Tomas Nosek: 5 Things to Know About the Devils’ Newest Acquisition

Noses signed a one-year, one-way deal worth $1,000,000.

NEWARK, N.J. --New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald continues to add to his roster for the 2023-24 season. On July 19, the organization announced they signed Tomas Nosek, 30, to a one-year, one-way contract worth $1 million. 

Get acquainted with the team's newest depth forward by learning five things about him. 

To start the 2023-24 season, New Jersey will have three original misfits on their roster. Nosek reunites with Erik Haula and Colin Miller, who were all part of the Vegas Golden Knights for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. In their inaugural season, the Golden Knights reached the Stanley Cup Final losing to the Washington Capitals in Game 5. 

When Nosek began his career with the Detroit Red Wings, one of his teammates was current Devils defenseman Brendan Smith. The two played together for two seasons before Smith was traded to the New York Rangers.  

Nosek and Haula were also both part of the 2021-22 Boston Bruins, along with Curtis Lazar, who the Devils acquired on Mar. 3, 2023. 

Over the past two summers, Fitzgerald prioritized bringing in players with a championship pedigree and playoff experience. In an effort to surround his young core with veteran players, the general manager has added Nosek, Smith, Haula, Ondrej Palat, and Tyler Toffoli. 

Nosek has made the playoffs every season since the 2017-18 campaign. In 52 postseason games, he has 14 points (six goals, eight assists).

If there is one thing fans can count on, head coach Lindy Ruff is switching up his line combinations. He enjoys the luxury of having versatile forwards who can seamlessly switch from center to wing. Nosek is listed on the team's website as a left-wing but was mostly utilized as the Bruins' fourth-line center playing alongside Nick Foligno and Garnet Hathaway after the trade deadline.

At this point, it is difficult to predict how the club's bottom six will look. Still, there will be plenty of flexibility given the number of options Ruff and his coaching staff will have, including Nathan Bastian, Nolan Foote, Haula, Alexander Holtz, Lazar, Michael McLeod, Nosek, Palat, and Chris Tierney. 

With his versatility, Nosek can become an extremely valuable player for Ruff, mainly if injuries occur throughout the season. 

Last season in Boston, Nosek had a faceoff win percentage of 59.3. That would have been second-best on the Devils behind McLeod (60.6 percent). When it comes to the club's fourth line, Ruff wants to utilize a trio who can take critical defensive zone faceoffs and play against the opponent's top lines. 

"We want to be the best top nine team in the league, along with a fourth line that can play against any other top line to help offset matchups," Fitzgerald said to reporters. "That's the goal here."  

Throughout his career, Nosek proved he is a capable depth center who could be deployed in critical moments of the game. 

When the Devils parted ways with Sharangovich in June, they lost one of their top penalty killers. The 25-year-old and Nico Hischier were the two forwards deployed the most, along with defensemen Ryan Graves and John Marino. 

Nosek was a key penalty killer for Boston last season, averaging 2:33 of shorthanded ice time per game, which ranked him second among Bruins forwards behind Charlie Coyle.