The Devils never entered into any serious talks with forward Beau Bennett before the unrestricted free agent hit the market and signed with the St. Louis Blues.
Bennett signed a reasonable one-year, $650K deal with the Blues -- $75K less than he made in his 2016-17 deal with the Devils.
The Devils acquired Bennett for a 2016 third-round pick during the Draft. The Devils did not make a qualifying offer to Bennett last summer, but they signed him as an unrestricted free agent after July 1. They again didn't extend a qualifying offer to Bennett in June, but this time, the Devils and Bennett talked seriously about a return.