Samu Salminen’s time in the New Jersey Devils organization has come to an end, and the former third-round pick is now headed to an Eastern Conference rival.
Salminen signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Florida Panthers on Sunday, carrying a cap hit of $980,000. He’s expected to start as an AHL player rather than make an immediate push for NHL minutes, and he’ll land with the Charlotte Checkers.
That puts him alongside former Devils prospect Angus Crookshank, who was moved over the summer in the deal that sent goaltender Jacob Markstrom to the Panthers, as well as Casey Fitzgerald, the son of former Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald.
For New Jersey, this was a prospect once viewed as a real find. Salminen broke out with a point-per-game season in the U20 Nationell in his draft-plus-one year, then moved on to the NCAA the following season and posted 0.63 points per game as a freshman in Hockey East. His offense never quite kept climbing from there, topping out at 0.674 points per game across four college seasons.
Even so, he carved out a strong reputation away from the puck. Salminen got better defensively, developed into a trusted locker room presence, and became one of the NCAA’s top faceoff men.
In 2025-26, he won nearly 55% of his draws. He also wore an “A” in his final year at the University of Denver and helped lead the team to a National Championship.
Still, New Jersey never signed him to an entry-level deal, and he was not in the plans for a completely overhauled Utica Comets roster. Utica went through a full reset, with a new GM, Braden Birch, and a redesigned lineup, leaving Salminen without a clear fit in a crowded room. Even with the Devils’ lack of center depth in the system, the position was already full.
All the best to him with the Checkers.
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