5 Reasons New Jersey Devils Should Have Moved On From Pavel Zacha

2. More money to give Nico Hischier and Taylor Hall

The deal that Zacha signed was only for $2.25 million AAV, which isn’t a whole lot of money. But it could mean the difference of keeping Taylor Hall or seeing him walk. That is $2 million that could have easily been thrown at Hall.

Hall’s contract is going to be a topic of conversation this entire season. There is no way around that for anyone. For the team, the player, the media, and the fans, until a deal is signed or a trade is made, this is going to be a lingering question. If offering Hall an extra million is the difference of keeping him or letting him walk, putting it towards a glorified penalty killer isn’t a good financial decision when you have some on the roster already.

If Hall signs for a solid deal, that money could have also gone to pending RFA Nico Hischier. Hischier is looking to get a comparable deal to Clayton Keller‘s eight year, roughly $7 million AAV. Hischier will most definitely be getting paid a little bit more money than Keller, so this $2 million going to Zacha could have gone to Hischier to keep him in New Jersey for another eight years.

The restricted free agent market has stalled this offseason. It is possible for next years class to be in the same scenario. So it would be smart for Shero to get on his first number-one overall pick to re-sign. It is also possible to give that $2 million given to Zacha to a veteran to play on the bottom six if Shero really thought they needed the depth.