5 Players New Jersey Devils Should Not Acquire From Salary Cap Strapped Teams

With ample cap space, the New Jersey Devils can target teams this offseason.

The New Jersey Devils enter the off-season with an abundance of salary cap space and draft capital at their disposal. This gives them the perfect opportunity to make a splash. This off-season more than any other in recent memory is where the Devils could really take advantage of salary cap strapped teams.

Most teams will be scrambling to stay under the flat salary cap for the 2020-21 season. We’ve discussed at length at Pucks and Pitchforks whom the Devils should kick the tires on from salary cap stricken teams. Some of those teams include the Arizona Coyotes, St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals.

While it is fun to play arm chair GM and plot out strategies to acquire big time players from other teams, let’s take a different approach and discuss players whom the Devils should shy away from via trade. These are players who may become available who have had productive NHL careers, and it is no knock on any of these individual players at all. Whether it is the player’s age, contract or salary, the Devils should stay away from these players. As the saying goes; this isn’t personal, it’s just business.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Oliver Ekman-Larsson has had a very productive career up until this point. In fact, playing in the desert has kept Ekman-Larsson under the radar. He is an offensive-minded defenseman who plays on the left side of the defense.

He has always been able to conceal some of his defensive deficiencies with his offensive prowess. He has scored 20-plus goals twice as a defenseman and has been a consistent point producer while quarterbacking the power play.

What Ekman-Larsson has brought to the table seemingly checks the boxes for some of the Devils’ biggest needs moving forward. So why be apprehensive about a defenseman of his caliber? Well, his offensive production has slipped dramatically during the 2019-20 season on one of the better Coyotes teams in recent memory. Even if you prorated the reduced regular season, his numbers would still be far below his career averages.

His power play production has also dipped over the past few seasons. His Corsi For percentage, which is a reflection of a player’s 5×5 performance was the second worst of his career. He has a career CF% of 50.3% which is merely average, but this past season he was 47.9%. He also carries a massive $8.2 million AAV for the next seven seasons. It is hard to ignore the success he has had thus far in his career, but at age 29 his best days are probably behind him. Hard pass on Ekman-Larsson if he were being dangled as trade bait for the salary cap strapped Coyotes.

Justin Faulk

The St. Louis Blues must have a case of buyer’s remorse after not only trading for Justin Faulk, but for extending his services for seven seasons at a $6.5 million AAV. Faulk was more of a luxury than a need for the Blues, and giving him a monster contract will put the reigning Stanley Cup Champions in a precarious position this off-season.

The Blues now must find a way to sign star defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and Vince Dunn, who will both command big raises. If the Blues are fortunate enough to sign one of them, or somehow even retain both, they are going to have to sever ties with a very good player on the team.

Now, Justin Faulk is a very talented defenseman. He had a solid career in Carolina prior to getting dealt to St. Louis. However, an offensive minded right-sided defenseman playing on the same team as Damon Severson and P.K. Subban makes little sense.

Faulk’s Corsi numbers over the course of his career suggests that his teams are better 5v5 with him on the ice, however that number dropped dramatically this past season. It is mind boggling to think because the Blues are the best team he’s been on in his career. Also, his career 44.9% of defensive zone starts suggest his coaches don’t trust him entirely in his team’s own end. Faulk may need time to get adjusted to St. Louis or possibly needs a change of scenery, but his contract alone should prevent the Devils from acquiring him.

Dmitry Orlov

Dmitry Orlov is the type of defenseman that teams will covet this off-season. He is a defenseman who has three years of term left on his contract and a palatable $5.1 million average-annual value. He is a skilled defenseman, but the type of player that always leaves you wanting more.

He has played on Washington’s second unit power play for the majority of his career, however has only scored two power play goals. In two of his past three seasons he has seen his Corsi percetage dip below 50% which is not too flattering. He’s nothing to write home about in terms of his offensive skill set and his defensive play leaves a lot to be desired. At 29, he is probably going to regress before he gets better.

There are worse defenseman the Devils could target, but there are definitely better ones as well.

Patric Hornqvist

The Pittsburgh Penguins are a team that will likely look to shake things up after another disappointing early-round exit from the playoffs. Pittsburgh will make moves to improve their roster to remain competitive as long as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are on their roster.

However, they will need to shed some salary in order to do so. In a perfect world, they would look to dump defenseman Jack Johnson, but it would be hard pressed to find a taker unless they sweetened the pot in order for a team to take on his salary.

This post shouldn’t be a reminder to Tom Fitzgerald that he in no way, shape or form should trade for Johnson. Much like it wouldn’t make any practical sense to put him in the any trade article, it wouldn’t make any sense for Fitzgerald to entertain the thought. Back to whom the Penguins could look to deal is no other than Patric Hornqvist.

He had a very good career in Nashville even before playing with Crosby or Malkin. While he is a solid goal producer at 33 years of age it wouldn’t make sense to trade the assets it would take to acquire him. He has missed 30 games over the past two seasons because of injury. If the Devils are going to acquire a player with three years of term left with a $5.3 million AAV, they would be better suited to find a younger player who fits the core of the team. Good player, just not whom the Devils should look to acquire due to his age and injury history.