The New Jersey Devils are having a nice offseason. People are tempering their expectations based on how the past few seasons have gone but there are a lot of reasons to be excited. One thing that needed to get done soon was a contract extension for Janne Kuokkanen. New Jersey acquired him as a prospect in the Sami Vatanen trade with the Carolina Hurricanes a couple of years ago and now he is a good NHL player.
On Monday, New Jersey extended him for two years with a 1.825 million average annual value. That is a great number for a player like Kuokkanen who has a lot to prove. When saying he has a lot to prove, that is a compliment because he has already proven that he can be a very good player. He had eight goals and 25 assists for points in 50 games.
Getting a player that had half a point per game in his first full season for under $2 million is a steal. He is also really good at making sure his team is better when he is on the ice. His 51.6 CorsiFor in 2020-21 proved that big time. He had significantly more assists than goals which shows that he has some sweet playmaking ability. If he can score a few more goals, he will really prove to be a valuable offensive player.
He seemed to develop some great chemistry with Yegor Sharangovich over this past season. They both came up together and the signed contract extensions within the same week. For the next two years, it is going to be fun to see them try and earn that next contract. They are hoping that it can lead to a lot of New Jersey Devils wins in the meantime. We don’t know how they will line up in 2021-22 but you gotta figure they will see a lot of the same ice at different points.
The New Jersey Devils have a really nice depth player in Janne Kuokkanen.
For Kuokkanen, the next two years are very important. As mentioned before, he is a very good playmaker. Those 25 assists in 50 games don’t grow on trees, especially for a player playing in his first full season. Now, he will go into 2021-22 expecting to make a team in a normal October training camp setting.
There are a lot of young and exciting players in this organization now. You heard about Kuokkanen and Sharangovich. They want to be a part of the young core with Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Ty Smith, Jesper Bratt, and Mackenzie Blackwood amongst others.
There is still plenty of cap room left so it will be interesting to see what they can do before the season starts. Getting this Kuokkanen deal done in a timely matter was huge because now they have their current group ready to go. There are still some more moves that could be made if they want but all of their RFAs are now taken care of. This was a great move by the Devils as they are having a great summer.