We continue to look at upcoming free agents from the New Jersey Devils organization, turning from two depth defenders a week ago now to two depth forwards. Both Brian Halonen and Marc McLaughlin spent some time in New Jersey this season, but most of their time was with Utica in the AHL. Each brought production and defense to the minor league team but didn’t provide much offense for the big club. Do they have more to offer New Jersey; is there any untapped potential? Or should the Devils cut both
loose into unrestricted free agency this summer? Let’s dive into this today!
Who is Brian Halonen and What Has He Done as a Devil?
Halonen was an undrafted free agent who signed with the Devils in the spring of 2022 after completing a four year college career at Michigan Tech. He would appear in 12 games on an amateur try out with Utica recording his first professional points (two goals and an assist) in that time. He would spend his first full professional season mostly with Utica (sans one game in ECHL for Adirondack) in 2022-23 contributing 17 goals and 13 assists in 57 games; he would also post a goal and an assist in six playoff games that year. He would follow that in 2023-24 with only 35 appearances, but more productivity of 20 goals and nine assists; this would earn him his first NHL cup of coffee where he would get into two games, but was held scoreless.
2024-25 saw Halonen appear in 62 of Utica’s games, and while he did not keep up the points pace from the season prior, he was still a big contributor for a not so great Utica team. Halonen’s 40 points (27 goals, 13 assists) were one of the few bright spots on that club, and he would again see two scoreless games of NHL time. 2025-26 was another where Utica got good value out of Halonen despite the team being a mess at the start; he would see action in 51 contests, reaching 20 goals for the third time in the AHL in his professional career while adding 14 assists as well.
While still mainly an AHLer this season, Halonen did get 15 games in New Jersey where he would tally his first NHL goal and assist. At 6’ and 207 lbs., I would consider Halonen as bringing average size to the lineup when he’s in. While he’s not the type of guy known for his physicality, he doesn’t avoid it either. Halonen does a lot of things well enough
What Will Halonen Do Going Forward? What is His Value?
Brian Halonen has value to the New Jersey Devils organization. Unlike last week’s discussion of Dennis Cholowski and Colton White, Halonen is a strong contributor at the AHL level. Additionally, while he might not be impacting the game on the scoresheet when he’s up with New Jersey, he’s working in every zone and he’s not actively hurting the team on the ice. At 27 years old, he is what he is as a forward at this point most likely, but he can still be a strong contributor in the AHL for a while. And if the Devils need a call up to fill in a bottom six spot, again, he’s not an anchor or a pylon being skated around on the ice. Sure, maybe he makes a mistake, but he’s going to try to make up for it and get himself back in position/get the puck back from the opposition.
Halonen’s value isn’t anything higher than league minimum; perhaps this time around he’s looking for a one way deal that sees him earn equal salary regardless of if he’s playing in the NHL or AHL. Maybe it’s even just wanting a raise on his AHL salary on a new two way deal. The Devils organization has been where Halonen has spent his entire professional career so far, and hopefully that makes any negotiations between both sides easy. Again, there’s value here, as Halonen has proven he can be a consistent scorer for the Comets. If Devils’ GM Sunny Mehta’s goal is to improve the organization from top to bottom, then having a player like Halonen is an asset who can bolster Utica while also showing young players starting their professional careers how to play the right way.
Who is Marc McLaughlin and What Has He Done as a Devil?
Looking at McLaughlin’s player stats might make it seem that he’s been around a bit longer than Halonen. However it is simply a case of more movement and more NHL call-ups, as both players are roughly the same age. Another undrafted free agent, McLaughlin started out in the Boston Bruins system, signing with them after his senior season concluded at Boston College. He would spend 11 games with Boston (and one with their affiliate in Providence) upon signing in the spring of 2022, and ironically his first NHL goal would be against the Devils. He would add two more to finish with three in those 11 games. His next pair of seasons would be spent mostly in Providence with his first full professional season of 2022-23 looking promising, as he would score 13 goals and add 17 assists in 66 games. 2023-24 however would see him regress; he would appear in 68 contests this time, but his production dropped to just eight goals and six assists. Boston potentially saw less value with this slip as well, as he only played one NHL game, although he did contribute a goal in it.
McLaughlin had a bit of a bounce back in 2024-25, as while he still managed the same 14 points with Providence (five goals, nine assists) as the season prior, but did it in exactly half the games. He would also get 12 contests in with Boston, scoring a pair of goals. His season was not cut short however, as in March he was acquired by the Devils for Daniil Misyul. McLaughlin would suit up 16 times for Utica, contributing six assists and twice for New Jersey where he would pick up oddly enough his first ever NHL assist. The Devils would re-sign McLaughlin for the 2025-26 season, but an injury during training camp would have him miss most of the season. Activated in February, McLaughlin would score 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in just 23 games for Utica while going scoreless in seven NHL contests for New Jersey.
What Will McLaughlin Do Going Forward? What is His Value?
McLaughlin is a bit more of a wild card than Halonen in the sense that his production has been less consistent during his career so far. Some of Utica’s late season success could be attributed to adding McLaughlin to the lineup and the impact his production and defense had. At the same time, there should be cause for concern that his production could slip again as it did with Providence. McLaughlin is also essentially what he is at this point in his development, but again with more worrisome inconsistency in terms of point production.
He’s definitely another league minimum at best player, but is it worth bringing him back? The potential is there based on his strong play once he was healthy, but he hasn’t shown enough to be worth more than another year. McLaughlin will definitely stick around at least at the AHL level, but whether that is with the Devils or not is up for debate.
What I Would Do With Them and What I Think the Devils Will Do
If Halonen is willing to come back on relatively the same deal, I offer it to him immediately. He’s a good AHL player, consistent 20 goal guy and Utica needs to add talent, not subtract from it. He’s also not hurting the Debils if they need him up with the big club to fill in for injuries. This is not in any way advocating for Halonen to be an every night New Jersey Devils, but rather to say he’s a great Utica Comet and plays the right way when he’s needed for spot duty as well. The Devils will hopefully see things the same way and offer to bring Halonen for at least next season, if not re-signing him to another two year deal as they did in the summer of 2024.
McLaughlin is a bit of a more difficult determination to make. While he played extremely well upon his return from injury for Utica, he doesn’t have the history of consistency as already mentioned. The Devils could do worse than bringing him back on a one year deal but at the same time if the goal is to improve every aspect of the organization, than maybe it starts with moving on from a player like McLaughlin. Conversely, there’s probably a handful of AHL only deal guys that could be moved on from before giving up on a guy like McLaughlin. Give him one more year, see if he’s more solution that problem, and re-assess next summer as needed.
Both players should come back at least for one more season, as it will allow for new management to get a good assessment of them and of Utica as a whole. This could help the Devils strengthening their prospect/minor to major pipeline.
Your Take
Now I’d like to hear your thoughts as to what the Devils should do with these two depth UFA forwards. Are Halonen and/or McLaughlin worth bringing back in your eyes? Does the fact that Halonen keeps potting 20 a season in Utica merit a new deal? Should McLaughlin be given one more season now that he is (and hopefully stays) healthy? Would you rather the Devils try to bring in some other players in their spots instead? Leave any and all comments down below and thanks as always for reading!
