Devils Re-Sign Promising Goaltender Prospect to Two-Year Contract

The New Jersey Devils announced on Tuesday morning that they’ve re-signed prospect goaltender Nico Daws to a two-year contract. Daws’ two-year deal begins as a two-way deal worth $775,000 at the NHL level and $350,000 at the American Hockey League (AHL) level ($465,000 guaranteed) in 2024-25. In 2025-26, Daws’ deal upgrades to a one-way contract worth $850,000 at the NHL level.

It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek to call Daws a prospect given the fact that he’s accrued 43 starts and 46 games in the NHL, however, the former third-round selection in the 2020 NHL Draft has been thrust into a few situations in which he was called upon to play NHL games earlier than anticipated.

After Daws underwent successful hip surgery in the summer of 2023, he miraculously returned to game action with the Utica Comets in December and shortly after getting a few reps in at the AHL level, he was promoted to the varsity squad. After the Devils suffered a series of injuries both up front and on the blue line, Daws provided a stable presence in the crease — flashing his potential as a future starting goaltender in the NHL.

Daws’ raw statistics don’t reflect quite how good he was in a pinch for the Devils, accruing a 9-11-0 record with a 3.15 GAA and .894 SV%.

The highlight of Daws’ season was on Feb 17th during the NHL’s Stadium Series tilt between the Devils and Philadelphia Flyers. The 23-year-old netminder led New Jersey to its first NHL outdoor game win in a 6-3 victory by making 45 saves on 48 shots, setting a new NHL record for the most saves by a goaltender in an NHL outdoor game.

Eventually, Daws was replaced by trade deadline acquisitions Jake Allen and Kaapo Kahkonen. He was therefore returned to the Comets on loan. In 10 starts with Utica in 2023-24, Daws accrued a 2-6-2 record, 2.89 GAA and .890 SV%.

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