5 Decisions Tom Fitzgerald Must Make After NHL Trade Deadline
The NHL Trade Deadline came and went with the New Jersey Devils making one move. They traded Nate Schnarr who they got in the Taylor Hall trade for goalie Andrew Hammond. Hammond isn’t even ready to play right away, but he will allow the Devils to get through the end of the season with two goalies who aren’t at the very beginning of their career. In fact, it might be the last ride for both of them.
The big thing to take away from the trade deadline is the Devils were never that close to anything. Tom Fitzgerald even said he was worried his phone was broken. That’s how quiet things were in Newark this weekend.
Fitzgerald: "I thought Friday, Saturday were real slow (w/ trade talks). I thought my phone was broken. Outgoing calls worked, incoming calls didn't, so I ask people to call back to make sure it was working."
— Mike Morreale (@mikemorrealeNHL) March 21, 2022
A quiet NHL Trade Deadline shows that the New Jersey Devils have work to do in the offseason.
The Devils are in a weird position this offseason. They have to give a ton of money to Jesper Bratt. They have Pavel Zacha whose contract is ending at the end of the season and he becomes a restricted free agent. Jimmy Vesey and P.K. Subban are both unrestricted free agents, and the Devils have to figure out how to put a competitive team together. They have $23 million in cap space, which sounds like a lot, but it’s actually going to get lost pretty quickly with all the pieces they have to re-sign.
There are a lot of decisions to make, and honestly, standing pat at the deadline made that harder. Notice I didn’t say it made it worse. It was likely the right move to stay quiet if nobody was calling on the Devils players, then the value wouldn’t be there to move them now. There will be value eventually, and it could lead to a good offseason in Newark. Yay, we can win the offseason again.
Decision #1: Sign Jesper Bratt
Daily Faceoff kept putting out the rumor that Jesper Bratt was a name to watch today. It never made sense for the Devils to even fathom making a move like that. Who could even remotely give equal value for what Bratt is giving the team right now? Bratt has 60 points already this season. Nobody has had more than 50 points since Taylor Hall’s MVP season in 2017-18.
The Devils can’t just throw away these types of players. What would a team have to offer to get them Jesper Bratt? Unless it’s a young goalie who can fix this situation, trading him wasn’t going to ever be good for the future of the franchise. Bratt is going to be expensive, so maybe Fitzgerald was looking at his value because he is trying to find what other teams would value him at.
The Devils have limited cap space unlike most other years. They have a few contracts they’d rather not have, and while Subban’s $9 million comes off the books, it’s almost immediately replaced by Jack Hughes’ $8 million. The cap space explodes to $53 million in 2023-24, so this is a one-year issue even if the Devils pay Bratt a fortune.
We can’t see Bratt making more than Nico Hischier, who is making $7.25 million average annual value. Bratt is likely going to come in around $7 million, but how many years is Tom Fitzgerald willing to commit at a $7 million AAV? Will Fitzgerald try to minimize the risk for a player who has never played this well before, or will he commit the full eight years? That’s the real question.
Decision #2: Trade or Keep Pavel Zacha
The Devils had Pavel Zacha in trade rumors for weeks and months ahead of Monday’s deadline, and nothing happened. Zacha was injured last week, which might have made a trade more difficult, but if someone was willing to make the move, the injury wouldn’t have stopped them. Zacha was tied to the Vancouver Canucks and Montreal Canadiens. We imagine that both those teams will circle back in the offseason. The Devils likely want to make a deal surrounding Brock Boeser, although that only further complicates the cap situation.
Analysts say that Zacha is due for a significant raise. That seems questionable. He is having a down season after a career year last year. After leading the team in points last season, he’s eight in points this year despite never missing significant time. Andreas Johnsson has more points than him. A rookie Dawson Mercer has more points. Zacha is having a down year, and it comes at the exact point where he’s trying to reach a new deal.
The number that Zacha lands on will have a lot to do with whether it’s worth making the move. If he’s looking to be a $5 million forward, then it’s probably best to let someone else pay him that. If he’s looking for a moderate raise to make $3 million, then it’s a place the Devils want to be. Heck, maybe the Devils take the chance and give him a short-term deal that could lead to him going to unrestricted free agency. It’s definitely one of the more important decisions that Fitzgerald has to make.
