New Jersey Devils: Ranking 10 Best Free Agent Fits

5. Dylan DeMelo

Dylan DeMelo is nowhere near as good as Pietrangelo and Krug, but he could be one of the best deals on the market this season. He’s falling under the radar since Cody Ceci is getting a lot of publicity since he’s so young, but DeMelo is only 27 years old himself. He took a little while to get some publicity as a contributing defenseman. His first couple of seasons with the San Jose Sharks didn’t go great before he was a part of the Erik Karlsson trade.

DeMelo blossomed in his first year in Ottawa. He did well with the opportunity to get more minutes. He played even better this season before he was traded to Winnipeg. DeMelo is a very intriguing player that’s going to sign for around $2 million.

Winnipeg was disappointing in the playoffs, but DeMelo was not. He had a 55.14 CF% in four playoff games. It’s an extremely small sample size, but it’s better than the alternative.

DeMelo is a right-handed defenseman, which is not exactly what the Devils need at the moment, but adding one for the third line would be good for the Devils. If they end up trading Severson like some rumors say could happen, then he could easily fill the second-line spot.

It’s a cheap option to see if the best is yet to come for DeMelo. He’s 27 years old, which is right in the middle of his prime. He’s also a late bloomer, so he could be even better than he’s shown so far in the middle of his deal. Maybe the Devils even consider overpaying slightly to add years to the deal. This feels like it could go four years and $12 million total.