The Devils have added a young defender to the fold, announcing the acquisition of defenseman Mirco Mueller from San Jose. New Jersey also acquires San Jose’s fifth-round selection (143rd overall) in next week’s draft while the Sharks acquire the 49th and 123rd overall picks in the 2017 draft.
Mueller was San Jose’s first round pick (18th overall) back in 2013 but has yet to make much of an impact at the NHL level. He spent the bulk of 2016-17 at the minor league level, recording two goals and 18 assists in 62 games in the AHL. He got into four games with the big club (but was recalled many more times than that in a near-daily shuffle back and forth at times), picking up a goal and an assist while playing 9:36 per game. In his career, he has played in 54 NHL games (all with San Jose), scoring two goals and four assists.
The 22 year old completed his entry-level contract this past season and is due a qualifying offer of just over $874K towards the end of the month, something the Devils will surely give him. Mueller is eligible for selection in the upcoming Expansion Draft as well. He’s no longer waiver exempt so from Sam Jose’s perspective, this may be a case of simply getting something for Mueller now than potentially risk losing him for nothing if he would have failed to make the Sharks’ roster at the end of training camp.
The Devils already have six defensemen signed for next season, including college free agent signing Michael Kapla and also have Damon Severson to re-sign as a restricted free agent. Mueller will likely battle with Kapla for a spot towards the bottom of the depth chart in training camp.