New Jersey Devils fans were holding out hope that GM Ray Shero could pull off a magic trick in free agency. After Calvin De Haan signed with the Carolina Hurricanes, it’s official that nothing is coming from free agency.
The New Jersey Devils had one of the quietest free agency periods of any team in the NHL. There are teams who did worse, by signing players who don’t fit to stupid contracts, but the Devils did not add an NHL player to the roster.
After Calvin De Haan decided to sign with the Carolina Hurricanes, it made the Devils free agency fruitless. The team signed Kurtis Gabriel, who scored three goals in the AHL last season. They added John Ramage, who I was excited about for like five seconds when I thought his last name was rampage. Then there’s the crown jewel. The Devils announced the signing of Eric Gryba very early on July 1st. Gryba will likely spend his time between Binghamton and the owner’s box.
Here’s the thing, there wasn’t a ton in this year’s free agent crop. There was John Tavares, who never gave the Devils a chance. James Van Riemsdyk was the player everyone thought the Devils would go after, but he went for their rivals in the Philadelphia Flyers. James Neal is a former Ray Shero guy, but he went to the Calgary Flames. Outside of them, the deals were nuts and the players weren’t worth the time.
I don’t want to call the free agency period a failure. The only deals I would have been happy with are the Van Riemsdyk deal (five years, $35 million) and the De Haan deal (four years, $18.2 million). Most other deals look like the kind of deal a team regrets, and soon. I mean, look at that Jack Johnson deal. We could be the team that signed that.
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It is unfortunate the Devils lost John Moore, Brian Gibbons, Jacob MacDonald, Michael Grabner, and Ken Appleby while replacing them with not much. The only player that returned is Eddie Lack. I like Lack, but his affect on the team is very limited.
There’s still time for Shero to make this a successful offseason, but the time is up for free agency. Right now, there’s Patrick Maroon, then not much else. Rick Nash seems like he’s ready to retire due to concussion concerns. Beyond them, the next guy might be Mark Letestu and Riley Sheahan. Neither provides much confidence for Devils fans.
It’s time to face the music. The Devils added nothing during free agency. I’m sure Shero has a plan, but right now none of us know what it is. Here’s to a huge trade he can hopefully pull off on the Fourth of July.