New Jersey Devils re-sign forward Michael McLeod to one-year contract
The New Jersey Devils have re-signed forward Michael McLeod to a one-year contract, the club announced Saturday afternoon.
McLeod, 25, collected four goals and 26 points in 80 games with the Devils during the 2022–23 regular season. He added two goals and six points in 12 games during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Devils originally selected McLeod in the first round (No. 12 overall) of the 2016 NHL Draft. McLeod’s new one-year deal with the Devils carries a $1.4 million cap hit.
McLeod had initially been set to hit the unrestricted free agent market after not receiving a qualifying offer as a pending RFA on Friday. The Devils also re-signed forward Nathan Bastian on Saturday afternoon.
McLeod turned professional on a full-time basis in the Devils organization in the 2018–19 season after a strong four-year career with the Ontario Hockey League’s Mississauga Steelheads.
The six-foot-two center made his NHL debut with the Devils that same season and emerged as a full-time big-leaguer with the team in 2020–21, scoring nine goals and 15 points in 52 games.
Through 242 career games over parts of five seasons with the Devils, McLeod has collected 19 goals and 66 points. He made his Stanley Cup Playoff debut with New Jersey in 2023.
The Devils only qualified one pending restricted free agent on Friday: Kevin Bahl, a six-foot-six defenseman who appeared in 66 games during the 2022–23 season. New Jersey has been one of the league’s busiest teams early in the off-season, having signed Timo Meier, Jesper Bratt, and Erik Haula, traded MacKenzie Blackwood, and acquired Tyler Toffoli.