Predicting the Fate of All Pending New Jersey Devils Free Agents
The Wildcards
This category has a few different caveats to it. The “they should stay, but won’t”, “they shouldn’t stay, but might”, and finally the “meh”. The “meh” is not meant to be an insult, they just do not mean that much to the organization, but it can be seen to be beneficial to keep them around. The players that are involved in this page include Ryan Murray, Connor Carrick, Matt Tennyson, and a few other players that were in Binghamton the past couple of seasons. The good thing about those names, is that the Devils have absolutely no back breaking unrestricted free agent deals to give to their own players. This is all mostly defense.
The first sub-category is the “they should stay, but probably won’t”. Ryan Murray fits this bill to an absolute tee. Murray, for some reason, was a healthy scratch for a few games this season while being one of the most steady blue liner the Devils had all year. He was chosen over the likes of Tennyson, which never rubbed fans the right way. Murray had 14 assists in 48 games played while being one of the only few positive +/- players on the roster.
If Murray takes a pay cut from his previous deal when he made $4.6 million annually, he can give the Devils bottom pair a solid option. A left hand side with Ryan Graves, Ty Smith, and Murray can really insulate Smith with offensive zone starts and give him a huge increase in production. However, with only preliminary discussions between the player and club, it seems like Murray will sign with someone else come free agency.
Another player that should probably stay but most likely will not is Connor Carrick. Carrick is one of the few right handed defensemen that the Devils have in the organization. In fact, of the eight right handed shot defenseman on the Devils’ CapFriendly page, four of them are slated to become free agents. Carrick, Tennyson, Jacobs, and David Quenneville are all free to walk while the other four are P.K. Subban, Damon Severson, Reilly Walsh, and newly acquired Christian Jaros.
Carrick is great organizational depth and proved last year he is the perfect 6th/7th defenseman. He slotted into the lineup well when the big club had injuries to deal with. He put his body on the line in meaningless games and also scored a clutch goal. Although, it is possible to see Carrick want to be a 5th or 6th defenseman on a different club. It would be great to see him stay, but right handed defensemen are tough to come by.
David Quenneville is the last person in the “they should stay, but probably won’t category”. Once again, right handed shot defensemen are hard to come by. If Quenneville walks, Walsh will be the only right handed shot defenseman in Utica, barring any other free agency acquisitions. Quenneville was acquired in the Andy Greene trade from the Islanders a couple of seasons ago. While he may not project to be anything special, a 23-year old right handed shot who can produce in the minors can always help the organization. It also is not fair to quit on Quenneville while he has not been able to play a full season with the club. Jacobs is a different story because he has been around since 2014 and has not been able to separate himself.
There is only one player that fits the bill of “they should leave, but probably won’t”, and that player is Peter Harrold. Wait. Sorry. John Hayden. Wait. Sorry again. Matt Tennyson. He is the player type that has plagued the Devils for the last few seasons. That player type is “coaches love him, and fans do not know why”. Tennyson was loved by Lindy Ruff and was routinely given opportunity after opportunity over players like Murray and Will Butcher. He does not provide much offensively and in fact, brings everyone else around him down analytically. The only way Tennyson stays is because he continues the trend of players that should leave, but won’t because they are the head coaches favorite.
Like the last category, only one player fits the “meh” mold, and that is Ben Street. Street is a 34 year old veteran who is guaranteed to make the league minimum. He has served as Binghamton’s captain the past two seasons. If he continues to play, it could be beneficial to keep him as the grizzled veteran leader of an impeccably young squad. He is also around a point per game player in the NHL, so as long as he keeps producing and being a leader, it cannot hurt the organization to keep him. But if they want to move on and have an entire lineup of kids, it is not that far fetched, as thats what the NHL club did this past season.