The New Jersey Devils have been the most recent team tied to former KHL defenseman Mikko Lehtonen. This might change the way the team addresses the rest of the blue line whenever we eventually get to the offseason.
It’s no secret that the New Jersey Devils need a lot of help on defense. They made an attempt to upgrade the position last season, adding P.K. Subban and assuming Ty Smith might take another spot. Well, it didn’t work out. Subban has seemingly lost two steps on his game, even if he played better down the stretch, and Smith was a hot mess on defense.
The Devils now need to upgrade the defense more than ever. They traded away Andy Greene and Sami Vatanen around the NHL Trade Deadline. Now, the starting defense looks like this:
Mirco Mueller–P.K. Subban
Dakota Mermis–Damon Severson
Connor Carrick–Matt Tennyson
IR: Will Butcher, Freddy Claesson
Obviously, with Will Butcher out for the season, things got real bleak on the blue line. Even with him there, it’s not a great situation to be in for the Devils. Whoever becomes GM will have a lot of work to do this season. It appears, however, that despite the fact the Devils haven’t officially made Tom Fitzgerald the general manager, he’s making another huge move, at least that’s what’s being reported.
Russian website Championat is linking free agent KHL defender Mikko Lehtonen with the New Jersey Devils.
— Andrew Zadarnowski (@AZadarski) May 1, 2020
This obviously doesn’t sound like a done deal, and who knows what “linking” actually means. Full disclosure, we attempted to find the article “linking” the Devils and Lehtonen, and we don’t see it, so it’s hard to see what the context of linking means. Does it mean he likely has a contract agreement already, or are the Devils just making a call? Either way, it’s exciting news if you’re a Devils fan.
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Lehtonen was a surprise when it comes to the free agency market. He had one more season with his now former team Jokerit. On Friday, the team announced the two came to an agreement to terminate his contract.
Lehtonen was a great defenseman who is one of the better two-way players not in the NHL. The Finnish defenseman played his first season outside Finland and Sweden last season with the KHL, and he was dominant. He’s only 26 years old, and looks like he’s just entering his prime. Right now, he markets as a third-line defenseman, but he means so much more.
The Devils desperately need help on the left side, which is where Lehtonen plays. If the Devils do sign him, it will mean a completely different philosophy for the Devils this offseason. For one, they can keep Ty Smith playing on the right side, if he so desires. He is left handed, but the Devils need options with him this upcoming season.
This also likely shows the Devils could be looking at the defensive market for players who are either stars or fliers. The Devils have zero need for players near the bottom of the roster, because remember they also have Connor Carrick signed for another season. Maybe they give a shot to a player on a PTO or another international defenseman similar to the shot they gave Yegor Yakovlev a season ago.
Would this stop them from going after a player like Torey Krug? We don’t think so. This isn’t the kind of move that locks a defense up, but it definitely helps. Lehtonen could be really good for the Devils if he signs in New Jersey. He gives them more options for the future.