5 Underrated Contract Situations New Jersey Devils Must Address This Offseason
The New Jersey Devils are looking at some major contract decisions this offseason, but there are some others that aren’t getting the same publicity which could be extremely difficult.
Every New Jersey Devils fan knows that Jesper Bratt’s contract is up this season. The Devils signed him to a two-year deal prior to the start of the 2021 pandemic-shortened season. Now, that deal is up just in time for Bratt’s best season in the NHL. On top of that, Pavel Zacha needs a new deal. He’s a much harder one to figure out since he’s having a much worse season than he had last year, and now his contract is coming up at a time when the Devils are reportedly considering their options with him.
However, those aren’t all the contracts the Devils have to deal with. Not by a long shot. The Devils currently have five pending restricted free agents on the roster and seven pending unrestricted free agents. That’s just on the NHL roster. They also have four pending free agents in Utica as well.
This is a lot on the plate of Tom Fitzgerald this offseason. With the Devils looking into the future and the present, they have to consider who is right for this team moving forward and who might get lost in the shuffle. There are only a limited amount of roster spots open next season. Looking at the roster, it appears they have 13 forwards who will be back based on contract status pending a trade. That leaves maybe one spot to bring up a new forward like Alexander Holtz. They have five defensemen signed through next season, so they have one or two spots for defenders.
This makes many of the contract negotiations complicated. The Devils have to figure out what to do with these players on top of figuring out how much they are worth.
Jesper Boqvist – Restricted Free Agent
The Devils have been waiting for Jesper Boqvist to find a role on the NHL roster for three seasons. After an impressive run as a youngster in Sweden, he came to North America and never really hit the expectations the Devils front office had for him. After two straight years where he only scored four goals despite getting offensive opportunities, Boqvist is finally finding a role that might fit his skill set.
Boqvist has taken over the third-line center role after Dawson Mercer was moved to winger in the top six. Lindy Ruff tried to find the right fits for everyone, and it seems to be working. Boqvist has been better offensively than we’ve ever seen him. He’s been with the Devils basically since the middle of December.
He had a rough March, but outside of that (only two points in March compared to four points halfway through April) he’s been consistently fine on both signs of the ice. The Devils are dealing with his contract this offseason now that his entry-level deal is done.
The big question here is how much Boqvist is worth. Will the Devils just go ahead and give him a similar salary range, or did Boqvist earn himself a raise this season? It feels like Boqvist can argue he deserves at least as much as Michael McLeod makes, which is just under $1 million for two years. It’s only a $50,000 raise from what he’s making this season, but it would be surprising to hear he makes much more than that.
Fabian Zetterlund – Restricted Free Agent
Fabian Zetterlund has looked quite good since joining the Devils a little over a week ago. He scored the first goal of his NHL career against the Arizona Coyotes, and he has two multi-point games in his last four. Zetterlund looks like an NHL player this year after putting up a team-leading 52 points in 58 AHL games for the Utica Comets.
Zetterlund might be a good bet for the NHL team, but it’s hardly a guarantee. However, the Devils have to consider whether he deserves a guarantee this offseason. Will the team give him a one-way deal? Are they ready to make that kind of commitment to Zetterlund?
That puts the Devils in an interesting spot. Zetterlund is not a player most fans considered a player that was locked into this team’s young core. At the beginning of the season, most fans were surprised he was getting even a shot in the NHL. Now, he looks like a player who can be in the bottom six for a long time. The way Zetterlund plays gets fans excited. They like his ability and the fact he embraces whatever role he’s given. He even got to play on the first line at times this week.
The Devils are going to bring Zetterlund back, but they have to decide whether it’s right to make him a locked-in NHL player. He has proven himself over the last week and a half, but is that enough when it comes to contract negotiations? Will they take his play in Utica into account? There is a lot to this contract negotiation that on paper seems more open and shut.
Damon Severson – Final Year Of Contract
This one is different than the other contracts because it’s not ending. Damon Severson is going into the last year of his six-year deal that he signed before the 2017-18 season. He’s only making $4.166 million against the salary cap every year. That price is going to go up, but the Devils have to figure out how high they want to go. We’ve heard that Severson wants to stay in Jersey and is willing to take somewhat of a discount to do that.
Still, what is a discount for a player who’s been with the team his entire career, averages north of 22 minutes per game for four straight seasons, and has a career-high 41 points? The Devils are going to work on an extension in the offseason because they want to know whether it makes sense financially to keep Severson here. If he wants more money than they are willing to pay, then it’s something they have to work out.
Severson deserves a raise, but the Devils are already paying Dougie Hamilton $9 million per season to play on the right side of the defense. It’s a highly desired position, but can the Devils afford to go north of $6 million for the second-line right-handed defenseman? It’s a question Fitzgerald has to answer soon.
If they can’t come to an agreement, would it make sense for the Devils to just move on from Severson now? He’s one of the few positions the Devils don’t really have a replacement for, but he would get the Devils a huge return in the offseason.
Chase De Leo – Unrestricted Free Agent
The Devils have to decide whether they want to re-sign Chase De Leo at all. Prior to coming to the Devils, De Leo played six seasons in the AHL, but he never really got a shot at the NHL. This season, he got into two NHL games. He never got into more than one per season when he was a part of the Anaheim Ducks organization.
He’s also scoring more than a point per game in the AHL, putting up 50 points in 49 games for the Utica Comets. It’s something he hasn’t done since playing for the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL. De Leo is a player with skill, and he didn’t look completely out of place in the NHL, but can the Devils really have him on their roster?
If De Leo is willing to sign another two-way deal, we can see him coming back. However, after such a good season in the AHL, another team might be willing to give him a one-way deal. He’s a Group 6 free agent based on his professional playing time, so the Devils have to compete with other franchises if they don’t re-sign him before July 1st.
De Leo would be a nice veteran presence to have in Utica for the long haul, but if he can get a legit NHL opportunity nobody can be mad at him for taking it. He’s worked at this for a long time, and the Devils gave him an opportunity to grow his game. If he can use that somewhere else, good for him.
Miles Wood – Restricted Free Agent
This one was going to be either Miles Wood or Tyce Thompson. They are both complicated in their own way because they both missed most of this season. Wood is a little more complicated because of his price point and the fact he’s a guarantee on this NHL roster.
Wood got hurt in the preseason with what ended up being a hip injury. He returned to the ice earlier this month, but he was shut down again after three games and we won’t see him for the rest of the season. It’s an unfortunate turn of events, especially for Fitzgerald who likely wanted to see something out of Wood before going into negotiations with him.
Maybe the Devils will take a big chance on Wood and get him to sign long term for less money than he could be worth. It’s also possible they sign him to a one-year deal to take less risk, but that also comes with the risk they could lose him next season.
dark. Next. Is Carey Price A Possible Answer In Net?
If it gets to it, the Devils and Wood could go to arbitration this season. That’s usually a pretty messy step for players to take. Both sides usually have to have uncomfortable conversations in front of a neutral party. It would be best for both sides if they avoided this and found common ground beforehand.