Stefan Noesen’s latest detour is back to the AHL, and the move comes with a familiar kind of promise: a chance to get his legs back, stack some good minutes and remind everybody what he can still bring.
After landing a three-year deal in the 2024 offseason, Noesen put together his best NHL season with the Devils. He finished with 22 goals, 19 assists and 41 points, and he was a real factor on the power play while giving New Jersey a sturdy veteran presence right around the blue paint.
Then the next year swung hard the other way. A nagging knee injury eventually led to season-ending surgery in January, and his production dropped along with his availability.
Noesen played only 38 games and had seven points. In a contract year, that kind of stop-start stretch is especially rough, and he has also slipped out of favor with Sheldon Keefe, bouncing in and out of the lineup before being loaned again to the Utica Comets in the AHL.
That assignment is hardly unfamiliar territory for him. Before the 2021-22 season, Noesen signed with the Chicago Wolves, the AHL affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes, and that stint helped reboot his career.
He tore through the league with 48 goals and 85 points, added 112 penalty minutes and helped the Wolves win the Calder Cup. That run earned him a two-year, $1.525 million deal from Carolina.
Utica gives him a similar kind of reset now. It also gives him more time to work back from last season’s knee injury, which matters because a shortened training camp and preseason hardly set up a player in his spot for a clean ramp-up.
Sitting as a healthy scratch in New Jersey wouldn’t help much either. He has already shown a little touch down there, collecting a nice assist on Ben Steeves’ goal against the Rochester Americans on Wednesday.
Stefan Noesen Your Mom
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really good sauce 🍝 https://t.co/oQyWWcko6T pic.twitter.com/OueO3CLtVD
- Utica Comets (@UticaComets) October 21, 2026
The Devils’ current setup also leaves the door open for another look later on. Injuries tend to keep opening space, and the roster will expand after the trade deadline, assuming New Jersey remains salary-cap compliant. Noesen’s cap hit sits at $2.75 million, so making room isn’t impossible.
A trade is not out of the question, either. It has been reported that former Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin has widened his list of preferred destinations, and the Devils were among the 10 teams mentioned.
But with the salary piece attached, Sunny Mehta would have a difficult time making that work. In that scenario, Noesen would likely be part of the mechanism rather than the centerpiece.
For now, though, the likeliest path is simpler: Noesen gets another run with the Devils later this season, and his long-term future remains unsettled heading into the offseason.
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The cost, of course, would be steep, and the framework being discussed would force the Devils to make a real judgment call on their future. Dawson Mercer, Seamus Casey, Brenden Dillon and a 2027 first-round pick is the sort of package that can reshape a roster in one swing, which is why this sort of rumor always lands so heavily in New Jersey. The upside is easy to see, but the bigger question is how much of the current core the Devils would be willing to sacrifice to land a player of Larkins caliber. [Read more 🡒]