The New Jersey Devils have re-signed a pair of minor league players, inking Brandon Baddock and Joshua Jacobs to one-year, two-way contracts. Both deals will carry a $700K salary at the NHL level.
Baddock, 24, was originally selected in the sixth round five years ago and has established himself as one of the top physical presences in the AHL. Fighting 17 times so far in his relatively short minor league career, the 6’4″ forward is a throwback to a previous era of professional hockey. Scoring just ten points last season through 67 games for the Binghamton Devils he can’t be relied on for much offensive production, but is obviously considered valuable enough to earn another NHL deal.
Jacobs meanwhile was a much higher draft pick, selected 41st overall in 2014. The big defenseman played one year for Michigan State and one year in the OHL, but has been in the Devils’ minor league system for the last three seasons. Jacobs even made his NHL debut in 2019, playing 14:54 against the Boston Bruins in late March. While he could potentially get into another handful of games as an injury replacement, Jacobs is likely ticketed for the AHL once again.