The New Jersey Devils enter the off-season with the draft capital and salary cap space to once again make a splash whenever the offseason begins. Just how much of a splash remains to be seen, as there are more questions than answers during this very fluid time with the season on “pause”.
Some of those questions include how much money the Devils’ ownership will want to spend this summer, and what the salary cap will be. That said, the Devils will be actively look to improve their roster through trades and free agency.
Many interesting names will be available as of this writing, including unrestricted free agent defensemen Alex Pietriangelo, Torey Krug and Tyson Barrie. This is the Devils biggest need. There are forwards like Evgenii Dadonov, Mike Hoffman and Tyler Toffoli, and goaltenders Braden Holtby, Jacob Markstrom and Robin Lehner.
Free agent frenzy is like Christmas in July, and it’s always fun to see what new toys your team will unwrap. It’s still yet to be seen whether we can get free agency to start on time.
Good teams build their core through the draft, not shelling out big contracts to free agents. The Devils have a solid foundation in place, and should continue to add talent with potentially three 1st-round picks in a deep draft. Here are three players the Devils need to avoid signing.