The New Jersey Devils are officially in offseason mode. Over the next few days, we will look at 20 potential free agents they could look at signing. Today, we look at the Boston Bruins Riley Nash.
The New Jersey Devils could use a depth forward here and there in the offseason. While they could really use some secondary scoring behind Taylor Hall‘s line, they need to be careful not to sign someone that will hold back some prospects that may be ready to go like Michael McLeod and Joey Anderson.
Riley Nash could be an interesting player to pursue.
There are some major issues with a Nash signing, but he provides scoring when his team needs it. One of the major issues is the hip issue that bothered him for much of the season. Multiple reports suggest he could need offseason surgery, which comes at the worst time for him personally. That injury will likely cost him a ton of money on the open market.
Also, his scoring seems to go cold. He scored 13 points from February 27 to March 23rd, but scored just one point over his next 13 games, which includes his entire playoff run. It was so bad, he was scratched for game four of the Bruins series with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Nash isn’t the type of player that will change your team overnight. He is coming off his best season, which has to worry the next team that signs him. He scored 41 points, when he never topped 25 in four previous seasons. Everything kind of fell into place, outside of some late season injuries. Prior to this year, he wasn’t even a player that makes it onto a team’s radar.
He’s also looking into his age 30 season. It seems like his ceiling is what he did last season.
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Despite those points, he might be worth a flyer. The market will determine if Nash is a worthwhile signing. He’s coming off a contract that pays him $900,000 for the season. He definitely outplayed that deal, but not by enough that someone should overpay for him.
He’ll likely get a moderate pay raise. Something in the $1.5 million per season range wouldn’t make a team scoff, but anything more is not worth it. He’s just too inconsistent to make a bigger push to sign him.
That being said, it’s probably not something the Devils need to do. Is he going to provide more than Anderson, which would help develop a prospect? He probably could, but again his ceiling is not very high. Signing Nash to a contract beyond a Drew Stafford type deal may do harm than good. He’s worth a shot, but will likely fit better on a team looking for a bottom six piece with some scoring upside. The Devils already have those pieces, and they need someone with a little more upside to his offensive game.