The New Jersey Devils have re-signed defenseman Topias Vilen to a one-year, two-way contract. The contract details for 2026-27 are as follows: $850,000 at the NHL level and $150,000 at the American Hockey League (AHL) level with $175,000 guaranteed. The announcement was made by General Manager Sunny Mehta and Devils’ Assistant General Manager/Utica Comets General Manager Braden Birch.
Vilen, 23, completed his third full season playing professionally in North America, appearing in 61 contests with New Jersey’s AHL affiliate in Utica and two NHL games with the Devils. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound defenseman recorded 27 points (4g-23a) with Utica last season, ranking second among all blueliners and sixth overall on Utica. Vilen’s 61 games and four goals both marked career-highs for a single AHL season, while he also chipped in two power-play goals and one shorthanded.
The left-handed shot made his NHL debut with the Devils on April 12, 2026, against Ottawa, recording 12:28 of time on ice. Vilen played his first full season in North America in 2023-24 with Utica, where he logged a career-high 29 points (2g-27a) in 54 contests. Overall, Vilen has earned 80 career points (7g-73a) in 173 regular-season games with Utica.
Born in Lahti, Finland, on April 1, 2003, the Devils drafted Vilen in the fifth round, 129th overall, in the 2021 NHL Draft. Before his North American playing career, he played for Lahden (Liiga) in Finland’s top professional ice hockey league for parts of four seasons from 2019-20 to 2022-23. He represented his home country in the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in 2020 and the International Ice Hockey Federation’s (IIHF) Under-18 World Junior Championship (WJC) in 2021. At the 2021 WJC, Vilen served as an assistant captain, collected four assists and was a teammate of fellow Devils’ prospect Samu Salminen (2021 NHL Draft, Round 3, 68th overall). Vilen also played in five games for Finland at the 2023 WJC.
