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New Jersey Devils Should Have No Regrets About Devante Smith-Pelley

By David Lebovitz

LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 07: Devante Smith-Pelly #25 of the Washington Capitals celebrates his goal to tie the game with teammate Chandler Stephenson #18 during the third period of Game Five of the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on June 7, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 07: Devante Smith-Pelly #25 of the Washington Capitals celebrates his goal to tie the game with teammate Chandler Stephenson #18 during the third period of Game Five of the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on June 7, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Former New Jersey Devils player Devante Smith-Pelley had a fantastic run in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. It’s led some Devils fans to question the team buying him out – but the team did the right thing.

Smith-Pelley is still likely getting over a massive hangover, both from winning Lord Stanley’s Cup and all the alcohol the Caps are consuming right now. Let’s take another look at that beautiful game tying goal he had in Game 5:

I know we’re a New Jersey Devils website, but look at that. That’s a thing of beauty.

It’s also used as evidence by a lot of Devils fans that the team shouldn’t have bought out Smith-Pelley’s contract. It’s hard to blame fans who watch that play to wonder what-might-have-been, but the Devils were 100% correct to buy out his contract. He was signed based on a short offensive explosion that was fully unsustainable. His roster spot was used for players that ended up more productive than him.

Cap Hit Comparables

Per CapFriendly, the three contracts most comparable to Smith-Pelley’s 2016 deal are:

  • Pierre-Édouard Bellemare’s 2017 deal with the Flyers
  • Colton Sceviour’s 2016 deal with the Panthers
  • Brett Connolly‘s 2017 deal with the Caps.

Let’s examine them.

Bellemare is a fourth line player, best used on the penalty kill. He signed a new contract  in the 2017 offseason after scoring 8 points in 82 games. Even with the new contract, they deemed him expendable enough to give to Vegas.

Sceviour’s scored 24 points in both his seasons with Florida on his contract, which is what he averaged each prior NHL season. In the middle of the 2017-18 season, the Panthers signed him to a new deal – three years at $1,200,000 million per. Ideal bottom six production for ideal bottom six money.

Connolly arrived in Washington as something of a reclamation project. He never reached the heights expected of a 6th overall draft pick with either of his previous franchises. He then upped his goal scoring, and reinvented himself as an ideal third liner. Thus, the new contract. He scored 27 points in 70 games during the first year of the contract, his highest total to date, and was a force in the playoffs.

Compare this to Smith-Pelley’s only full year in New Jersey. He never found his scoring touch. Smith-Pelley was never a big part of the penalty kill, and he was often injured. Smith-Pelley never quite found his spot in the New Jersey Devils roster. He was paid based on an 18 game PDO streak. His skill never quite matched up to his contract. Even in Washington, he only scored 16 points in 75 regular season games. He has the skillset to be a difference maker in the playoffs, but he needs to make it through the regular season first.

(Photo by Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images)
(Photo by Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Cap and Roster Space

With the caveat that it’s a bit imprecise to assume something as nebulous as specific roster spots or specific cap hits to individual players, Smith-Pelley’s buyout was indirectly responsible for some of the better New Jersey Devils stories this season.

The first player the Devils signed in free agency was Brian Gibbons, whose early season scoring streak helped the team bank enough points to get into the playoffs. Even though he was injured, Gibbons outscored Smith-Pelley this year. He had 26 points in 59 games.

It also opened up a spot for Blake Coleman, who played a significant part this season. While not quite a Smith-Pelley-eque power forward, Coleman’s strong forecheck and penalty killing prowess more than filled the gap. He also outscored Smith-Pelley, going 13-12-25 in 79 games.

We all joked about Marian Hossa being cursed after he went from the Cup losing Penguins to the Cup losing Red Wings, but he had no regrets. He correctly pointed out that if he stayed with Pittsburgh, they wouldn’t have been able to sign another player and would have been a different team. The same core principle is true for the Devils and Smith-Pelley.

Nothing Personal

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None of this is a knock on Smith-Pelley as a person. He’s by all accounts a great guy to have in the locker room. He’s also the only Capital who has openly and consistently addressed the political ramifications of visiting the White House, famously opting not to go before the series even ended. He just didn’t match the output expected of him during his time in Newark.

Plus, the man the Devils traded for him – Stefan Matteau – didn’t work out in Montreal. The trade was a wash, and there’s a lot worse for a trade to be in the NHL. (Matteau ending up on Vegas is still funny, though.)

The Capitals would not have won the Cup without Smith-Pelley on the roster, but the Devils likely wouldn’t have made the playoffs at all if not for the cap and roster space left by Smith-Pelley.

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