Former Capitals defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler re-signed with the New Jersey Devils on Friday. The Swiss defenseman is getting a raise from the Devils despite playing in only 15 games total last season.
Siegenthaler, who was a restricted free agent, signed a two-year contract with New Jersey worth $2.25 million ($1.125M cap hit). Siegs will make $1.05M in 2021-22 and $1.2M in 2022-23. It’s a $205k raise from his salary in 2019-20.
#NEWS: We have re-signed Jonas Siegenthaler to a two-year contract.
Welcome back, Jonas! https://t.co/CdhA0eJfSw
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) July 9, 2021
Siegenthaler initially graduated to the NHL during the 2019-20 season with the Capitals. Used as a penalty-killing specialist, the rearguard posted nine points (2g, 7a) in 64 games. But Siegenthaler lost his role in Washington the next year after the team signed several depth defensemen in the offseason. He spoke about his struggles honestly after the season in a German-language interview.
“I wanted out of Washington because I didn’t play,” Siegenthaler said. “Of course, that’s a bit of a shame, because I had it very well with my teammates and thought Washington as a city was cool.”
Siegenthaler called Zdeno Chara, who replaced him on the third pair, a “living legend” but admitted the Slovakian “took my place away from me. It was difficult for [head coach Peter Laviolette] to tell Chara that he wouldn’t play.”
Siegs only played in seven games for the Capitals last season. One of those games, a March 11 game against the Philadelphia Flyers, saw Seigenthaler get only one shift at the end of the game, which was 28 seconds long, after dressing as the team’s seventh defenseman.
Here’s the full press release from the New Jersey Devils:
Devils Re-Sign Defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler
Newark, NJ – The New Jersey Devils today re-signed restricted free agent defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler to a two-year contract worth $2,250,000 with an average annual value of $1,125,000. The breakdown is as follows: 2021-22, $1,050,000 and 2022-23, $1,200,000. The announcement was made by New Jersey Devils Executive Vice President/General Manager Tom Fitzgerald.
Siegenthaler, 24, was acquired from Washington on April 11, 2021 in exchange for Arizona’s conditional third-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft (previously acquired in the Taylor Hall trade, Dec. 16, 2019). He skated in six games with New Jersey following the trade, missing time due to being in COVID-19 protocol. Prior to the trade, he appeared in seven games with the Capitals. This season, Siegenthaler also represented Switzerland at the 2021 World Championship, skating in seven games.
In 2019-20, Siegenthaler posted two goals and seven assists for nine points with 43 penalty minutes in 64 games with the Capitals. He led the Caps in shorthanded time on ice average (3:11). Siegenthaler also skated in seven 2020 Stanley Cup Playoff contests.
In 105-career NHL games, over the course of three seasons with New Jersey and Washington, he scored two goals and 11 assists for 13 points. Siegenthaler has also accumulated 57 penalty minutes and a plus-8 rating. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound left shot blueliner has appeared in 11 Stanley Cup Playoff contests in his career.
Born May 6, 1997, the native of Zurich, Switzerland, was Washington’s second-round selection, 57th-overall choice, in the 2015 NHL Draft. Prior to the NHL, he played parts of four seasons (2014-15 to 2017-18) with the Capitals’ American Hockey League affiliate in Hershey. Before arriving in North America, Siegenthaler played for ZSC (NLA) and with the GC Kusnacht program. He has represented his home country in international play, participating in the 2015, ’16, and ’17 World Junior Championships. In 2017, he was teammates with Devils’ Captain, and close friend, Nico Hischier, and they finished ranked top two in team scoring (Hischier, 4G-3A-7PTS & Siegenthaler, 1G-5A-6PTS).
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
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