Devils sign top defensive prospect Anton Silayev to entry-level contract
The New Jersey Devils announced on Monday that they have signed top defensive prospect Anton Silayev to a three-year, entry-level contract.
Silayev spent the entirety of the 2025-26 regular season, as he did the prior two years, playing with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the KHL. In 61 games this season, the six-foot-seven blueliner scored a goal and dished out a pair of assists for three points.
That’s a step back from the 12 points he racked up in 63 games with the club the year prior. Silayev has gotten plenty of postseason experience in Russia as well, both with Torpedo and Chaika Nizhny Novgorod of the MHL. Between the two clubs, he’s racked up 50 playoff appearances over the past three years.
Last summer, Daily Faceoff prospect analyst Steven Ellis ranked Silayev as the No. 1 prospect in the Devils’ system.
“Silayev’s appeal has never been about his play with the puck – although I’d argue he’s better than his limited offensive production would suggest,” Ellis wrote. “There aren’t a whole lot of big defenders who can skate as well as Silayev does, and that’s what makes him stand out ahead of many other bigger blueliners.”
The Devils are fresh off a highly disappointing campaign that saw them miss out on the Stanley Cup Playoffs entirely as star Jack Hughes missed a big chunk of the year with an injury and the team’s goaltending faltered on a near-nightly basis.
New Jersey, which entered the year with expectations of competing with the Carolina Hurricanes for the division title, instead finished seventh in the Metropolitan with a 42-37-3 record and the worst goal differential in the division.
The team parted ways with general manager Tom Fitzgerald prior to the end of the regular season and wasted no time in hiring Sunny Mehta, a New Jersey native who had been an assistant GM with the Florida Panthers, to take the team in a new direction.
In his first summer at the helm, Mehta will have about $10 million in cap space, prior to any moves to create more, with which to improve the roster, according to PuckPedia. Mehta will also have the No. 12 overall pick in the upcoming draft to add a high-caliber prospect to his pool or utilize as a trade chip.