Panther, San Jose Shark and New York Islander organizations. He made one other AHL All-Star appearance in 2013 with the Worcester Sharks.

Kearns is 36 years-old and leads Binghamton Devils “with 15 assists and is second overall on the team with 20 points in 27 games played this season.” Again, this is from the press release from December, he now has 22 points in 35 games.

Kearns, a native of West Vancouver, British Columbia, was undrafted out of the University of Calgary and began his pro hockey career with the Toledo Storm of the ECHL. He got his first NHL call up in 2011-12 with the Panthers.

He said that he was surprised by the selection but that he is “really excited about it.” He said that it is “a fun time and always interactive with the fans” adding “I didn’t have kids last time, so hopefully they can come down to ice level and check it out.”

The Binghamton Devils’ other representative in the AHL All-Star Classic is defenseman Jacob MacDonald. He was named to the All-Star team on January 4.

According to the Devils’ press release, MacDonald leads Binghamton defensemen “with 24 points in just 34 games played after being signed to a PTO from the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye.” MacDonald, 24 years old, has also spent time with the Elmira Jackals (ECHL) and Springfield Falcons (AHL). He also leads the Devils and the AHL among defensemen in power play goals with six and is tied on the team with 15 assists. He is first amongst d-men in the AHL with eleven goals and is second overall in points with 26.

MacDonald is a 6-foot, 208-pound native of Brighton, Michigan who attended Cornell University, notching 21 points in 104 games there over four years. He is a graduate of the United States Hockey League prior to college, where he spent two years with the Waterloo Black Hawks.

Good luck to both men participating in the AHL All-Star Classic.

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Devils Continue Signings on Busy Day

The Devils continued to sign free agents despite most of the big names being off the table, adding pieces for the team for here while also stocking Binghamton of the AHL.

Bracken Kearns comes to the Devils from the Islanders organization, signing a two-way contract. The contract is worth $650,000 at the NHL level. Kearns is a 36 year old, 6-foot, 195-pound North Vancouver, British Columbia native. The forward has skated in 35 NHL games (with Florida, San Jose and the Isles) with 25 of them coming in 2013-14 with the Sharks, according to the press release put out by the Devils. He worked his way up from the University of Calgary in Canadian collegiate hockey to the Toledo Storm of the ECHL and on to the AHL and NHL. He is an eleven year pro.

In the AHL, he has skated for the Cleveland Barons, Milwaukee Admirals, Norfolk Admirals, Rockford IceHogs, San Antonio Rampage, Worcester Sharks and most recently with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (Islanders affiliate). His totals at the American League level show 110 goals and 156 assists for 266 points in 473 games. He also has 496 penalty minutes.

The Devils also re-signed one of their own. Brian Gibbons, who played last year at Albany of the AHL, signed a two-way pact with the organization worth $650,000 at the NHL level.

Gibbons, a 29 year old, 5-foot, 8-inch, 175-pound forward has played in the Pittsburgh, Columbus and Rangers organizations prior to coming to the Devils. He has played 66 NHL games for the Pens and the Blue Jackets. The Braintree, Massachusetts native went to Boston College before turning pro six years ago.

Last season, the Devils’ press release says that he had a career high in goals (16) and points (36) and tied for the Albany team lead with 72 games played. He was originally a Pittsburgh free agent signee out of college and played for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL, where he was coached by John Hynes.

The other late signing by the Devils was Brian Strait, who got a one-year, two-way contract worth $650,000 at the NHL level. He comes to the Devils from the Winnipeg organization. where he spent time with the Jets and the Manitoba Moose of the AHL last season.

The 29 year old, 6-foot, 1-inch, 205-pound defenseman from Waltham, Massachusetts played at Devils coach John Hynes’ alma mater of Boston University. He later played under Hynes at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship in 2006 according to the Devils’ press release.

He, like a lot of recent Devils signees, has Pittsburgh roots. He was drafted by the Penguins 65th overall in the third round in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft accoding to the press release. He has spent time in the Pens, Islanders and Jets organizations prior to his signing today.

Last year, with the Moose, he played in 58 games and scored two goals and 12 assists for 14 points total. He played in five NHL games last year for Winnipeg and had two assists.

In news going the other way, Devils restricted free agent Jacob Josefson (who was not tendered an offer) has signed a one year contract with the Buffalo Sabres worth $700,000. Good luck to Josefson in Buffalo.

The Devils signings are largely at the AHL level and are to fill out the Binghamton roster. But maybe one of the signings can bear fruit and one of these veterans can fill in when injuries hit or even make the team out of training camp.