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The New Jersey Devils have signed Brandon Gormley in effort to improve the organization's depth on defense.

Gormley put pen to paper on a one-year, two-way contract that would earn him $650,000 at the NHL level.

The former 13th overall pick (2010) was highly regarded coming out of junior, obviously, as he was able to eat up big minutes for a very good Moncton Wildcats team while chipping in offensively at a good rate.

Gormley showed off his offensive ability early as a professional as in his first two seasons in the AHL he put up 29 and 34 points respectively.

Gormley has struggled to translate that offense to the NHL, though, as he has just five points in 58 NHL games split between the Arizona Coyotes and Colorado Avalanche.

While his game hasn't panned out as expected - particularly offensively - Gormley has handled himself adequately at the NHL level; albeit over a small sample size.

At 5 v 5 Gormley's teams have controlled 47.5% of the shot attempts and 46.4% of the goals with him on the ice. Without Gormley those numbers dip to 46.9% and 46.1% so Gormley's teams have been better with him on the ice; although the difference is minimal.

Those numbers don't sound overly impressive but he's come somewhat close to treading water (50%) despite playing for poor teams. If not anything else, he is not a disaster out there.

If Gormley finds his game and some potential starts to shine through, great. If he's the same guy we've seen in recent years he'll be a good addition for Albany and a serviceable call-up when necessary.

Either way, there's no risk involved for the Devils. This is a nice signing.

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