- Ben Steeves signed a one-year, two-way deal worth $850K at the NHL level
- Goalie Jakub Malek landed a two-year, two-way contract to stay in the system
- Read below for how Steeves ended up in New Jersey and what both deals mean
The Devils cleaned up some depth-chart business on Monday afternoon.
Forward Ben Steeves signed a one-year, two-way contract that pays $850K at the NHL level and $150K in the minors. New Jersey also brought back goaltender Jakub Malek on a two-year, two-way deal.
Steeves is a recent arrival. He came over from Florida last week in the Jacob Markstrom trade, the deal that sent Markstrom to the Panthers and brought Steeves, Evan Rodrigues, and Jesper Boqvist to New Jersey.
He is a grinder who can score. Steeves put up 23 goals and 45 points in 72 games with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers last season, and he did it while piling up 100 penalty minutes. He was one of only three AHL players under 5-foot-10 to hit triple digits in the box. His size is the knock, but the production and the edge are real.
Malek’s contract starts at $850K in the NHL and $175K in the AHL next season, then climbs to $900K and $275K in 2027-28. New Jersey guaranteed $300K of the deal.
The Czech netminder wrapped his first North American season with the AHL’s Utica Comets, going 13 wins with a .895 save percentage in 31 games. He spent the three years before that with Ilves Tampere in Finland’s top league, where he collected 40 wins and a .912 save percentage across 82 appearances.
Malek will battle for Utica’s starting job, especially with Nico Daws expected to graduate to the NHL by 2027. Steeves gets another year to earn an NHL look.
