New Jersey Devils: Janne Kuokkanen and Yegor Sharangovich Contracts Will Be Interesting
By Nick Villano
This season has been largely forgettable for the New Jersey Devils. There are some decent moments, like Jack Hughes two-goal performance against the New York Rangers, Pavel Zacha’s point streak, and Travis Zajac’s 1,000th game. However, largely Devils fans would like to put this season in the past. There are some very interesting decisions to make in the offseason. The Devils have about half the lineup becoming free agents at the end of the season.
Most of the conversation is surrounding the unrestricted free agents. When counting taxi squad players, the Devils have 11 unrestricted free agents at the end of the season. Then, there are the restricted free agents. Many of them seem like a cut-and-dry negotiation. Michael McLeod and Nathan Bastian have looked good in their roles this season, but they aren’t exactly demanding huge pay raises. Nick Merkley and Marian Studenic might have nice upside, but they haven’t done anything on the NHL level to garner more than an equal deal to the entry-level pay.
Two names that might get a little hairy are Janne Kuokkanen and Yegor Sharangovich. They have been on fire as of late, and this current streak of points could make them some money in the offseason.
Don’t get us wrong; they aren’t going to “break the bank”. However, the Devils probably figured those two players were going to make in the range of $1 million. Now, they could double or even triple that depending on how well they finish the season. Ray Shero has paid players for future performance before Tom Fitzgerald took over. That’s how Will Butcher got close to $4 million per season to sit in the owner’s box. Fitzgerald likely won’t make the same mistakes.
Kuokkanen is more interesting than Sharangovich in that he was a known entity coming into this season. The Devils knew he should be in the NHL and that he should contribute on a nightly basis. It’s not too long ago that he was a healthy scratch, but that seems like forever ago at this point. He has points in five-straight games, and he’s one of the only players on the team who has a scoring touch. He’s tied for eighth in rookie scoring, trailing only Ty Smith on the Devils.
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Sharangovich is a little different in that he came out of nowhere as a 5th-round pick to dominante the scoring sheet over the past year. Only Miles Wood and Pavel Zacha have scored more goals on the Devils this season. He has as many goals as the Ottawa Senators’ Tim Stutzle. Sharangovich is a rookie that has established himself as a lock in the lineup.
The Devils have $39 million in cap space next season even with a flat cap. They don’t have to pay Jack Hughes or Ty Smith, so there isn’t any huge contracts to sign just yet. Giving Sharangovich and Kuokkanen a little extra to make them happy might be smart. Getting them signed long term might be even smarter. They are both young, and this season is hard to scout, but they seem to have the goods to be a part of this roster for a long time.