New Jersey Devils: 7 Free Agents Who Should be Re-signed

Devante Smith-Pelley (restricted)

The Devante Smith-Pelley trade was an absolute steal at the deadline this past season.  The second best move that Ray Shero has made so far was making this trade, dumping under-performing former 1st round pick, Stefan Matteau, in the process.  It was a low-risk, high reward deal. Even with a smaller sample size in a Devils uniform, Smith-Pelley proved to click with the team right away.  In 18 games he had 8 goals and 5 assists.  He’s the power forward that the Devils need, proving to be a force in front of the net cleaning up the garbage and putting himself in the right place at the right time.  He brings a physical presence up front, something the Devils haven’t possessed in awhile.

Smith-Pelley will be be 24 in June, so he’s still young and has a lot to prove.  He’s demonstrated that he can produce when given more ice-time so far as a Devil.  Give him a two year deal and see if he can earn top-6 minutes in that time.