New Jersey Devils General Manager Sunny Mehta announced today that the club has signed defenseman Anton Silayev to a three-year, entry-level contract.
BIG deal? Yeah, we'd say so.
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) June 1, 2026
We've signed Anton Silayev to a three-year, entry-level contract.
📰: https://t.co/vDihjFjFeC pic.twitter.com/z5gT3F25N4
Silayev, 20, was selected by New Jersey with the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. With his signature on the dotted line, he becomes the final player from the top 15 of his draft class to secure an NHL entry-level deal.
Standing at a staggering 6-foot-7 and weighing 210 pounds, the left-shot defenseman spent parts of the last three seasons playing in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod.
Over his KHL career, Silayev has tallied 26 points (6g-20a) in 187 regular-season games, alongside four assists in 19 career Gagarin Cup playoff appearances. He also holds a championship pedigree in his young career, having helped his organization's junior team capture an MHL title in 2023, as well as securing a VHL playoff championship in 2025.
While he will have every opportunity to impress the coaching staff at training camp, the expectation is that Silayev will begin the 2026-27 season anchoring a top-four role with the AHL's Utica Comets.