New Jersey Devils player profile: Brett Pesce

The 29-year-old will be relied upon to play a lot of difficult minutes next season and beyond.

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The New Jersey Devils were very active on the open market this summer, committing more than $50 million to three players.

The bulk of that money landed at the feet of Brett Pesce, who signed a six-year deal worth $33 million on the opening day of free agency.

He’s up next as we continue to profile all of the newcomers.

2023-24 review

The Carolina Hurricanes had another terrific defensive season, ranking 7th in goal suppression at 5v5 and 4th across all situations.

As usual, Pesce had a big hand in the team’s success. He tied Jaccob Slavin for the lead in average 5v5 ice per game (17:03) and logged over 20 minutes per night overall.

A healthy chunk of the minutes Pesce played came against elite competition. Nearly 40% of his 5v5 ice, to be precise.

Pesce posted a +3 goal differential and helped the Hurricanes control 57% of the shot share during those minutes.

It was the fourth consecutive season in which Pesce won his minutes against elite competition, which is obviously a very difficult thing to do.

Although Pesce ranked 5th among Hurricanes defenders in CF% and xGF%, usage was no doubt a big factor.

Pesce spent a higher percentage of his time against elite competition than anybody on the team’s blue line.

He also had more defensive zone starts – and was on for more defensive zone faceoffs – than anybody else on the backend.

He played very difficult minutes at 5v5 and was still effective. He was also strong on the penalty kill.

Of 120 defenders to log 100+ minutes while undermanned, Pesce ranked 5th in shots against, 6th in goals against, and 9th in expected goals against per 60 minutes.

His defense was very good, as was his puck management. Pesce was credited with a career-low 18 giveaways over 70 games. Only five of the 162 most-used defensemen handed the puck over fewer times.

2024-25 outlook