3 Unrestricted Free Agents New Jersey Devils Should Avoid Signing
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.
Mike Hoffman
Mike Hoffman is a tremendous goal scorer for the Florida Panthers. He has an elite shot that he uses to excel on the power play, is extremely durable and has scored 20 goals or more in every season since 2014-15.
He would have undoubtedly scored his 30th goal for the second time of his career had the season not been cut short. The New Jersey Devils need pure goal scorers on the team, and Kyle Palmieri is just one year away from unrestricted free agency.
The most glaring issue moving forward with Hoffman is his age. He will turn 31 in November, will get term of at least four years and will surely get a bump in his $5.1 million salary. His style of play is in the same mold as Jeff Skinner, who makes $9 million per season. Surely Hoffman, who is three years older than Skinner will not get a $9 million a season salary, but he will not come cheaply.
The Devils would be paying a premium for what he already has done, not necessarily what he will do in the future. Term and AAV would not correlate with the direction the Devils are headed in. The Devils are better off acquiring a scorer via trade, or a free agent like Tyler Toffoli. Hard pass on Mike Hoffman.
Jacob Markstrom
The New Jersey Devils need to sure up their goaltending situation in the offseason. Devils fans know that Mackenzie Blackwood is their goaltender of the future. Realistically, Blackwood will start 50-55 games for the Devils next season. The question remains, who will give the Devils stability in between the pipes when Blackwood doesn’t?
Can the Devils bank on Cory Schnieder, who has battled consistency issues, or look to invest in a free agent? If there is temptation to go the free agent route, the Devils should avoid signing Jacob Markstrom. He has been enjoying a solid season for the surprising Vancouver Canucks, one that could earn himself a nice payday if he hits the open market.
While he is more than a competent 1B to Blackwood’s 1A, the Devils would have to pay a premium price to land him. He has had a career resurgence since his early career struggles in Florida. Markstrom has never been an elite goaltender, much less top five at his position. He has never had a .920% save percentage in a season in which he has started more than 10 games, and his career high in shutouts in a season is only two. In his 11 year NHL career, he has only five shutouts. There is a premium price put on goaltenders, and he could get four or five years and a six plus million AAV. That is just too steep of a price to pay for a goalie who is 30, and the continued development of Blackwood. There are cheaper options to target, such as Robin Lehner if teams are shy to give him a long term contract, or Thomas Greiss.
Tyson Barrie
The Devils have needed defensive help for a long time now. By all accounts, Ty Smith will make the club next season. However, the Devils are going to need more than just a rookie defenseman to make themselves stronger on the blue line.
Tyson Barrie is an intriguing unrestricted free agent defenseman. Barrie was acquired in the off-season by the Toronto Maple Leafs from the Colorado Avalance. He’s had such an up and down season that his name was involved in again in trade talks. His point production has dipped immensely, surprising because he is on an up-tempo offensive team like Toronto.
However, he excels in creating offense in many ways most defenseman in the league cannot. He is a savvy skater, excellent passer and has a knack for scoring; as his twelve plus goals in five of his seven full NHL seasons would indicate. All of those attributes would be welcome on a Devils team that does not have anyone who has that particular skill set. He would undeniably improve a lagging Devils power play.
Over the last two seasons his Corsi numbers have been 53% and 54.2% , which suggests that his team is better with him on the ice than off of it. However, it is troubling that his career corsi percentage is under 50%. That could attest to the fact that he was on some underwhelming Avalanche teams, but a concern nonetheless. Defenseman like Barrie are not often on the market, and he will get rewarded for his offensive acumen. If the price tag reaches five or six years at 6 million, the Devils will have to pass. By time the Devils are true contenders Barrie would be a 30 plus year old offensive defenseman, and players of his ilk don’t age very well. Devils fans are seeing first hand their 30 year old former Norris Trophy winner struggle this season.
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This will be an intriguing off-season for the Devils as they will be active in both the trade market and free agency. The Devils need to continue to build through the draft and weaponize their draft capital and cap space to cap strapped teams to acquire NHL ready talent. The Devils need to avoid paying big time free agents this off-season. If the team does dip into the free agent route, it must go after the mid-tier players that will compliment the young core the team already possesses.