Willman attended the Devils' training camp on a professional tryout.
NEWARK, N.J. -- New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald announced that the team signed forward Max Willman to a one-year, two-way contract worth $135,000 ($150,000 guaranteed) at the American Hockey League (AHL) level and $775,000 at the NHL level.
On Sept. 13, the organization announced the 28-year-old would join training camp on a professional tryout. He appeared in five of the team's seven preseason games and scored one goal, the game-winning goal against the New York Islanders on Oct. 6.
Willman spent the last four seasons in the Philadelphia Flyers organization, mostly playing for their AHL team, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He made his NHL debut on Oct. 15, 2021, with the Flyers against the Vancouver Canucks. The six-foot forward has played in 50 career NHL games throughout his career, earning six points (four goals, two assists). During the 2022-23 season, he appeared in nine NHL games with the Flyers and earned 23 points in 54 games with the Phantoms.
Initially a Buffalo Sabres' fifth-round selection, 121st overall, in the 2014 NHL Draft, the organization opted not to sign him. This led to Willman signing with the Reading Royals of the ECHL, a minor league affiliate of the Flyers, for the 2019-20 season.
At Devils' training camp, Willman reunited with his 2018-19 Boston University hockey teammate Shane Bowers. Both will be assigned to the Utica Comets if the two clear waivers by Oct. 8 at 2:00 P.M.