New Jersey Devils: 5 Remaining Free Agents Worth A Shot
The New Jersey Devils are in pretty good shape after making a huge splash in free agency. Dougie Hamilton and Tomas Tatar are two of the biggest free-agent signings in the history of the franchise. Especially Hamilton, who plays a role the Devils desperately needed, the massive price tag will likely be worth it in the long run.
Now two weeks since the start of free agency, the Devils are in a spot where they could use another forward or two, but they probably have prospects who could easily fill the slots if need be. There are literally a dozen players who could be on the cusp of NHL ready depending on how they come into camp and play.
The free-agent market is pretty dry right now, but there are some very intriguing names still available. There were a lot of prospects that NHL teams just renounced their rights to. Some were even 1st-round picks. There are also some long-shot veterans who could add some balance to the bottom six whether that’s at center or wing.
The Devils are looking for depth at this point from free agency. There aren’t really players who are going to make a huge impact on the NHL roster. If the Devils want an impactful forward, they need to go for a trade. There are still plenty of forward options on the trade market, and yes that includes Vladimir Tarasenko. However, they don’t necessarily need to make that move. Most GMs are taking a vacation right now because they were basically working for 18 months straight (the horror for them). The Devils could still sign a small free agent, and these are the best fits of the players available.
One note, none of these players who are clearly going to the New York Islanders are on this list. Zach Parise, Kyle Palmieri, Travis Zajac, and Casey Cizikas are heading to Belmont, and there’s nothing the Devils can do to change that. This completely changes the names on the free agent list, so temper expectations.
Eric Staal
Eric Staal was surprisingly traded to Minnesota last year straight up for Marcus Johansson. He ended up playing 32 games in Buffalo before he was traded to Montreal midseason. He wasn’t great in either situation, but he was much better in the playoffs for the Canadiens’ run to the Stanley Cup Final. Staal finished the playoffs with the fifth-best CF% on the team, He was fourth in the high-danger chance for percentage.
Staal isn’t going to light up the score sheet no matter where he goes. If a legitimate Stanley Cup contender came calling, he would have signed by now. If Staal wants to find a spot, he needs to just pick one. If the Devils come calling, it’s an interesting match.
Staal would bring the Devils a legitimate bottom-six center who could run whichever line Lindy Ruff wanted him to. His veteran presence would help keep Miles Wood even-keeled, or he could help lead a youngster like Alexander Holtz or Marian Studenic.
This is a Devils team that actually has some expectations. There aren’t a lot of players on the team that are used to it. Staal needs to find a place where he can just play a role and lead the young guys. What better place to do it than on the Devils?
Tyler Bozak
Tyler Bozak would play the same role as Staal, but he would fit so much better than Staal for many reasons. For one, he is right-handed. The Devils currently only have one right-handed forward who is guaranteed a spot in Michael McLeod. It really impacts the Devils’ ability to play matchups.
Bozak is also just a better player at this point in his career. They are both on the downside of their careers, but Bozak can add penalty killing to the Devils, a team that desperately needs good penalty killers.
Bozak did miss 21 games this past season with a concussion, which might scare some teams, but since he would be coming to the Devils as a luxury instead of a necessity, it would take a load off of him to finish off his career. The Devils would ask him to play a pseudo-fourth-line role. Traditionally, people might consider it the third line, but Ruff likes to play the “fourth” line with Wood and McLeod a lot more than most teams would.
Bozak adds a lot of what the Devils could use, and if he ends up falling off a cliff, they could call Jesper Boqvist, Pavel Zacha, or even Dawson Mercer to take his spot. Bozak is looking for the right fit, and the Devils make a lot of sense.
Damir Zhafyarov
The Devils have taken chances on Russian superstars in the past, and it almost never works out. Nikita Gusev looked good at first, but he was terrible for them last season. Egor Yakovlev could have been a good defenseman for the Devils, but he spent most of his first season in the AHL and went right back to Russia. This is the end of the Devils’ issues with Russians we are willing to discuss. Anyways, Damir Zhafyarov shouldn’t get hurt by the Devils past transactions.
The 27 year old averaged more than a point per game with the Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo of the KHL last season. He was the third-leading scorer in the league after putting up 61 points in 58 games. It was his breakout season after only scoring 37 points the year before. He’s a risk just like every Russian player is, and he might struggle with the closed ice format of the NHL, but the Devils have the money to take a risk on a high-upside player. If he’s asking for $2 million on a one-year deal, even if he doesn’t work out at all, the Devils can afford a deal like this.
Zhafyarov is a pure energy player who never gives up on a play. He can play in the corners in the NHL today, which is something that most Russian players struggle with. He is on the smaller side at 5’9, so the Devils might not want to add another winger with that profile to the lineup, but if they strike out on Tarasenko or the rest of the trade market, this is a very low-risk proposition.
Cliff Pu
This one is a complete flier. The Devils could bet that Cliff Pu just needed to get out of his current situation to excel. He was once the cornerstone of a Jeff Skinner trade between the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes. Things just didn’t work out for him in Carolina.
Pu is a two-time 80+ point scorer in the OHL. The former 3rd-round pick just hasn’t been good in the AHL. Straight up, he’s struggled as much as anyone in the league. There are times he was sent down to the ECHL, but this is a player who once had insane skill. Pu has been traded three times now, and has played for three different AHL teams and two different ECHL teams. He always looks like the best player on the ice in the ECHL. Something just doesn’t click for Pu in the AHL. The Devils could take a chance on a 24-year-old forward that could start the year in the AHL and grow into something special with the right coaching.
Pu needs someone to fix him. Something is seriously wrong with his game, and he just hasn’t found the right coach to help him out. Pu is an interesting prospect who still has time to find his game. This is probably his last chance, but we’ve seen players hit their stride at 25. Pu would be someone to sign for depth at the AHL level at first, but with his past dominance at the junior level, it would be interesting to see what the Devils could get out of him.
Yegor Rykov
One of the worst moves of the Ray Shero era was the first and only trade between the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers. The Devils got Michael Grabner to add to the stretch run as the Devils were looking to make the 2018 postseason for the first time since their 2012 Stanley Cup Final run. They paid a decent price of Yegor Rykov and a 2nd-round pick.
Grabner fell apart in New Jersey. He was having trouble fitting into the John Hynes system, and his goal-scoring ability just didn’t translate to the other side of the Hudson River. After coming over with 25 goals, Grabner had 2 in the final 21 games with the Devils. In the five-game series wit the Lightning, Grabner only got into two games and scored zero points.
Rykov was a prospect with high expectations if the Devils could get him to come over from Russia. With the Rangers having many Russian ties, including goalie Igor Shesterkin, Rykov came over to join the Rangers, but it only lasted one season with the Hartford Wolfpack before he spent the COVID-shortened season in the KHL.
Next. 3 Acceptable Vladimir Tarasenko Trades. dark
It’s entirely possible that Rykov wants to spend the rest of his career in Russia, but it would be interesting to see if he’s willing to go to a team that once believed in him. He doesn’t have a spot on the NHL roster with Jonas Siegenthaler, P.K. Subban, and Christian Jaros already good enough to take up the bottom part of the Devils defensive depth, but it would be an interesting pitch. Rykov has skill and could make an NHL jump. This might be one year too soon for this, though.