New Jersey Devils: 5 Remaining Free Agents Worth A Shot

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.