New Jersey Devils Free Agency Profile: John Tavares

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 New York Islanders John Tavares.

This is it. Pucks and Pitchforks went over 19 free agencies who may or may not fit the New Jersey Devils this offseason, but we’ve arrived at the grand prize. John Tavares is one of the best free agents to hit the market in years. He’s a true superstar that will be worth whatever contract he gets, which is rare in today’s NHL.

Tavares was great yet again this season. He scored 37 goals and added 47 assists on a middle-of-the-pack New York Islanders team. He’s 27 years old, and never scored less than 24 goals. That happened twice, once in his rookie season and once where he left the Olympics with a knee injury.

Let’s start by talking about fit on the Devils. He fits. Need I go on? Fine,I’ll get into it.

The Devils could really use a second-line center. The lineup really needs a playmaker on that line to pair with a combination of Marcus Johansson, Pavel Zacha and Jesper Bratt. Adding Tavares obviously changes that to move Nico Hischier down to that line, which only adds to the offense.

Hischier was very good on the first line, but not superstar numbers, yet. Pairing Tavares with Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmieri makes the Devils first line one of the scariest in the NHL. Palmieri is far and away the worst player on that line, and he’s able to score 30 goals a season when he stays healthy. He scored 24 goals over 62 games this season, which translates to 31 goals in an 82 game season.

Tavares has always been considered a great locker room guy. Even with his impending free agency, it never seemed like he was a distraction for his team.

Tavares gets his hype for his offensive numbers, but the underlying numbers are just as great. He won close to 53 percent of his faceoffs this season. That’s better than Travis Zajac and Brian Boyle, who are the Devils faceoff specialists.

Tavares will even get down and dirty to stop shots from getting to the net. He blocked 34 shots over the season, which is also more than the big-bodied Boyle. That may worry some about possible injury, but it just shows his grit and need to win.

There’s not much more to say. Tavares fits in any team. The Devils would be lucky to have him.

Now the hard part, what will he make this offseason?

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We’ve been using Matt Cane’s contract predictor, because he’s as close as anyone. He predicts Tavares will make $10.7 million on an eight-year deal. Wow, that’s a lot of money. Here’s the thing, if the salary cap goes up to $80 million like many predict, the Devils will have about $25 million in cap space. So, that contract won’t even take up half the team’s space with only a defenseman needed on the open market. They could sign Calvin De Haan, and be set for the season.

It won’t be that easy to sign him. With Lou Lamoriello in the fold for the Isles, Tavares may find his current home more appealing. He also may want to move out west, or head to his home country of Canada. There are things out of Ray Shero’s control, but if we know our GM he will find a way if possible.

The Devils need to put every asset they have into trying to sign Tavares. The money is crazy, but players like Tavares don’t become available. Especially at his age, the Devils can have their best one-two punch since Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise. In fact, this would be even better. Shero, please make this happen.

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