New Jersey Devils: Miles Wood Negotiations May Not End Soon

The New Jersey Devils and Miles Wood have been negotiating all offseason long, yet still don’t have a deal done as training camp begins. This may actually extend further than anyone thought.

The New Jersey Devils have one player left to sign as day one of training camp begins. Miles Wood is not signed, and signs point in several different directions. General manager Ray Shero seems to think he will sign momentarily, but at the same time says other players will get an opportunity in his absence. That shows Shero is playing both sides. Why? Maybe he’s trying to push the situation along. Look what he told NHL.com’s Mike Morreale.

Shero telling a reporter that he hasn’t talked to his free agent forward because “I’m not sure what’s left to be said at this point” says something. If the contract is not done, did the Devils give Wood an ultimatum? Does Shero believe Wood’s asking price is insane?

Something seems off with how these negotiations have gone. When looking at the contracts that were going to be up this offseason, Wood didn’t seem like the problem. However, as we are now in the middle of September, this is definitely a problem.

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There’s so many issues with Shero’s comments. That last comment where he talks about Wood’s problem with how the system works. Shero says there isn’t a big gap, but issues with philosophical things. We will never know exactly what that means, but if we’re going to take a guess we have to believe it has to do with one of two things. Either Wood is looking for a guarantee when it comes to ice time or which line he’s on, or he’s looking for the Devils to buy out more restricted free agency years to get him paid through his UFA years.

Either way, this is a player the Devils need to get into camp. He is 23 years old and one of the fastest players in the league. He learned how to turn that speed into quality play on the ice. Wood scored clutch goals throughout the year, and was able to light a fire underneath this entire team. That’s the type of player you want to start the season.

We can’t imagine this going into the season, but he could miss crucial time during training camp. Wood will be fighting to find a place in this lineup. He will obviously have a spot, but he’s going to try and prove he’s better than the fourth line. Missing time in training camp will not help his situation or that of the Devils. It’s time to build off the common ground and get this deal done.