The season may be over, but the New Jersey Devils have added a fresh face as the year comes to a close. On Wednesday, the team announced that they had signed defenseman and top prospect Jeremy Davies.

Davies was the Devils seventh-round pick in the 2016 draft. He has spent the last three years playing as a left-shooting defenseman with Northeastern University. With their season ending with a loss at the hands of Cornell in the NCAA tournament, Davies was left with the choice to either sign with the Devils, or return to Northeastern for what would have been his senior year. He chose the Devils and was inked to a two-year entry level contract.

While at Northeastern, Davies was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, given to the best player in college hockey, an award his now teammate Will Butcher won playing at the same position. Throughout his college career, he neared scoring at a point-per-game pace, ending his college hockey career with 94 points in 111 games. Prior to his college career, he played in the USHL and led all defensemen in points during the 2015-16 season.

Davies is from Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec and represents Canada in international play. Last year, he helped Team Canada win the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland, in addition to his strong NCAA season that same year.

Had Davies not signed with the Devils, he could have become a free agent after his senior year next summer, but he instead opted to sign with the big club for the tail end of the 2018-19 season. He’s already in Jersey and taking part in team activities, which he has already called a dream come true to be in the NHL.

With the anticipated NHL debut of Ty Smith next season, Devils fans have two highly touted defensive prospects to look forward to. Davies’ contract kicks in next season so he won’t see NHL time in the team’s remaining games. When he makes his debut, he will also join fellow 2016 draft picks Michael McLeod, Joey Anderson, Jesper Bratt, and Nathan Bastian as players to log NHL minutes from the 2016 draft class.