Announcement: New Jersey Devils announce former Bruin defenseman signing a day after they denied they signed one

A day after the New Jersey Devils denied they had signed one former Bruin, they announced they had signed another to a professional tryout agreement.

The Devils have officially signed defenseman Jakub Zboril and goaltender Michael Hutchinson to professional tryout agreements, the team announced Thursday in a pair of news releases.

Zboril, the No. 13 overall pick by the Bruins in 2015, didn’t see any NHL action last season for the first time since 2019-20. He was waived following training camp and assigned to the AHL’s Providence Bruins, where he was limited to nine points and a -5 rating in 31 games before his nine-year tenure in the Boston organization ended in March.

Zboril, who was traded to the Blue Jackets for Andrew Peeke, finished the season with Columbus’ AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters. He had four points and a -2 rating in 15 games. He was not re-signed after reaching unrestricted free agency this summer following the expiration of his two-year, $2.28 million contract extension to continue in Boston in 2022.

Zboril, 27, has peaked as a top-four AHL defender or a fringe No. 7 option on an NHL club. He has one goal, 15 assists, 16 points, and an even rating in 76 career Bruins games spanning four seasons, averaging 15:38 per game. The 6-foot, 194-pound defenseman possesses a strong physical style, but he hasn’t been a standout offensive option in the pros, even at the AHL level.

Hutchinson, 34, will provide seasoned insurance between the pipes during camp, supplementing a trio of young, NHL-contracted depth netminders competing for AHL and ECHL starts. He hasn’t been a full-time NHL option since the mid-2010s, although he still makes at least one appearance every year as a depth player for various teams.

He played last season with the Red Wings, primarily with their AHL club, the Grand Rapids Griffins. However, he did make one NHL start, against the Devils, with a.917 SV% in a loss on December 23, 2023. He’s struggled in AHL action in recent years, with three seasons in a succession of save percentages below.900.

Neither player will really fight for a spot on the Devils’ opening night roster. Instead, they’ll seek to turn outstanding camp performances into two-way contracts and join New Jersey’s AHL club, the Utica Comets, for 2024-25, after most likely passing through waivers unclaimed.