New Jersey Devils: Sami Vatanen Impacts The Lineup In Many Ways
The New Jersey Devils are bringing Sami Vatanen back on a one year deal.
The New Jersey Devils are going to be bringing back Sami Vatanen. He, of course, was a member of the Devils for parts of three seasons. We all remember that the Devils sent Adam Henrique to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Vatanen back in 2017. Well, on an expiring contract in 2020, New Jersey traded him to the Carolina Hurricanes. He played with the Hurricanes in the return to play bubble, but now he is on his way back to New Jersey.
Vatanen is going to come to New Jersey from Finland where he will have to quarantine before taking the ice with his team. If you look at New Jersey’s defense, you might assume he is on the bottom pair, but there is a chance that he is on the second pair. This isn’t the best defensive unit so a few different things could happen here.
One thing that might be good for him is the way that Lindy Ruff is running the attack. The defenseman is up in the play and skating more often, so you might naturally see Vatanen play better to start. He isn’t the best defenseman at even strength, but it will be interesting to see him play in a system like this. He has the skills from the back end to help out the forwards.
New Jersey has Ty Smith coming into the lineup this year. Sami Vatanen is a good guy to have there to help Smith become a good NHL defenseman. Obviously, Smith’s ceiling is so much higher, but a mentor like Vatanen might really help.
Vatanen is the type of player that can help you win if he is put in a position to succeed. New Jersey will certainly use him on the power play, but they need to shelter him at even strength. This is going to be a high-tempo team with a lot of skilled forwards so this signing might end up looking really smart.
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It is also a one-year deal at two million dollars so if things go bad they don’t have to have him on the books for a long time. If they start off bad, they might also be able to move him to a contender for a conditional pick like they did in 2020. It was sort of a deal that came out of nowhere but it might be one that pays dividends for the Devils in the short term.