Kevin Labanc won’t be back on a Devils tryout, and the door is closed for anyone hoping to see that preseason spark in New Jersey again.
Labanc, who was one of the most eye-catching PTO stories the Devils have had in recent memory, has signed a one-year deal with the SCRJ Lakers of Switzerland’s National League. That move takes him off the board for the Devils and for any other NHL team that might have been thinking about bringing him in on a professional tryout contract.
That’s a notable turn because Labanc’s brief run with New Jersey last preseason looked like the kind of audition teams dream about. He led the league in preseason goals with six in four games and looked every bit the part, mixing offense with physical play by laying hits and forcing turnovers. For a player trying to rebuild his stock, it was a loud statement.
The fit made sense then, and it still made sense in hindsight. Labanc was coming off a rough stretch after the 56-point season he once had with the San Jose Sharks had faded into the background. He tried to reset his career with the Devils, and for those few games, he looked like he belonged in Sheldon Keefe’s plans.
Of course, the scoring binge was never going to last. Labanc’s 33% shooting percentage was never a realistic regular-season number, and his next stop with the Blue Jackets brought only two goals in an injury-filled season. After that, he moved on from the NHL and signed with the Shanghai Dragons, where he put up 15 goals and 34 points in China for the new KHL franchise.
Even with all that, a Devils reunion always carried at least a little logic because of how well he played in that first tryout. But that possibility is gone now. The 30-year-old forward chose a guaranteed year in Switzerland rather than waiting around for an NHL opening, and that decision takes him out of New Jersey’s PTO conversation for good.
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