The New Jersey Devils, parent club of the AHL’s Albany Devils, today signed free agent goaltender Yann Danis and defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani to one-year, two-way contracts, both for $575,000 at the NHL level.
Danis, 34, returns for his second stint in the Devils organization, having last played with New Jersey in 2009-10. Last season, Danis appeared in 35 AHL games with Norfolk and Hartford, compiling a record of 17-13-4 with a 2.47 goals-against average, a .919 save percentage and four shutouts. He guided Hartford to the Eastern Conference Finals, going 7-7 (2.37, .918) in 14 Calder Cup Playoff outings.
Danis, winner of the Baz Bastien Award as the AHL’s outstanding goaltender in 2011-12 and an AHL All-Star in 2006 and 2012, has posted a record of 166-123-34 with 20 shutouts in 342 appearances with Hartford, Norfolk, Adirondack, Oklahoma City, Bridgeport and Hamilton. The native of Lafontaine, Que., was a member of Hamilton’s Calder Cup championship team in 2007.
In 53 career NHL games with Montreal, the New York Islanders, New Jersey and Edmonton, Danis is 17-21-4 with a 2.75 GAA and three shutouts.
Gragnani, 28, joins the Devils organization after spending the last two seasons overseas, including this past one with Bern (Switzerland). He led the NLA in points by a defenseman with 37 (eight goals, 29 assists) and was named to the league’s All-Star Team.
A third-round draft choice by Buffalo in 2005, Gragnani won the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s outstanding defenseman in 2010-11, when he led all blueliners in assists (48) and points (60) while posting a plus-22 rating in 63 games with the Portland Pirates. In 325 career AHL games, Gragnani has recorded 50 goals and 184 assists for 234 points playing for Rochester, Portland and Charlotte.
Gragnani, a native of Montreal, has career NHL totals of three goals and 15 assists for 18 points in 74 regular-season games with Buffalo, Vancouver and Carolina.
