The New Jersey Devils, parent club of the AHL’s Lowell Devils, on Tuesday announced the signings of nine players.
New Jersey re-signed forwards Cam Janssen and Grant Marshall and defenseman Olivier Magnan, while signing defensemen Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre and Ian Moran and forward Noah Clarke to new contracts. Additionally, forwards Benoit Mondou and Joe Rooney and goaltender Jason Smith were signed to AHL contracts.
Janssen will be entering his third NHL season, and fourth season with the organization. The 6-foot, 210-pound right wing split 2006-07 between New Jersey and Lowell (AHL). Janssen saw action in 48 NHL games last season, recording his first career NHL goal, while posting a team-high 114 penalty minutes. He also had one assist and 29 penalty minutes in nine AHL appearances.
Janssen was New Jersey’s fourth-round choice in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. He has two goals, seven assists and 483 PIM in 105 career AHL games.
Marshall posted eight goals and 16 assists for 24 points and 31 penalty minutes in 59 games played with Lowell in 2006-07. The veteran of 10 NHL seasons has career totals of 92 goals and 147 assists for 239 points in 700 games with Dallas, Columbus and New Jersey, and won Stanley Cup championships with the Stars in 1999 and the Devils in 2003.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound forward was Toronto’s first-round choice, 23rd overall, in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft.
Magnan, 21, spent his first season as a pro with Trenton (ECHL) and Lowell, registering one goal and one assist in 24 AHL games. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound native of Sherbrooke, Que., was New Jersey’s fifth-round choice in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.
Grand-Pierre, an AHL All-Star in 1999, spent the past three seasons in Europe, most recently with Dusseldorf in the German league. He has played 269 career NHL games with Washington, Atlanta, Columbus and Buffalo, posting seven goals and 13 assists for 20 points.
Grand-Pierre, who reached the Calder Cup Finals with Rochester in 2000, also has 15 goals and 19 assists in 198 career AHL matches.
Moran played 18 AHL games with Portland in 2006-07, tallying one goal and four assists in the first AHL action of his 14-year pro career. The defenseman’s numbers include 21 goals and 50 assists for 71 points in 489 career NHL games with Pittsburgh, Boston and Anaheim.
Clarke has spent the last four seasons in the Los Angeles organization, where he became the first native of southern California to skate for the Kings. Clarke recorded 24 goals and 33 assists for 57 points in 63 AHL games with Manchester, and added two goals in 13 NHL contests with Los Angeles in 2006-07.
In 267 career AHL games, all with Manchester, Clarke has totaled 85 goals and 114 assists for 199 points, and is the Monarchs franchise’s all-time leading scorer. He was named to the AHL’s All-Rookie Team in 2003-04 and also played in the AHL All-Star Classic that season.
Mondou, 22, spent his first professional season in Trenton (ECHL) in 2006-07, recording 25 goals and 31 assists for 56 points in 62 games. A native of Sorel, Que., Benoit is the son of former AHL rookie of the year and two-time Calder Cup champion Pierre Mondou.
Rooney, 21, spent the last four seasons at Boston College, tallying 16 goals and 26 assists for 42 points as a senior in 2006-07. Rooney won two Hockey East conference championships and reached three Frozen Fours and two NCAA championship games. The native of Canton, Mass., is the son of former AHL and NHL player Steve Rooney.
Smith, 22, was a sixth-round draft choice by New Jersey in 2003 and played the last four years at Sacred Heart University. He was 38-29-4 for the Pioneers, setting a school record for career victories, and his 2.24 goals-against average in 2005-06 was the lowest in the program’s history.
