5 Defensemen New Jersey Devils Should Not Sign In Free Agency

Tyler Myers

People are obsessed with Tyler Myers size, and they should be. He’s 6’8, and when he was with the Buffalo Sabres, it looked like he had the makings of a number-one defenseman. Then, he fall off a cliff. He scored 48 points in his rookie season as a 19 year old. That remains his career high 10 years later.

Myers has had a negative Corsi For% Relative for the past three seasons, despite playing on the Winnipeg Jets who are a perennial contender.

What’s even scarier when looking at his advanced stats is his Corsi against per 60 minutes (CA/60). It’s been over 60 the past three seasons, and capped out at 63 this past season.

Let me put this in English, he isn’t very good. He’s big, so people seem to obsess with him, but he’s not mobile and doesn’t play well in his own zone. He may be physical, but he isn’t physical at the right times. There’s a reason that nobody thinks that the Jets are going to even attempt to re-sign him. That’s a major red flag.

Obviously, the Devils defense could use some size. Five of the six likely regulars in next year’s lineup are under 6’0 (here, we’re assuming Connor Carrick makes it over Steve Santini and Mirco Mueller). That’s extremely small, especially on the blue line. However, one should not sign a guy for size alone.

Then there’s the contract he’s expected to get. Evolving Wild has hum making a seven-year, $43 million contract. Paying a guy who’s 29 years old, saw his best year a decade ago, and wants more than $6 million over seven years will really hurt this team. Especially since the second half of that contract Myers will be a third-line defenseman at best.