Players With Previous Ties New Jersey Devils Should Target

The New Jersey Devils are entering a pivotal offseason that could potentially shape the organization’s future direction for years to come. While we all know this summer will ultimately be all about re-signing Taylor Hall long-term, other changes are going to be essential—not just for proving to players like Hall how serious the organization is about winning, but to address the team’s glaring roster needs.

When teams acquire new players, it’s not too uncommon for them to be reunited with former teammates, coaches, or general managers from teams they’ve previously played for in their careers. Whether it’s a former college, junior or other NHL squad, a player having such ties to a new organization can factor in their decision on signing or accepting a trade to that team. Having a few familiar faces on a new team definitely makes the adjustment process easier.

The New Jersey Devils are no exception to this trend of reuniting old players and personnel—Steve Santini and Miles Wood played together at Boston College, Kyle Palmieri and Sami Vatanen played together in Anaheim, Adam Henrique played with Taylor Hall on the Windsor Spitfires (OHL) and let’s not forget the parade of former Pittsburgh Penguins players that have come and gone since Ray Shero and John Hynes arrived. With the team’s roster needs being considered, here are five players the New Jersey Devils can potentially acquire this offseason, who have ties to current players and other members of the organization.

Jordan Eberle (RW), New York Islanders

The soon-to-be unrestricted free agent played the first six seasons of his NHL career with Taylor Hall when they were both members of the Edmonton Oilers. Eberle was traded one year after Hall was shipped out of Edmonton and is in his second season with the New York Islanders.

The 28 year old has been a consistent top-six forward, having scored at least 20 goals in six of his last seven seasons. He even scored at a 20+ goal pace in the two seasons he didn’t hit that threshold (18 goals in 69 games during 2010-2011, 16 goals in 48 games during 2012-2013).

Despite New York’s successful 2018-19 season, Eberle has posted subpar numbers thus far—14 goals and 31 points in 69 games. With Eberle playing in the final season of a six-year contract brandishing a $6 million AAV, Eberle’s recent performance will surely impact his value on the market this summer, especially if he doesn’t impress in the playoffs. The New Jersey Devils need to shore up both their right wing and top-six depth, both areas where someone like Eberle could help.

With this year’s UFA class projected to be deeper than previous summers, Shero could potentially sign Eberle to a reasonable contract. Unless Eberle’s salary demands are overly exorbitant, the 29-year old could probably be had for a deal between 3-5 years and an AAV similar to his current contract. With $5-6 million appearing to be the new norm for consistent 20-goal or 50+ point players, Eberle would be a nice pickup under those terms, especially considering the contracts more coveted free agents will probably receive this summer.

Robert Bortuzzo (D), St. Louis Blues

While General Manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ray Shero drafted Robert Bortuzzo in the third round of the 2007 NHL Draft. The 30-year old defenseman played four seasons under John Hynes (three as head coach, one as assistant) for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (2009-2013), along with parts of four seasons when Shero as general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins (2011-2015).

As previously mentioned, there’s no denying the steady stream of former Penguins players we’ve seen since Shero and Hynes joined the New Jersey Devils. Although he just signed a three-year extension with the St. Louis Blues, this is still a trade I can see the Devils making.

Shero and Hynes seem to love having a veteran mid-tier defenseman in the lineup to rely upon that’s traditionally been a subtle low-cost signing on July 1 (Ben Lovejoy, John Moore). Although there will certainly be plenty of low-cost options on the market, Bortuzzo’s ties to Shero and Hynes make him stand out as a more viable candidate.

Having already signed him to an extension, the Blues could trade him anyway because of their tight salary cap situation. Although they’ll have Jay Bouwmeester and his $5.4 million AAV coming off this summer, they still have to re-sign restricted free agents like Oskar Sundqvist, Joel Edmundson and Jordan Binnington. Who knows? Maybe their tight salary cap situation forces St. Louis to ship out someone like Colton Parayko or Brayden Schenn with Bortuzzo to New Jersey in exchange for draft picks, a Joey Anderson/Michael McLeod-type prospect and/or a Pavel Zacha/Miles Wood-type roster player going the other way.

Andrew Cogliano (LW), Dallas Stars

Again, this is the kind of player I can just see Shero making a trade for that would be questioned at first, but slowly make sense as the nature of the deal settles. If Shero acquired a player like Cogliano, I’d imagine most Devils fans would initially react the same way they did to the Brian Boyle signing two summers ago, but develop an equivalent level of appreciation for Cogliano.

Not only does Shero seem to love acquiring former Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers (Cogliano is both), but he and Hynes seem insistent on maintaining a veteran presence in their lineup to compliment Travis Zajac. During his years with Edmonton, Cogliano played one season with Taylor Hall (2010-2011). With the Ducks, he played parts of four seasons with Kyle Palmieri (2011-2015) and six seasons with Sami Vatanen (2012-2018).

Cogliano will be 32 when next season starts and has two years remaining on his current contract, which brandishes a $3.25 million AAV. Touted for his lengthy ironman streak while in Anaheim, Cogliano could serve as an anchor for the third line that’s capable of playing a top-six role when necessary.

Although he was just acquired by the Dallas Stars this season, it’s not uncommon for NHL teams to flip players they’ve acquired that haven’t even played a full season with them—look at the Vegas Golden Knights trading Tomas Tatar and Nashville Predators trading Ryan Hartman. The Dallas Stars could potentially move players to order free up cap space for re-signing their restricted free agents like Mattias Janmark, Jason Dickinson and Esa Lindell, along with being more flexible to re-sign pend unrestricted free agents like Matts Zuccarello and make other improvements this offseason.

Colton Sissions (C), Nashville Predators

The 24-year-old center is a restricted free agent this summer and currently has modest career-highs of 13 goals and 28 points this season, numbers that are sure to rise. Drafted by the Predators 50th overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Sissions played three seasons with Damon Severson on the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets from 2010-2013.

Depending on what Nashville decides to do with their pending unrestricted free agents like Wayne Simmonds and Brian Boyle, along with any other offseason moves they might make, someone like Sissions is a potential trade candidate to free up cap space. For a team like the New Jersey Devils, acquiring Sissions would be a valuable addition to round out their 6th-10th forward depth, giving the young center an ample opportunity to continue establishing himself an NHL roster—especially with the team’s need for a No. 2 center.

Sissions has a career face-off percentage of 53.2 percent, a category where the Devils desperately need improvement and is also Nashville’s top penalty-killing forward, which could make an already-great Devils PK significantly better. This would be another low-profile/high-upside acquisition I can see Shero making, because he could think he has another Kyle Palmieri-type situation in Sissions.

Considering Shero’s long history with Predators General Manager David Poile (having served as his assistant general manager for eight years and making multiple trades with him both with Pittsburgh and New Jersey), it adds to the realism of a Sissions trade scenario. Depending on the circumstances, Sissions could probably be gotten for an exchange that’s equivalent to what Shero gave up for Kyle Palmieri or Marcus Johansson.