New Jersey Devils: Will Restricted Free Agents Become A Problem?
By Nick Villano
The NHL season might only be a month away and the Devils have some important restricted free agents that still need to be signed.
Restricted free agency is one of the many things that has been derailed by the Coronavirus pandemic. Right now, almost every team still has restricted free agents to work out. The New Jersey Devils are no different.
Mackenzie Blackwood and Jesper Bratt are two very important players to the Devils this season. They are both expected to have huge roles on the team once the season starts. If we’re looking at a January 1st start, then the Devils around two weeks to get these deals done and get them into training camp. It could be even shorter if the league wants a traditional preseason, but as we’ve already covered, that’s probably not happening.
So, the Devils have a little extra time to work out a deal. However, they aren’t the only ones. Mathew Barzal is the most important restricted free agent, and the New York Islanders still need to make the cap work even with the end of Johnny Boychuk’s career. Vince Dunn still needs a new deal in St. Louis as they try a new defensive strategy with Alex Pietrangelo in Vegas. Pierre-Luc Dubois had a really nice season in Columbus. Still, the Devils are the only team with two very important restricted free agents left.
Every other player on the Devils has a contract for next season. Only Blackwood and Bratt are left, but it is odd their negotiations is taking this long. This isn’t expected to be like Mitch Marner or William Karlsson, who were looking for big paydays.
There are a lot of comparables for both of these players. Elvis Merzlikins seems like a very fair comparison for Blackwood, and he was given a two-year deal worth $4 million per season. Blackwood was expected to get closer to what Tristan Jarry got, which is around $3.5 million. The Devils could do two to three years at $3.75 million and this should be done.
As far as Bratt goes, it’s much harder to find a comp. When looking for someone in his age range with a similar contract, a lot of players have been overpaid. Jason Zucker got five years and $27 million. Ondrej Palat was given $5.3 million per season. The Devils are probably looking at a player like Lawson Crouse (three years, $1.53 million per season) as a comparison. It makes sense to just meet in the middle, give him $3 million on a bridge deal and call it a day.
Obviously, a lot of the focus is finding an actual start date for the NHL. However, the Devils need to focus on signing these two free agents. They have the money, so this shouldn’t be an issue. The Devils have more cap space than any other team. If they aren’t spending it on the players already in house, then what’s the plan?