5 Forwards New Jersery Devils Should Avoid In Free Agency
The New Jersey Devils have a ton of cap space and needs in to the top six. Despite this, there are some free agents that just aren’t a good fit for this franchise.
Unrestricted free agency could be the move that puts a team over the top. It could be something one team looks back at three years later as the moment the franchise changed forever. It can also be the point a team makes its biggest regrets. Sometimes those regrets last a season, and sometimes they can last half a decade. New Jersey Devils fans understand those regrets.
Under the Ray Shero regime, the Devils avoided a free agency disaster. Some re-signs didn’t work out great, like Devante Smith-Pelley or Reid Boucher, but the team never went all in on a free agent that blew up in their face.
We’ve seen that happen under Lou Lamoriello. Mike Cammalleri signed for five years and $25 million, but really only gave one year of decent production. Ryane Clowe is an unfortunate story with his concussion issues, but it’s no doubt that was a bad signing from the start.
The Devils need to avoid that now. Shero has spent two seasons near the bottom of the league in salary, saving his cap space to take advantage later. Well, most fans wouldn’t be happy if the Devils saved all this space just to get a bottom-six forward and that’s it.
This season is absolutely stacked with top-line production in unrestricted free agency. This is rare. There’s very rarely a free agency that has players like Artemi Panarin in them, let alone him, Matt Duchene, Jeff Skinner, Joe Pavelski and then the middle six players beyond them.
Ray Shero should absolutely spend in free agency this offseason. He just needs to spend wisely. These five players just don’t move the needle, and will end up being a waste of money.
As we always do, we will use Evolving Wild’s contract predictor for this exercise.
Ryan Dzingel
We start with a surprise. A lot of people really like Ryan Dzingel, especially for the New Jersey Devils. He’s not going to cost a ton, he’s going right into his prime years, and he’s not going to cost an absolute fortune.
He’s scored more than 20 goals for two straight seasons, and finally made headway with the Senators after years with Ohio State University and in Binghamton. He’s a steal when it comes to former 7th-round pick and the production he’s had the past two seasons.
Now, to be clear, this is the player we’d be least upset with on this list. To be fair, there are a lot of really good players that fit on the Devils this offseason. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s focus on Dzingel himself.
He was not good in the playoffs this season. He scored one goal in two rounds, despite the Columbus Blue Jackets putting on a clinic against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It his rock bottom when John Tortorella made him a healthy scratch in game two against Boston. Was this a sign of things to come, or just a player having himself a bad stretch?
The biggest problem with Dzingel is sometimes he doesn’t use his best asset when things are going bad, and it turns into long slumps. His shot in amazing, but on the ice if he hasn’t scored, he’s tentative to put the puck on net.
His predicted contract has him making $4.33 million over four seasons. That’s actually a good deal. Personally, I’m worried about a team coming in with a bigger contract for him, but either way he’s a frustrating player that may not be enough to play on a top six when you have two young centers who are looking to distribute. He only took 159 shots this season. We’d want someone who’s ready to put the puck on net, similar to Kyle Palmieri. Dzingal will be fine for someone, but the Devils may not be that team.
Alex Chiasson
Not a lot of us have heard much from the Alex Chiasson camp. It’s surprising on paper. He’s coming off his best season with 22 goals, and he’s 28 years old so he’s in the middle of his prime. He was one of the few forwards in Edmonton not named McDavid or Draisaitl who are actually doing something.
Well, this is literally the first time Chiasson has done something. He’s been on four different teams in four years, never scored more than 13 goals before this season, and just seemed like his ceiling is lower than most forwards. Honestly, of course we’d want another 20-goal forward on the team, but this past season was probably the exception not the rule.
Chiasson will likely find a home somewhere next season, but this Devils team is a terrible fit. He’s a pipe dream at best and a healthy scratch at worst. He could end up being Drew Stafford level if he signs with the Devils.
