The New Jersey Devils have come to terms on a new contract with defenseman Topias Vilen. He has signed a one-year, two-way deal for the 2026-27 season that will pay $850K at the NHL level and $150K at the AHL level per James Nichols of NJD Hockey Now. Vilen was New Jersey’s final restricted free agent.
This deal will offer Vilen another chance to fight his way up the Devils’ ranks. He put together a productive AHL season in 2025-26, netting a career-high 27 points in 61 appearances with the Utica Comets. Vilen debuted in the NHL with two games in April and, while he didn’t score in the Devils’ lineup, the show of faith boosted him to three points in his final two games of the AHL campaign.
Vilen has flaunted an effective, two-way ability through three seasons in Utica. Despite the lineup’s collective struggles, Vilen has led Utica’s blue-line in total scoring and games played since 2023 – with 80 points in 173 appearances. That scoring falls just behind former and current Utica teammates Simon Nemec, Seamus Casey, and Calen Addison in points-per-game in the same span.
Vilen flashed a bit more scoring upside when he secured 10 points in a six-game stint in the ECHL during the 2023-24 season, his first in North America.
The 23 year old was lauded as a smart, two-way defender as he rose the ranks of Finland’s junior programs. He debuted in the Liiga in 2020 and earned a fifth-round selection in the NHL Draft in 2021. While he has takent he long road to the NHL in five years since, the 2026-27 campaign could mark Vilen’s first chance to turn a top role in Utica into a sustained chance with the Devils.