New Jersey Devils sign former first-rounder unrestricted free agent to one-year contract
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The New Jersey Devils signed Colin White to a one-year, two-way deal, and the number that matters is the smaller one.
White will earn $900,000 at the NHL level and $400,000 in the American Hockey League, and that AHL figure is the tell.
Columbus signed veteran depth defenseman Colton White this month at $300,000 in the AHL, and that was already considered healthy minor-league money.
New Jersey went higher for a forward who did not play one NHL game last season.
That is not a spare-part price. That is a club paying up to guarantee production in Utica whether or not he ever dresses in Newark.
Sunny Mehta is buying what the market ignored
White scored 21 goals and 48 points in 46 games with the San Jose Barracuda in 2025-26 and never got an NHL call.
He cleared waivers on the way down and all 31 other clubs passed. The 2015 first-rounder, 21st overall to Ottawa, owns 323 NHL games and a 41-point season.
Sunny Mehta, the analytics pioneer and former professional poker player who took over as Devils general manager in April, spent six years in Florida watching cheap depth win two Stanley Cups.
This contract is the first small piece of that thinking landing in New Jersey.
The waiver catch nobody has flagged
White is 29 and nowhere near waiver exemption, so the Devils cannot quietly park him in Utica without exposing him to the league first.
A near point-per-game AHL scorer earning $900,000 is exactly the player a rebuilding club claims for nothing.
So New Jersey is not really buying insurance here, it is committing to a decision it will have to make in October.
Sheldon Keefe returns for 2026-27 on a short leash after a 42-37-3 finish and no playoffs.
Depth that actually scores is how a coach in that position survives.
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