Pucks and Pitchforks
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New Jersey Devils: Be Wary of Overpriced Free Agents

By Vincent Parise

Forward Taylor Hall (L) of Canada celebrates with his teammate forward Jordan Eberle after scoring a goal during the group A preliminary round match Canada vs Austria of the 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships on May 12, 2015 at the O2 Arena in Prague. AFP PHOTO / JONATHAN NACKSTRAND (Photo credit should read JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images)
Forward Taylor Hall (L) of Canada celebrates with his teammate forward Jordan Eberle after scoring a goal during the group A preliminary round match Canada vs Austria of the 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships on May 12, 2015 at the O2 Arena in Prague. AFP PHOTO / JONATHAN NACKSTRAND (Photo credit should read JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images) /
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The New Jersey Devils are headed into one of the most important offseasons in their history, and if done right it could lead to sustained success.

The New Jersey Devils are going into an offseason that could define the makeup of the team for a long time. They are going to make the first overall selection, which everybody knows at this point. They are almost certainly going to select Jack Hughes of the United States National Development Program, and even if they select Finnish sensation Kaapo Kakko one thing is for sure, they are getting a very good player.

To go along with that number one overall pick is a bevy of trade possibilities and free agents that are just waiting to make way too much money. The trades part is fine because those don’t usually lead to many financial problems because they are already signed and if they are albatross contracts you’re trading for, there is usually a reason for why.

The issues can come from free agency. Free agency is the right of every single player in the NHL at one point of their career or another if they are good enough. A lot of the time, however, guys do not live up to the contracts they sign in early July and end up being a problem for their teams. The best teams are smart in free agency and develop their core through the draft and maybe a trade here or there and maybe when they are finally ready to go for the Stanley Cup, they take a stab at a big fish free agent. Nobody is saying to sign absolutely nobody, what they are saying is to be very thoughtful of who you sign to what price and what term.

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Let’s take a look at the two teams about to play in game seven of the Stanley Cup Final for example, the St. Louis Blues and the Boston Bruins. Starting with the Blues, they do not have a guy on their roster making more than six million that was signed as a free agent. They did sign guys like Tyler Bozak and David Perron on July 1st, 2018 in free agency, but they are both making five million or less on deals that are no longer than three years. The Blues will never see those two contracts as a problem, and the two players provide tremendous depth to their forward group.

Now let’s take a look at the Eastern Conference champion Boston Bruins. They have David Backes signed to a six million deal and he has been a healthy scratch at certain points of the postseason. The only forwards who make more than him are David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak who were all drafted and developed to be a part of the Bruins core.

The Bruins are in a position to scratch Backes at certain times because they have drafted well, but free agency has caused bit them a little bit there. The rest of their great core, however, was built the proper way and that is why they are where they are. They waited for the perfect time to go for it back in the day when they signed Zdeno Chara to a free agent contract.

Still not convinced? The Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup three times (2010, 2013, and 2015) in a span of six seasons. How? Building their team the right way. They drafted Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews with top three picks and built a core of Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, and Niklas Hjalmarsson around them through the draft. They made their free agent pounce the smart way when they signed Marian Hossa in the 2009 offseason and then won the Stanley Cup the following season.

Both the Bruins and the Blackhawks used free agency the right way and that is exactly what the Devils need to do. They are not done building a team that may be one piece away from contention, so handle free agency the smart way. If a guy like Artemi Panarin or Erik Karlsson wanted to come to the Devils those would be an exception. If any of the other guys didn’t need contracts that might hurt the Devils then go for it, but be smart. There are also lots of unproven guys in the organization waiting to make a much cheaper impact.

Hot. PK Subban's Comments About the New Jersey Devils. light

One thing everyone can agree on is that it is going to be a very fun summer for Devils fans and there is no better time to be one!

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