Should New Jersey Devils Target These 3 Disgruntled Young Players
The New Jersey Devils have a predominantly young core and their pipeline is stocked with young talent. If the Devils do eventually part ways with Kyle Palmieri or Nikita Gusev via trade, the assets will continue to stockpile. While Pittsburgh, Washington and Boston are selling out to win now with bare prospect pools, the future of the Devils is looking brighter by the moment. Obviously there will be some bumps along the way, but for now let’s enjoy the ride.
If you look across the NHL, young players like Patrik Laine, Jack Roslovic and Pierre-Luc Dubois have already gotten traded after being disgruntled with their respective teams. There are a few more young players who are looking for a change of scenery in some way, shape or form. Should the Devils look to add these players, or continue to let their own guys grow and develop. Here is a look to see who is available and if the Devils should pursue them.
Vince Dunn
Ty Smith and Damon Severson are two main stays on defense. After that it gets a tad murky. Sami Vatanen and Dmitry Kulikov will be unrestricted free agents at seasons end and don’t figure to long-term fixtures on the team. Ryan Murray is a solid defender and penalty killer but will also be an unrestricted free agent at seasons end. While he has played well enough to be brought back, albeit in a small sample size, betting on sustaining health could damper the oft-injured defenseman’s chances of being re-signed long term. P.K. Subban and little used Will Butcher’s contracts expire at the end of next season and more likely than not won’t be with the team. Kevin Bahl and Reilly Walsh could push to play as soon as the 2021-22 season. Beyond that, the Devils have gaping holes to fill on defense.
I’ve written up Vince Dunn in this space a few times. The good. He has played in 235 career NHL games at 24 years of age, brings an offensive pedigree to the blueline, and fits in perfectly with the core of the team. Now for the not so good. There are holes in his defensive game. So much so that he’s been a healthy scratch this season. If you look at his metrics at face value his numbers are pretty good. His Corsi statistics (55% Corsi For %) show that he is a solid even strength defenseman, where the team creates more chances than not while he is on the ice.
However, he has been somewhat sheltered at this point in his career. For his career he has started in the offensive zone 60% of the time. In this short season he has been in the offensive zone 70% of times!! It is evident that the Blues’ coaching staff still does not trust Dunn if a play needs to start in the defensive end. He is also prone to turnovers, losing puck battles and poor positioning.
Even with his flaws, there is still something to be said what he brings to the table. He is a good skater, has a deceptive shot, and could help anchor a power play. Those are all attributes the Devils could utilize. He still needs to redefine his skillset. His overall defensive ceiling is capped but there is no reason why he can’t be coached up to become a serviceable defenseman. He’d be a nice fit in Lindy Ruff‘s system and could be an ideal trade target.
Sam Bennett
Sam Bennett is the definition of an enigma for the Calgary Flames. On many occasions, like a playoff game between the Dallas Stars last season he showed why he was once the 4th-overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft by scoring 2 goals and an assist. He is oozing with talent. Then there is the inconsistent, penalty marred play that drives coaches and fans crazy.
Since playing regularly in the NHL at the ripe age of 19, he has yet to truly find his niche with the Flames. The Flames have no shortage of talent of forwards on their roster with the likes of Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm, and Matthew Tkachuk. Yet, it’s been maddening that Bennett has had trouble finding any sort of consistency to his game or garnering chemistry with the team’s better players.
Bennett is not a consistent enough to be a top-line winger because when he isn’t scoring he really isn’t driving the play at all. He doesn’t necessarily make his linemates better. He also has a propensity to take way too many minor penalties. Bennett has a staggering 70+ penalty minutes twice in his career already. He’s been moved around from center to wing, yet can’t seem to settle on one position.
Bennett has been very good in the playoffs thus far posting 11 goals and 19 points in 30 career playoff games. You could never have enough guys who perform well in the playoffs. He does have talent to be a solid middle six contributor. He did score a career high 18 goals his first year in the league. He would probably benefit from a change of scenery to get his confidence back. He is still only 24, so there is room for growth. He will never be a perfect player, but a team could live with his flaws if he finds more consistency to his offensive game and by taking less penalties.
Now, would he fit with this Devils team as they’re constructed? If this were the Devils’ from two years ago, I’d take that chance of adding a 24 year old with offensive upside. However, the construct of this team is much different than it was two years ago. Since then, the Devils have added Nikita Gusev, Andreas Johnsson, Nick Merkley and Janne Kuokkanen via trade while prospects like Nolan Foote, Alexander Holtz, Dawson Mercer will all be in line for playing time within the next two seasons.
Even if the Devils end up trading either or both of Palmieri and Gusev, the Devils will have plenty of forwards vying for top-six minutes. If Bennett has a tough time cracking the top 6 in Calgary, he may eventually run into the same problem in Jersey. You could never have enough good offensive players, and he would bring an impressive playoff pedigree to the team. However would he move the needle any more than the Devils’ in house options? If this past off-season was any indication, the Devils like the open competition from within. I think the Devils hold and would not make a move for Bennett.
Victor Mete
Mete is another young, disgruntled defenseman who has asked for a trade. He is 22, and brings 173 NHL games to the table. He has struggled to crack the lineup this season as he has only played in two games. He is a talented, yet raw defenseman who has the tools to become a good defenseman in this league.
Mete is sound defensively and has very good positioning. Unlike Vince Dunn, Montreal is not afraid to let him begin a play in the defensive zone as his 50% mark there indicates.
Mete is a good skater who has worked on the power play in his short career. If he improves on his shot, he could be a mainstay on a team’s second power play unit. He is only 5-9 and around 180 pounds, so he is a bit easier to knock off the puck and will lose some battles along the boards. He should look to add a little more muscle to improve in that area.
He is probably the better all around defenseman than Dunn is albeit not as good offensively. It really comes down to team preference in terms of which defenseman is the better fit for the team. If I were the Devils, I would give Montreal GM Marc Bergevin a call for Mete.
If the Devils decide to dip into trade talks with teams involving these disgruntled young players, they could do a lot worse. They wouldn’t be necessarily shooting for upside with these players, but these are guys who could help compliment the team moving forward with its young core.
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The question that GM Tom Fitzgerald has to ask himself is if these players are better than some of the prospects that they have in the pipeline. Or Fitzgerald may want an NHL caliber player instead of waiting for some prospects to develop. Either way, Fitzgerald wouldn’t be doing his job if he at least didn’t inquire about these players.