Decision #3: Can They Rely On Ty Smith?
The Devils decided to keep Damon Severson at the NHL Trade Deadline. We’ll get to that more in detail in a moment, but keeping all the team’s defensemen means that it’s going to be status quo for the rest of the season. Ty Smith is going to spend most of his time with P.K. Subban. They’ve had less success than some might desire, but they are the third pair. Only Damon Severson-Jonas Siegenthaler and Ryan Graves-Dougie Hamilton have played more minutes together than Subban and Smith.
While the minutes skew the number, it tells a story that Smith and Subban are the only players that are even when it comes to goals allowed and goals scored while on the ice at even strength. The Devils have given up 17 goals with Smith and Subban together. Smith has allowed 29 goals in a little over 400 minutes when he’s not paired with Subban. It’s a much different situation when they are not together.
This kind of consistency might be key to turning Smith’s terrible season around. It will take a lot of work, but it’s work Subban is willing to put in with the kid. Subban is almost definitely going to leave in the offseason, but if he can help fix Smith’s issues it could leave a great legacy for Subban in New Jersey.
If he doesn’t and Smith’s mistakes continue to outshine his offense, then Fitzgerald has a very hard decision to make in the offseason. After this season, Smith will no longer be eligible for the AHL. He would have to pass through waivers to get sent down. So, the Devils would be stuck with him on the roster or risk losing him. If the Devils think his value peaked his rookie year, then it might be worth selling him now on the thought of what he could be. However, it’s still selling him when his value is the lowest.
Decision #4: Dealing with Andreas Johnsson and Tomas Tatar
The Devils will go into next season with both Andreas Johnsson and Tomas Tatar on the final years of their deal. Johnsson came to the Devils with three years left on his deal, and Tatar signed a two-year deal this past offseason. They are both making more money than they probably earned this season, but that’s not really the point. They can absolutely earn their contract if they perform when the team isn’t steeped in last place thanks to all of the goalies getting injured.
There were quiet rumors the Devils were willing to part with one or both this year if a team wanted them. Johnsson is someone who could be useful to the goals of the Arizona Coyotes, who are playing for Connor Bedard in 2022-23. Johnsson could help them get to the cap floor if the Coyotes want to revamp the roster next season. Phil Kessel might leave, and Jakob Chychrun is almost a lock to leave the franchise. Who else might be out the door? That’s a question the Devils also have to ask themselves.
Johnsson and Tatar could bounce back next season, but where do they fit as the Devils are currently constructed? Let’s pretend the Devils are definitely adding Alex Holtz and one of Nolan Foote and Tyce Thompson to the forward group next season. That leaves the Devils with 15 NHL forwards. That’s without adding anyone. It seems like there is going to be an odd man out.
The Devils just need to reshuffle the roster, and they might need to add a pick to one of these players to lose them. It doesn’t have to be a significant pick, but losing the pick might be better in the long run than losing more cap space. A Tatar buyout actually isn’t that bad (a $1 million price tag in 2023-24), but is that really what the Devils want to do? Sign a big free agent then cut him the year after? It’s a decision Fitz has to make with the future of the franchise in mind.
Decision $5: What to do with Damon Severson
Damon Severson was a name that’s been somewhat out there at the trade deadline this year. It seemed like the Devils had very little interest in trading him. He’s the team’s ice leader, and he’s playing on the top power-play unit while also adding penalty kill time. The Devils are getting the most out of Severson this year.
This offseason, Severson is eligible for his first extension since signing for six years prior to the 2017-18 season. It was a great contract to sign, and Severson might want to get paid now. Some say he might take less to stick with the Devils. The worry is he looks at the contracts players like Darnell Nurse and Seth Jones sign and expect to be in that range. It doesn’t sound like that would be the expectation.
Severson has a lot left in the tank, and his contract would be signed when he is 29 years old. That is a risk if we’re talking about a 5-8 year deal. We saw with Subban that the second he turned 30, he was a different player. Subban did have back injuries that Severson does not, so that’s definitely helping the situation.
Next. Assessing Future Of 5 Struggling Devils Players. dark
Severson could also be dealt in the offseason. Getting a full season of Severson before deciding on his contract extension might be worthwhile for some teams. Others might want to immediately sign him to a long-term extension. The Devils have to figure out where the risk lies most; in a Severson extension or trade.