Cal Foote Signs One-Year Deal with Devils

NEWARK, NJ – The New Jersey Devils announced today that the team signed free-agent defenseman Cal Foote to a one-year, two-way contract worth $800,000 at the NHL level and $350,000 at the American Hockey League (AHL) level ($450,000 guaranteed) for 2023-24. The announcement was made by Executive Vice President/General Manager Tom Fitzgerald.

Foote, 24, finished the 2022-23 season with the Predators, after he was traded to Nashville from Tampa Bay on Feb. 26, 2023. A righthanded shot, Foote played in 24 games with Nashville and another 26 with Tampa Bay, totaling seven points (2g-5a) and 63 PIM last season.

In total, Foote has played 141 career regular-season contests (5g-14a) since his NHL debut with Tampa Bay on Jan. 13, 2021, vs. the Chicago Blackhawks. The 6’5″, 225lbs. blueliner has also recorded 121 career PIM and five fighting majors at the NHL level. Foote was a member of the 2021 Stanley Cup winning Tampa Bay Lightning. During Tampa’s Cup run, Foote appeared in 13 playoff games, totaling two assists and averaging 11:29 time on ice per game.

Born Dec. 13, 1998, the Denver, CO native, was selected 14th overall by Tampa Bay in the 2017 NHL Draft. As a member of the Lightning franchise, he played parts of five seasons in the AHL with Syracuse from 2017-18 to 2021-22 and earned 64 career points (18g-46a) in 155 regular-season games. Before his professional career, he played his Junior hockey in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Kelowna Rockets from 2015-16 to 2017-18 and was named team captain in his final WHL season. He led all Kelowna defensemen with 57 points (6g-51a) in 2016-17 and again in 2017-18 (19g-51a-70pts).