The New Jersey Devils are finally back on the right track. It’s incredibly early in the offseason, as the season just ended a few days ago and playoff games have just begun. Still, it’s time to really figure out what’s on new GM Sunny Mehta’s to-do list.
Every offseason, teams come in with a laundry list of tasks. For this list, we’re ignoring some of the obvious ones (like “make a draft pick” or “extend qualifying offers”). We want to know the specifics of what’s ahead for Sunny Mehta. And number one on the list is essential to the future of this franchise.
1. Sign Nico Hischier to an extension
Devils’ captain Nico Hischier is huge for this team for so many reasons. Jack Hughes is the star of the Devils and the guy in most of the headlines. He’ll lead the team in scoring most nights and represent the team at NHL Media Days, but Hischier does all the hard jobs, both on the ice and off of it. He is the only player to win 1,000 faceoffs this season, and he faces the media after a player has an off night, like we saw when Luke Hughes gave up two own goals in a terrible performance earlier this season.
Hischier balances this team perfectly by giving them two 1C-level options up top and settling the team in the aggregate. His body language leaves a little to be desired, but this season was hard to blame anyone for being disgusted. Hischier’s comments towards the end of the season were somewhat worrisome, but he made his commitment clear to the Devils in end-of-season media interviews. Mehta needs to sign Hischier to set the salary cap moving forward and see what else he needs to do.
2. Solve the Jacob Markstrom dilemma
Going into the offseason, the Devils have a goalie issue. Again. They’ve had a goalie issue basically every year of the Tom Fitzgerald era. We’ve seen goalie issues ruin Connor McDavid’s prime, even though he’s been to two Stanley Cup Finals. The offseason has already been interesting with Connor Hellebuyck rumors swirling after his comments following a disappointing Winnipeg Jets season, but before anything can happen, Mehta must figure out what to do with Jacob Markstrom.
Fitzgerald’s parting gift to the Devils was the two-year, $6 million per season deal he gave to Markstrom despite some early-season issues. Those issues became bigger and bigger, and they never really solved themselves. He was better after winning the Sweden job at the Winter Olympics, but then Sheldon Keefe overused him, and he went back to being a pumpkin. There are a few undesirable paths forward for Markstrom and the Devils, including bad trades, big buyouts if Paul Cotter goes to arbitration, or just sending him down to the AHL to save at least some money.
3. Decide on Sheldon Keefe's future
The Devils made an interesting decision when they gave Sunny Mehta full decision-making power. Many expected Brendan Shanahan to come in and make it a one-two punch in the front office, but the Devils felt Mehta was fine on his own. Now, he has to make major decisions on personnel. The biggest and most immediate decision is on Sheldon Keefe.
When Mehta meets with the media this week, he’ll have hard questions to answer, but Keefe’s future will be at the top of the list. Can they risk another season of Keefe? Can he get the Devils to play consistently as they did down the stretch? Even more important, is there a better coach available? That last question isn’t clear, so the Devils might decide to move forward with the status quo and possibly replace some of the assistants to drum up a new scheme.
4. Convince Dougie Hamilton to buy in
Dougie Hamilton was a shell of himself in November and December. Despite playing almost every night, he had one point combined in those two months. Not only that, but he was a disaster in his own end. He was constantly in the penalty box, and he seemed almost lackadaisical when playing defense. Because of the injuries, Keefe had no choice but to put Hamilton on the penalty kill, with disastrous results.
Then, the Devils benched him. It was messy and mostly unnecessary in the reaction. Honestly, Hamilton deserved the benching. Something wasn’t working, and Johnny Kovacevic was back from injury. The Devils just had to say he would be back in the second half of the back-to-back, and the drama would be much less. It did light a fire under Hamilton, and now he’s the top defenseman the Devils need. If Mehta can get this version of Hamilton on board, then that solves problems for the Devils.
5. Shed Salary Cap
Of course, Hamilton is one of the main targets when it comes to targets to shed salary cap space. So, if Mehta is going to keep Hamilton, how can he shed salary? There are multiple places, including Jacob Markstrom, which we mentioned. There’s also buying out Maxim Tsyplakov, which saves them $1.5 million.
