There is a superstar winger that everybody is talking about, and it may be the time that the New Jersey Devils get involved.
The New Jersey Devils are going to be one of those young, fast, and fun teams in 2019-20. They have the first-overall pick, a good core building, and a whole lot of projected cap space this summer and next. The core of Nico Hischier, Taylor Hall, Jack Hughes, and Ty Smith is hopefully one that will make them formidable while having all of this money to spend.
The Toronto Maple Leafs used to be one of these teams, but now these fun young players need to be paid and some decisions previously made are making it appear more difficult than they previously would have thought. William Nylander held out for a few months to reach his $6.9 million contract right as the deadline approached. Auston Matthews already got his big money contract and they went out and made a major splash in free agency last summer, adding superstar John Tavares on a seven-year deal worth $11 million per season.
That appears to be making the negotiating process with 22-year-old star winger Mitch Marner more difficult. A report came out on Tuesday that he would be willing to visit with teams that have the potential to offer sheet him. Of course, that is where the New Jersey Devils come in.
The Devils have $35 million in cap space to play with this summer, and after next season they will have more due to the fact that Andy Greene and Sami Vatanen have expiring contracts. Whether or not the Devils will bring either of them back is to be seen, but the point of the matter is that the Devils have a lot of money to throw around if they are smart about it. This is also keeping in mind that Taylor Hall is in need of a big money contract and Nico Hischier will get a significant raise as well.
The money might not be the issue for the Devils in the Mitch Marner situation, however. If they were to send Toronto a Mitch Marner offer sheet north of 10.15 million dollars, they would owe the Toronto Maple Leafs four first-round picks. That is a lot of compensation for one player. It might be a bit too much for a guy like Marner.
Marner is an elite offensive player, don’t get me wrong, but no player in the NHL is worth that much compensation besides maybe Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews. The only way it would be okay for the Devils to do something like this is if management were absolutely sure that these picks they are giving away are picks 26-31. That would mean that the Devils are consistently getting in the playoffs and winning rounds.
Until the Devils are sure that will be the case, this is something that they should probably stay away from doing. They can afford to add a player like Marner, but this draft pick situation with these offer sheets make it difficult in this case.
There is a reason that they don’t happen very often. They could create an enemy in the GM you are sending an offer sheet to and it is a whole lot to give up for one player. Marner is an elite player and would make 31 out of 31 teams better as soon as he hit the ice, but this might not be the right move for the New Jersey Devils right now.