New Jersey Devils Daily: Kovalchuk, Severson’s Contract, More
By Nick Villano
On today’s New Jersey Devils Daily, Ilya Kovalchuk continues to stay in the headlines despite going back to Russia, what the expect from a Damon Severson contract and an under-the-radar forward the Devils should target in free agency.
He’s back, unfortunately. Ilya Kovalchuk is back in the headlines after telling a Russian television station that this will be his last in the KHL. He again says his desire is to return to the NHL. Kovalchuk claims he has some dreams left. Chris Ryan with NJ.com talks about some of the obstacles standing in the way of Kovalchuk’s return this offseason. Mainly, his rights being owned by the New Jersey Devils.
Ex-Devil Ilya Kovalchuk primed for NHL return in 2018-19, report says
Ryan also talks with Steve Santini, who had the honor of being first-overall pick Nico Hischier’s roommate during development camp. Santini tells Ryan that Hischier was a “humble kid.” Basically, Hischier continues to show everything a team could want. He wants to learn everything he can to be the best player and representative of the Devils organization.
Devils’ Steven Santini spills the beans on rooming with Nico Hischier
Chris Ryan has clearly kept busy this offseason, with an unprecedented third article on today’s New Jersey Devils Daily. He predicts what Damon Severson’s contract may look like. If the Devils go with a bridge deal, it could look like Jacob Truba’s two-year deal worth a total of $6 million. If it’s a longer term deal, which I personally hope, we’re looking towards closer to the $5-6 million dollar range. The Devils have the money to spend. The team might as well spend it on its best defenseman.
What type of contract will Devils defenseman Damon Severson get?
Andrew Gross with Northjersey.com does his best this early in the offseason to project the Devils lineup. There are a few interesting moves he makes. For one, he has Michael McLeod, Blake Speers and Stefan Noesen all making the team out the gate. His third line of McLeod, Nico Hischier and Speers could be a formidable third line. The most interesting observation was when Gross put Pavel Zacha on the fourth line with Brian Boyle. It would be hard to believe Zacha would be moving positions just to play 11 minutes a game.
Projecting the Devils’ lineup (Take 1)
Tyler Kelly makes his debut with Pucks and Pitchforks making an interesting observation. He thinks the Devils should take a chance on KHL forward Stephane De Costa. He would fit right in on the bottom six, and gives the Devils a low cost option that won’t hurt them if it doesn’t work out.