Devils Re-Sign Lappin

The Devils have brought Nick Lappin back into the fold by re-signing him “to a one-year, two-way contract worth $700,000 at the NHL level and $225,000 ($250,000 guaranteed) at the AHL level.”

The 25-year-old forward played in 65 games for Binghamton last season according to the press release put out by the Devils. There he scored 31 goals (which led the Binghamton club and qualified as fourth in the AHL) and 22 assists, totaling 53 points. He also had 37 penalty minutes.

He also played in six NHL contests in 2017-18, totaling one goal. He has 49 career NHL games with five goals and three assists for eight NHL points and 21 PIMs.

The righty-shooting Brown University product is 6’1″ tall and 175 pounds. His NCAA career saw him tally 51 goals and 55 assists totaling 106 points along with 79 PIMs according to the press release. Prior to college, he played in the USHL for the Cedar Rapids Roughriders and the Tri-City Storm.

The press release notes that the Geneva, Illinois-native’s father, Peter, played in the NHL for the Minnesota North Stars and the San Jose Sharks.

Qualifying Offers Extended by Devils to Eight Players

According to articles written today by Abbey Mastracco of the North Jersey Record and Chris Ryan of The Star Ledger, the Devils have extended qualifying offers to eight players.

The players are all restricted free agents. They also declined “qualifying offers for two players, making them unrestricted free agents on July 1” according to Ryan. The players given qualifying offers were forwards Miles Wood, Blake Coleman and Stefan Noesen among those who played in the NHL last season and also defenseman Steven Santini. According to Ryan, “AHL players Nick Lappin, Kevin Rooney, Michael Kapla and Christoph Bertschy also received qualifying offers.”

Ryan also said that “(f)orward Mario Lucia and goalie Ken Appleby did not get qualifying offers.” Although the Devils could still re-sign them should they choose, they will be unrestricted free agents on July 1.

According to Mastracco, Noesen, Coleman, Lappin and Rooney are arbitration eligable. She said that “(t)he deadline to file for salary arbitration is July 5. Both Coleman and Noesen made $660,000 last season on one-year deals according to Mastracco.

In other news that you may have heard by now, the Devils were not one of the five teams that free agent superstar John Tavares has/will be meeting with this week. Several sources, including Arthur Staple, who covers the Islanders for The Athletic, in a tweet written on June 23, the Maple Leafs, Sharks, Stars, Bruins and Islanders were among the short list of teams that he has or will meet with. The Devils could always make an offer later on that Tavares and his agent would listen to, but most likely, New Jersey is not in on the Tavares sweepstakes.

Also, the Hockey Hall of Fame will be announcing their Class of 2018 members today at 3 PM. Martin Brodeur is in his first year of eligibility and will likely be a shoo in. We will have more information here as it becomes available today at 3 PM.