The New Jersey Devils may have one college free-agent forward on their radar in Cruz Lucius, but he isn’t the only name worth watching as rights expire Saturday. Stiven Sardarian is another player who could make sense for New Jersey, and his college resume gives him a real case.
Sardarian, 23, entered the league as a third-round pick by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. His path wasn’t an immediate rocket ship. After a middling run in the USHL, he moved on to college hockey and spent his first two seasons at the University of New Hampshire before finishing his junior and senior years at Michigan Tech.
That’s where the offensive game really took off. Sardarian went from a player producing just seven points in 29 games as a freshman to one of the more productive forwards in college hockey by the end of his career.
In 37 games, he finished with 44 points, including 12 goals and 32 assists. That total ranked 12th in all of college hockey, while his 32 assists were fifth in the NCAA.
He also earned a vote to the All-CCHA First Team, was named CCHA Player of the Year, and finished as a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.
For a player whose rights may not be retained by the team that drafted him, that’s a strong pile of credentials. And like Lucius, Sardarian’s game is built more around setting things up than finishing them himself.
He sees the ice well, especially from the perimeter, and his off-puck awareness stands out on both sides of the puck. The concerns are there too: he’s an average skater with a below-average shot, and he still needs work on his acceleration, physicality, and finishing touch. But the ingredients are enough to make him worth a look.
At minimum, Sardarian looks like a legitimate candidate for an AHL prove-it deal. He profiles as someone who could fit into a middle-six role at the minor-league level, and for a Devils organization focused on rebuilding the Comets, that kind of low-risk swing has obvious appeal.
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