Devils Re-Sign Defenseman Topias Vilen to One-Year Deal
The 23-year-old blueliner returns after posting 27 points in 61 games with Utica last season.
The New Jersey Devils re-signed defenseman Topias Vilen to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2026-27 season on July 29. The deal pays $850,000 at the NHL level and $150,000 at the AHL level, with $175,000 guaranteed, according to the team's release. The signing was announced by general manager Sunny Mehta and assistant general manager / Utica Comets general manager Braden Birch.
Vilen, 23, spent most of the 2025-26 season with the Utica Comets, recording four goals and 23 assists for 27 points in 61 games. His 27 points ranked second among Utica blueliners and sixth on the team overall, and he chipped in two power play goals and one shorthanded goal. He made his NHL debut in April, appearing in two games for New Jersey against Ottawa and Boston. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound left-shot defenseman logged 12:28 of ice time in his first game on April 12 against the Senators and 18:27 two days later against the Bruins, finishing plus-one in his debut.
A fifth-round pick (129th overall) by New Jersey in 2021, Vilen has spent three seasons with Utica since coming to North America for the 2023-24 campaign. He has seven goals and 73 assists for 80 points in 173 AHL games. Born April 1, 2003, in Lahti, Finland, the Finnish defenseman played in his home country's Liiga before joining the Devils organization.
Vilen was New Jersey's final restricted free agent to sign this summer. The deal gives him another opportunity to compete for a roster spot after his brief NHL stint at the end of last season.
