After spending his entire career with the Carolina Hurricanes, Brett Pesce has a new contract. The New Jersey Devils are bringing him in. He is signed for five years and will make $5.5 per season. Pesce was a top defensive defenceman for the Hurricanes and will be a key part to the Devils blueline.
Brett Pesce Signs With New Jersey
Brett Pesce’s contract see him in a new shade of black and red. The Hurricanes drafted Pesce in the third round of the 2013 NHL Draft. Since that time, he has developed into one of Carolina’s most important defencemen and an upper-tier defensive defenceman in the league. In the 2022-23 season, Pesce had the second-highest expected goals for all Hurricanes defencemen while taking the most defensive zone draws on the team. Pesce also had 37 hits and blocked 110 shots, the most of any Hurricanes defencemen.
While known as a defensive defenceman, Pesce can chip in offensively and is a decent skater in transition. Also in 2022-23, Pesce broke his career highs in assists and points with 25 and 30 respectively in 82 games. In the playoffs that year, he tied the team lead in goals by defencemen and was second for assists, points, and shots. He also is a workhorse and played the second most minutes of any defenceman on the team. While he had an offensive slump this past season, he does the little things right and developed great chemistry with Brady Skjei on the team’s second pairing.
What This Means
Brett Pesce’s contract was set to expire after this season, leading to questions on his future with the team. His new contract with the Devils is huge for their back end. Pesce should continue to be a reliable piece on the back end for the next few years.
The Devils have a young blue line featuring Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec. Also, he will reunite with former teammate Dougie Hamilton. Pesce makes the Devils blue line much deeper and is a huge boost after the loss of John Marino.
Main Photo Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
