News broke earlier this week when the New Jersey Devils announced that they have hired Matt Shaw and Scott Stevens to become the team's new assistant coaches. Yesterday the Devils continued to make news as they signed defenseman Mark Fayne to a two-year contract extension. Here are some notes on Fayne's extension, Alex Semin, Jon Merrill and more.

- I'll start with Fayne. If you missed it, he signed a two-year contract extension worth just 1.3 million dollars per season. While in reality that's a good chunk of cash, his value as an NHL player is higher than that, especially with the cap ceiling so high.

For those asking for my thoughts, I love the signing. Lou Lamoriello did a heck of a job getting him re-signed for two years at that price. The guy played in all 82 regular season games, all 24 playoff games and averaged about 20 minutes per game. How many defenseman play over 20 minutes per game and re-sign with their team for 1.3M per? Not many, if any.

Fayne was a restricted free agent and obviously wanted to stay in New Jersey, but I'm surprised he didn't get more money. I was exchanging tweets with Ken Daneyko yesterday, and we both agreed that this is a perfect example of a guy wanting to stay in a situation that has allowed him to succeed in. If he plays well over the next two seasons, he'll get his money.

- A lot of you have been asking me for an update on Alexander Semin, so I contacted his agent, Mark Gandler, to try and pry some info from him. I asked Gandler if he has recently had discussions with Lamoriello and the Devils about Semin, and all he said was "I can't comment (on that)." Take that as you will.

- Jon Merrill will reportedly make his decision on where he will play next season soon. All previous reports and releases from his agent have said Merrill will make his decision after development camp, and since that wrapped up yesterday I expect him to decide within the next few days.

With Merrill missing half of last season in Michigan due to suspension and the Devils having a lot of depth on defense in both New Jersey and Albany, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he returns to Michigan for one more year.

- Former Devils Captain Zach Parise is getting married today. He was great for the Devils over the years and is a well respected guy, so I hope things work out for him now and in the future.

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