Some New Jersey Devils fans want to sign Alex Pietrangelo this offseason.
The New Jersey Devils have a major problem on defense, and it’s clear that there’s only one defenseman who could fix a lot of those issues overnight. Alex Pietrangelo is the only true game-changing defenseman on the free-agent market. Torey Krug, Tyson Barrie, and T.J. Brodie are all really good players, but only Pietrangelo would get analysts to believe the Devils truly transformed a terrible defense.
Pietrangelo is currently negotiating with the team he captains, the St. Louis Blues. It sounds like he doesn’t want to even deal with free agency, but it also sounds like there’s too much space between his price and the price the Blues are willing to pay. If the Devils wildly overspend to get him, he might have no choice but to say yes to the Garden State.
However, there are several reasons to go against a deal for Pietrangelo. Dipping into free agency is 50-50 at best. Can you name the best player the Devils ever signed in free agency? Honestly, Brian Boyle is probably in the top five. A lot more of these deals end up looking like Mike Cammalleri or Ryane Clowe. Free agency has never been the Devils’ friend.
Still, the Devils never signed a player like Pietrangelo. The franchise superstars are either drafted or traded for. Even now, the team’s best players were drafted (Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Travis Zajac) or traded for (P.K. Subban, Nikita Gusev, Kyle Palmieri). The best free agent on the team was Will Butcher. He was a college free agent, so things are a little different.
Looking at Pietrangelo is complicated, but has a severely high upside. He could completely change this team’s defense overnight, costing nothing but cap space. Let’s take a look at both sides of the argument.
Reason To Sign Him #1: Duh, he’s an amazing defenseman
We don’t need to spend a lot of time here. By every metric, Pietrangelo is still one of the best defensemen in the league. NBC Sports ranks him as third-best in the league. He’s very good offensively, but he’s an absolute unit defensively. Pietrangelo immediately becomes a player that would take a ton of pressure off the goalie.
The Devils haven’t had a top-ten defenseman since Brian Rafalski left. Andy Greene has been great, Bryce Salvador had his moments, and Paul Martin was a wonderful offensive defenseman, but none of them ever reached the top ten in the league status. The Devils can get one (if he’s willing to sign) for nothing more than money.
This dramatically makes the Devils better, and might even make them a playoff team next season. Pietrangelo helps fill a ton of holes the Devils are currently dealing with. He can even make the forwards better with how he plays. All five players on the ice are better with him on it.