New Jersey Devils Daily: Remaining Free Agents, Right Wing, Rejected Nicknames
By Nick Villano
On today’s New Jersey Devils Daily, the sports world takes a look into the Devils continued need at right wing, remaining free agents the Devils could look into, and why the Devils were almost not the Devils at all.
Gerard Lionetti with All About the Jersey looks into the Devils glaring need at right wing. After losing both Beau Bennett and Devante Smith-Pelly in the offseason without a viable replacement, it seems like the Devils defense is incomplete. There are two options the Devils have, fill the need from within with someone like Michael McLeod or Nathan Bastian, or make a trade with the five teams already up against the cap. Those teams may be of interest to a shrewd trader like Ray Shero.
Chris Ryan with NJ.com clearly isn’t taking an offseason. He wrote about the Devils thinking in moving on from both Bennett and Michael Cammalleri when the team is still short on forwards with a ton of cap space. Shero tells Ryan that he made these moves to give him some roster flexibility. It’s still a confusing move, especially the lack of Bennett conversation, but it’s hard to question Shero at this point.
Why the Devils moved on from Beau Bennett, Michael Cammalleri
NJ.com continued its Devils talk, with Mark Fischer looking at five remaining free agents the Devils could consider. One interesting target in the article is former Calgary Flames forward Alex Chiasson. He would fill a major void at right wing, and coming off a disappointing season he won’t cost much. He’s called a reclamation project, but would have to overcome his lack of speed to make noise in this lineup.
5 NHL free agents the Devils could target
Al Daniel with Pucks and Recreation (a great name, by the way) looks at some of the best rejected names in the history of the NHL. He looks at a fan vote that gave New Jersey the Devils. That vote almost called Jersey’s team the Generals. A push back from the religious crowd almost had this relocated NHL team go in a different direction. Luckily, the team stuck with the coolest nickname in sports.
Greatest Rejected NHL Team Names
Brian Born with NHL.com takes an in depth look at what Marcus Johansson will bring to the Devils lineup. The story talks about who he could be paired with and has videos of some of Johansson’s prettiest goals throughout last season.
Mr. Mojo Risin’: Johansson to inject offense into Devils lineup