New Jersey Makes Splash on Blue Line With Former North Jersey Avalanche Star Brett Pesce

Photo Credit: Ed Mulholland, USA Today Sports

One of the worst kept secrets in the entire NHL the past week has been that Brett Pesce signing with the New Jersey Devils on July 1st. Now it’s official, as the former Carolina Hurricanes defensemen inked a six-year, $33,000,000 deal in New Jersey, with his cap hit being $5,500,000.

A nine-year NHL veteran, at 29 years old, Pesce is now back where it all began.

Pesce leaves Raleigh, North Carolina after playing 627 games and registering 198 points. In the playoffs, Pesce adds 57 games of playoff experience to the Devils roster, making the Eastern Conference Finals twice.

A Tarrytown, New York native, Pesce lived about a 40-minute drive away from the old Continental Airlines Arena where the Devils won their three Stanley Cups. Growing up in the tri-state New York area, Pesce played his AAA hockey for the North Jersey Avalanche.

Since being drafted by the Hurricanes with a 3rd round pick in 2013, Pesce has turned into an excellent and stable defenseman in his own zone. Standing at 6’3, ~205 pounds, Pesce is your prototypical defensive defenseman, often being deployed in top matchup situations, especially in the final minutes of games.

The only downside to his game is that Pesce doesn’t throw a ton of hits. He rarely does, averaging just 33.5 hits over the past three seasons. Don’t get it twisted, Pesce isn’t a pushover, as he will physically engane with players that are in front of the net, but won’t put himself out of position, like Jacob Trouba for example.

Where Pesce excels is on the PK, blocking shots and making sure passes don’t make it through the middle of the ice, something John Marino was exceptionally poor at last season in New Jersey.

On the penalty kill, Pesce has averaged 2:22 of short-handed time on ice, while blocking 223 shots the last two seasons in Carolina. That would rank Pesce number one in penalty kill time on ice with the Devils, and second in shots blocked only behind Jonas Siegenthaler, who has 248 in that same period.

Projecting the Devils lineup heading into the 2024/25 season, we should expect Pesce to either play with Luke Hughes on the second pairing or we could see him shift over to the left side and play alongside Dougie Hamilton, a pairing we saw down in Carolina. Also, expect Pesce to be on the number one penalty kill unit for Sheldon Keefe.

Once a Ranger fan idolizing former captain Ryan McDonagh, Pesce will now be donning a red and black “NJ” just 14 miles across the Hudson River from Madison Square Garden.