NHL free agent frenzy is well underway and the Devils have been busy bulking up their defense core. One free agent who will not be in a Devils uniform next year is forward Tomas Nosek. The reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers have signed Nosek to a one-year, $775k deal.
Nosek signed with the Devils in free agency last year to a one-year, one-way contract worth $1 million.
It was a tumultuous year for Nosek. He missed significant time early in the season through injury, finishing the year with just 36 games played. Deployed primarily as a fourth-liner, Nosek recorded two goals and four assists.
Nosek will have the chance to play a depth role for the Panthers, on their quest to defend their Stanley Cup title. After losing fourth-line center Kevin Stenlund in free agency, Nosek has a path to play important minutes as a role player and penalty killer.
As for the Devils, they added forward depth when they acquired Paul Cotter from the Vegas Golden Knights on day two of the draft. It remains to be seen if the Devils look outside the organization to fill the fourth-line center hole left by Nosek, or if they will choose to promote from within.
Nosek was cut from Team Czechia at the 2024 IIHF World Championships this past summer. At locker clean out in April, Nosek expressed his desire to return to New Jersey.
“We will have that talk for sure. I hope we can find some way [to make it work]. My family loved it here, so we will have that talk for sure.”
However, with the depth acquisitions the Devils have made in Cotter and Stefan Noesen, Nosek was seemingly squeezed out of New Jersey. He’ll look to replace Kevin Stenlund in Florida who opted for the Utah Hockey Club.
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