Evolving Wild has him getting a three-year deal for around $9.5 million total. It’s just not worth the money for the Devils, and honestly just having him taking up a spot on the roster is more important than the money. Paying those types of players who can’t contribute on a nightly basis will really hurt a team.
Thomas Vanek
Feels like we have the Thomas Vanek conversastion every single offseason. He’s still capable of scoring 50 points despite his advanced age. This was once a guy considered a franchise-caliber forward, but those days are long gone, and honestly probably lies even then.
Vanek feels like he could be a good winger to play alongside Jack Hughes to help him through his first year in the league. He doesn’t have the speed he once had, but he can get in position and still has a good shot. He could help Hughes with his positioning and dealing with the speed of the NHL game. It feels like a win-win, right?
These things always sound better on paper. Vanek is not a guy the Devils should consider this offseason. He’s too old on a team trying to get faster. It would be a step in the wrong direction for the Devils, who need to pair Hughes with young, fast scoring talent. Vanek is the opposite of that, and just doesn’t make sense for where this Devils team is.
We saw what he did for the Red Wings this season. He was hurt, but his presence on the team didn’t really change much. He was fine, and the team was bad.
His contract prediction is only one year for just over $2 million. That would be fine if the Devils wanted to take a flyer on a young, skilled player who didn’t work out in his last location. Think Anthony Duclair with the Columbus Blue Jackets this season. However, this isn’t the team to do that for a 35 year old.
Anders Lee
Now this right here is the big dog the Devils need to avoid. Lee scored 40 goals once. He’s scored more than 30 multiple times, and he was the captain on that New York Islanders team that was reeling once John Tavares left. He did well to keep them on the right track on the way to their Cinderella like run this season.
I’ve seen some Devils fans clamoring for his services starting next season. This isn’t to say there’s a problem with signing Lee for next season, the problem is what Lee brings in five, six and seven seasons. That’s because his predicted contract for next season is seven years and $6.68 million per year. That’s a large chunk of change.
If you get the Lee who scores 102 goals over three seasons, you sign that contract anytime. However, what caused that 15 goal season three years ago? Did something just click to make him a goal scorer? Also, why did he go from 40 goals to 28 goals? His shooting percentage was much closer to a normal range this season, and it’s probably what you’re going to get from Lee.
He shot close to 20% in the year he scored 40. That feels like a massive outlier. He’s a player who could hit 30 goals in a season, but could also fall slightly short. He’s been mostly healthy throughout his career so far, so that’s not an issue. It just feels like he went off the charts with shooting percentage, but things have evened out.
His next team is paying for his 40-goal season, but he likely won’t put up that production. The biggest issue with this is he’s going to get paid until he’s 36 years old. That’s never a good move for a player who’s not a superstar. It’s sometimes a bad move for superstars. For Lee and the Devils, it would be a major mistake.
Brian Gibbons
Signing Brian Gibbons back after he resurrected his career again with the Ottawa Senators might be something fans would enjoy. He was a fan favorite during his one year here. He was a big part of the Devils run to the playoffs, especially when they stockpiled points in October.
Gibbons went and signed with the Anaheim Ducks in the offseason, and he didn’t do much. He scored two goals over 44 games. It was one of the worst signings of the offseason, and on par with everything that was happening with Anaheim last season.
After his trade to Ottawa, he scored six goals in the final 20 games. Over an 82 game season, that would equal close to 25 goals. The Devils would love to have that kind of production next season and beyond.
Well, don’t fall for it. Gibbons will be this player for the rest of his career. One who can scored six goals in a month, then none for the next two. The Devils can’t deal with that type of inconsistency. If they wanted something like that, then they’d just give those spots to Nathan Bastian, John Quenneville or Mike McLeod.
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Gibbons is predicted to get a three-year deal worth close to $2 million per season. This just isn’t the type of player that should get a three-year deal. He’s wonderful in the locker room, and was a pleasure with the Devils, but he’s 31 years old and could be an AHL player if one thing goes wrong. It’s definitely not worth tying your horse to this player.