Two seasons after drafting him, the New Jersey Devils are tracking to sign one of their top prospects on time and bring over reinforcements for the upcoming 2026-27 season.
With the KHL season nearing a close and the Gagarin Cup playoffs about to begin, eyes are beginning to turn towards the Devils and 2024 No. 10 pick Anton Silayev, whose KHL contract expires at the end of the season.
Silayev, 19, has had a tough season in the KHL with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, playing less after an offseason coaching change and seeing his offensive production drop from 12 points in 63 regular season games last year to just three points in 61 regular season games this year.
The Devils need to get the unicorn defense prospect in a more stable environment and set him back on track, and according to NHL insider David Pagnotta via The Sheet podcast with Jeff Marek, they're going to do just that in the coming weeks and months.
"His contract expires at the end of the season in the [KHL]. They're in the playoffs right now. . . the plan is for him to sign his entry-level contract with the New Jersey Devils and then come on over to our side of the pond," Pagnotta told Marek of Silayev.
"Now, not easy. Not an easy process. There are a lot of hoops and all that to go through the visa process to come over. It's going to take a little bit of time. So, depending on how long their season goes, that'll dictate how long this visa process is going to kind of play out.
"My understanding is, the goal for the Devils, and the player and his camp, is to be on this side of the pond in time for development camp at the end of June after the NHL draft. End of June, early July. That's kind of the target to bring him over, sign, go through those steps in order to come over to North America, and then be a part of the Devils' dev camp. . . every indication is that he will be signing with the Devils."
Silayev and his Torpedo (West 6th seed) will be facing Severstal Cherepovets (West 3rd seed) in the first round of the Gagarin Cup playoffs, with Game 1 being played on Monday night.
As Pagnotta noted, it's highly unlikely that the Devils sign Silayev and complete the visa process in time for him to play with the Devils or AHL Utica Comets this season, and given his young age and having played a full season in the KHL, that might not be such a good idea anyway.
Regardless, though, the Devils' prospect pool is about to get a major boost for next season, and that's encouraging with how barren the current prospect pipeline is otherwise.