The New Jersey Devils made their first free agent splash early Wednesday afternoon, landing 25-year-old left-handed defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok on a one-year, one-way contract worth $850,000.
Kolyachonok most recently spent time with the Dallas Stars, where he accumulated one goal and three total points in 11 2025-26 games. He has 87 career games under his belt, and he has totaled five goals and 17 total points in that span. He did not receive a qualifying offer from the Stars yesterday, allowing him to sign with the Devils as an unrestricted free agent.
For the Devils, this is yet another analytically inclined, cap-conscious move for new GM Sunny Mehta, who has proven through the draft and through his trades that he wants a team that knows how to win its minutes and play with and around the puck. Kolyachonok, outside of his rookie campaign with the Arizona Coyotes, has consistently won his minutes at the NHL level.
Most recently, with the Stars in an admittedly limited sample size, Kolyachonok had an expected goal share (xGF%) of over 58% while logging third-pair minutes. He wins his minutes by virtue of his consistently underrated two-way game, where he has the ability to play under pressure, break the puck out of the zone with consistency and success, and support the play with generally strong off-puck positioning.
Though the one-way contract is technically fully able to get buried, this is yet another signal that perhaps a move is coming. The Devils now have five NHL-caliber left-handed defensemen on their roster, and I doubt that Mehta brought in Kolyachonok to get paid $850,000 to play in the AHL all season. If I were to guess, he will be used as the seventh defenseman while recently acquired Declan Chisholm gets third-pair minutes on the regular.
Vladislav Kolyachonok's signing could signal a bigger move is coming
With that in mind, it seems ever-more likely that a trade involving one (or both) of Brenden Dillon or Jonas Siegenthaler is somewhat imminent. Both players have 10-team no-trade clauses, meaning that they are able to freely be traded with 21 teams. Dillon, 35, has one year left on his contract worth $4 million, whereas Siegenthaler is younger, better, and more cost-controlled, so there is perhaps a predictable outcome here.
Regardless, Kolyachonok's acquisition is a good one -- Mehta has proven once again that there is a competent individual leading the organization.
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