The trade targets are plentiful, but many would need some convincing to get on board. Johnny Kovacevic is probably the main target, as that extension was an immediate mistake by Fitzgerald and really didn’t need to happen. However, he was given a full no-trade clause. Jonas Siegenthaler and Brenden Dillon have partial no-trade clauses. As do Stefan Noesen and Markstrom. Dawson Mercer feels like he might be gone, as he has no trade protection and still has value on the trade market.
6. Revamp the development staff
We have a rule here at Pucks and Pitchforks that we don’t call for staff firings. And we will keep that rule intact here, but something needs to change with the Devils development team/philosophy. Meghan Duggan currently oversees the development of Devils players and prospects, but this is truly one of the worst years of development we’ve ever seen. Top prospects Anton Silayev, Mikhail Yegorov, Seamus Casey, Ben Kevan, Conrad Fondrk, and Cam Squires seem further away from the NHL than they were at the start of the season.
We see how staffing is allocated changing. Right now, the Devils have five people dedicated to development, and one of those five is also a goalie scout. They have seven people dedicated to analytics. They have 24 scouts. With how easy information is to get today, we see those staffs merging or changing focus. There needs to be more of a focus on development and not scouting, as there is a limited number of prospects to target each year, and there will always be more prospects that actually impact your organization.
7. Get a third-line center and top-six scorer
Many Devils fans would have this way higher on the list, but obtaining these two pieces requires many of the previous entrants to work out. The Devils are really close to a great lineup 1-4. Connor Brown has been really good next to Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, solving one top-six issue. Dawson Mercer is not a good enough top-six player, so that position needs an upgrade.
We’re very happy that Cody Glass has played so well this season, but he shot north of 18 percent. His career shooting percentage is 10.9%. He’s been much better with the Devils, a place where he found his footing after looking like a bust. Still, the Devils would be much better suited with an even better option on the third line. We’ve talked about Shane Wright, but we also like trade options like Tyler Bertuzzi and Ryan O’Reilly.
8. Simon Nemec
The Simon Nemec situation is a mess. We like hearing that he is committed to remaining in New Jersey, or at least he’s comfortable saying that, his handling to start his career has not been what one would expect from a former second-overall pick. When the Devils won the right to choose second in the 2022 NHL Draft, many thought it was a given that they were getting Juraj Slafkovsky. When he actually went first, the Devils then seemed like they weren’t really too pressed with their other options. They could have taken Shane Wright or Logan Cooley, but they went with the defenseman Nemec.
Since then, they called him up too quickly because Hamilton got hurt, sent him down to the AHL after more than half a season already in the NHL, re-signed Kovacevic to block his starting role, threw him into a lineup for the playoffs after a year unhappy in the AHL, and benched him during this past season. Nemec is a frustrating and exciting player at the same time. How much is that worth? Is it the right piece to sign long-term, and will those mistakes go away with development? Mehta has to figure out if he’s a better centerpiece for the defense or a trade chip.
9. Sign Arseny Gritsyuk
Arseny Gritsyuk’s contract will be interesting. He was a really good fit this season, but he had similar slumps as most rookies. He is going to be 25 years old, so he’s not a traditional rookie. His ceiling is limited, but he is an important piece to the Devils' future contention. Gritsyuk was surprisingly effective on both sides of the ice. If his offense is a little more consistent, he might be the answer for the next top-six forward.
What is he worth, and how long should the Devils look to sign him? We’ll see if Gritsyuk is looking for a long-term deal, but the Devils might be looking to sign him to a bridge deal to keep the cap price down. That’s a big risk, as Grits might explode and cost them much more in two or three years.
10. Sign Mikhail Yegorov and Anton Silayev
One underrated disappointment with the Devils’ franchise is the issues with the Utica Comets. They missed the playoffs last season, and a late-season run is looking sparse, but they could sneak into the playoffs. Still, playoffs or not, the Utica season was a disappointment. They need more talent, and that’s where Mikhail Yegorov and Anton Silayev step in.
Of course, adding those two talents to this Utica team is helpful to the AHL. However, the real reason this is on the list is because of development. Silayev was stuck with a head coach who refused to play him in the KHL, pushing his offensive impact back to basically nothing. Yegorov fell off after his incredible freshman season at Boston University after a big chunk of their team graduated, transferred, or signed in the NHL. Get both into the system and directly impact their development.
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