New Jersey Devils: 5 Under The Radar Free Agents To Target
The New Jersey Devils may have a chance to get one of the monster free agents coming this offseason, but there are a couple players we’re not talking about that they should target.
This is a monster free agent class that we haven’t seen in a long, long time. Even with players like Mark Stone, Drew Doughty and Oliver Ekman-Larsson signing with their current teams, there’s still an abundance of game changing players teams can get for just money. There’s Erik Karlsson, Artemi Panarin, Jeff Skinner, Sergei Bobrovsky, Matt Duchene, Jordan Eberle, and the list actually goes on. Usually, Eberle would be the prize of free agency and a team would spend an arm and a leg, but with so many players in free agency he’s far down the list.
With so many amazing players on the market, the New Jersey Devils could be able to target one or two of these under-the-radar free agents. These aren’t to the level of PTO players (we’ll do something like that further into the offseason), this is more like players that will get paid decently, but nowhere near the top of the free agency class.
Brian Boyle
We’ll start with the obvious one. The New Jersey Devils should absolutely try and bring Brian Boyle back this offseason. He was an amazing player to have on this team. We’ve chronicled his journey through cancer all the way to remission.
Then, the Devils were forced to break fans hearts by trading him at the trade deadline. They did get a 2nd-round pick for his services now and in the playoffs, but we sure do miss him.
We miss him so much, the Devils need to go get him once he becomes available. The Devils were playing him more at left wing on the fourth line this season, which seemed like a natural transition for the next few years. The Devils have fourth-line centers in Kevin Rooney, Mike McLeod and Marian Studenic that will have that position for a long time, so getting Boyle used to playing on the wing seemed like a move for the future despite him still being a very good faceoff man.
Boyle will come at a very reasonable price. He signed with the Devils for a two-year, $5.1 million contract. Even if the Devils raise that to a full $3 million per season, it will be well worth it.
Anton Strålman
Anton Strålman is one of the most intriguing players in free agency this season. He gets lost on a stacked Tampa Bay Lightning team that has Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh also on defense. However, Stralman is a player that’s still really, really good.
The issue with Stralman is his age. He’s already 32 years old, so history tells us this is when he starts declining, however he’d be amazing if the Devils could sign him to a short-term deal. If they don’t sign their rights to him until he turns 36, they should be in good shape.
Stralman could either be a player who makes a reasonable amount after making a good living with the Lightning, or a team that misses out on Karlsson might give him all of the money. He’s making $6 million per season right now. The Devils should not look to go that high for him this offseason, but if he’s willing to take, say, $4 million AAV, then the Devils should be in the discussion.
Stralman would be a perfect compliment on the top line with Damon Severson. That would allow Sami Vatanen to play with Will Butcher on the second line, and puts Andy Greene with rookies Ty Smith or Jeremy Davies on the third line. This is all barring injury, but this looks like a stacked defense.
This would also allow Smith and Davies and even Butcher more time to develop into better players before someone has to ascend to the first line. If the Devils decide to draft a defenseman with their 1st-round pick, then that’s even better. If Stralman is willing to sign for one or two years at around $4 million, this is a deal the Devils should jump on. If he wants more, they should pass.
Gustav Nyquist
How many more times do I need to tie Gustav Nyquist to the New Jersey Devils before it actually happens? Nyquist is a very good winger, but one that’s probably best on the second line with a team looking for a finisher. The Devils could move Jesper Bratt to the left side, a position he was in as a young forward, then find someone to fill that second-line center spot.
Nyquist had a couple really down years recently, but for the past two seasons he broke the 20-goal mark. He’s been a half-point per game player since being traded to the San Jose Sharks. He was even better with the Detroit Red Wings before that.
Even if the Devils sign him and he falls off slightly, the Devils could use 15 goals from their bottom six. The biggest complaint from last year’s Devils team was the lack of secondary scoring behind Taylor Hall. That lack of scoring won him the Hart Trophy in 2018. However, if you start to get multiple players scoring 15 and 20 goals every season, things start to look much better for this team.
The Devils aren’t going to spend big on Nyquist. Ray Shero just isn’t that kind of GM. They learned their lesson from watching teams pay players on long-term deals like Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen, David Backes and the list goes on. Those guys shouldn’t be getting the six-year deals paying them $5-6 million. The Devils had to learn this lesson when they gave five years to Michael Cammalleri.
Nyquist is a complimentary player now, and he should be paid that way. He’ll get a nice deal in free agency, but the term is what he’s no longer getting. Nyquist is coming off a four-year, $19 million contract. He obviously wants a raise, but if he wants to make more cash per season, he’ll likely have to go short term. Is he worth a two-year, $12 million deal? It depends on what Shero has planned for other positions, but if he can get him for $5 million per season on a shorter deal, it might be easier to swallow.
Valtteri Filppula
This is a really interesting veteran the Devils could add on a one-year deal. Valtteri Filppula can still net 15 goals in a season in the right situation, and he can anchor a line with young players on it. He’s actually injured right now, but should be returning right before the playoffs start.
He’s usually remarkably durable. He plays at least 70-75 games per season, but more often than that he plays more than that. He’s been inconsistent with his goal scoring, especially on a stacked Tampa Bay Lightning team, but he’s found more consistency with the New York Islanders.
He’s not going to cost much at all. He will likely only going to command a one-year deal, and he brings a veteran presence to help some of these young overseas players that are going to be coming to play in North America for the first time. The Finnish forward can help bring along players like Jesper Bratt and his country man Aarne Talvitie if he’s still here when he makes the team.
Filppula is not a player that will have Devils fans dancing in the streets, but he could be a really nice player in the bottom six. He will never see the heights of his 20+ goal seasons, but at the price he will be worth it. If not, then he can play the Drew Stafford role and will come in when needed.
Alex Chiasson
This one is an interesting choice, as Alex Chiasson is coming off his best season in a long time, but I still feel teams aren’t ready to commit to him at this point of his career, so he can be had for a deal. He’s 28 years old, and just broke the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career. After scoring six goals in his first seven professional games, he never really met those heights again.
This season, he’s one of the few Oilers players not named Connor or Leon that’s doing anything. Chiasson is playing on the Oilers third line, and has 21 goals. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are the only Oilers players with more goals this season. It shows he can still score despite being with lesser teammates.
Chiasson won’t come at a major cost despite having his best season. He might look for a little more term, and the Devils can afford to give it a shot. Say he wants three years, $1.25 million per season, or even $1.5 million, should the Devils make it happen? That’s a scary proposition when he has a 17.2% shooting percentage, but it’s a deal that might be worth it.
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Say they do sign him for that, buying him out will amount to a drop in the bucket. Obviously you don’t sign a player thinking about buying him out, but you have to assess the risk reward. Maybe you can just sign Chiasson to a one-year deal at a moderate raise. Either way, he might be worth the risk and might have just been a late bloomer that had to find his right fit.