Just a couple of days ago, we detailed Cruz Lucius as a potential free agent fit for the New Jersey Devils. After all, he's a highly-touted, skilled forward who lit up the NCAA in 2025-26 and will become a free agent when his rights expire on Saturday.
The good news is that, though it is a limited class of such collegiate athletes, there is another forward prospect whose rights are expiring that could be of interest to New Jersey: Stiven Sardarian.
Sardarian, 23, was a third-round pick by the Buffalo Sabres back in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. Following his selection, he had a somewhat middling performance in the USHL before matriculating to college. He spent the first two years of his NCAA career with the University of New Hampshire before transferring to Michigan Tech for his junior and senior campaigns.
Over his four-season stint in college hockey, Sardarian gradually blossomed from fourth-liner to top-liner. In his first season, he accumulated just seven points in 29 games. By the end of his college career, he put up a superb 44 points -- 12 goals and 32 assists -- in 37 games. That output was good for 12th in all of college hockey, with his 32 assists ranking fifth in the NCAA. Sardarian was awarded a vote to the All-CCHA First Team, was named the CCHA Player of the Year, and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.
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That is a pretty gaudy resume for someone who seems like he will not be handed a contract by the team that drafted him.
Much like Lucius, Sardarian excels more as a playmaker than a shooter, as evidenced by his outputs. He has sound vision -- particularly from the perimeter of the ice -- and has excellent off-puck instincts on both sides of the puck. He's an average skater with a below-average shot, but his pace, off-puck habits, and facilitation abilities make him a candidate for real professional time.
I'm not sure Sardarian has what it takes right now to jump into an NHL role, given that he needs to improve his acceleration, shot, and physicality, but he is certainly deserving of an AHL prove-it contract. He has the chops to slot seamlessly into a minor-league middle-six, and it would be a low-risk, medium-reward bet for New Jersey. After all, they're dead-set on rebuilding the Comets, and what better way than adding talent for free?
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