New Jersey Devils: Can Jonas Siegenthaler Do It Again?

The New Jersey Devils got a lot of breakout performances last season. Jesper Bratt is the obvious one here, going for close to a point per game while playing the season with a mixture of Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Dawson Mercer at center. However, the most surprising breakout performance was likely that of Jonas Siegenthaler.

The Devils got Siegenthaler in a surprise trade at the 2021 NHL Trade Deadline. They were trying to sell Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac, but at the same time, they bought on Siegenthaler. He didn’t seem to fit what Peter Laviolette wanted to do in Washington, so the Devils sent them a third-round pick to get him. It seemed like a strange move at first, but it was one with some optimism. Here’s what we said at the time of the trade:

“Still, it seems like there’s a lot left in the tank here, and (Siegenthaler)’s only 23 years old. He has nice measurables at 6’3 and 211 lbs., and he can play a shutdown game from the third pair. This is something the Devils have desperately needed and haven’t had since Ben Lovejoy left two years ago.”

So the Devils needed a shutdown guy, so they sent a pick to the Capitals to make it happen. There’s no way they could have seen just how impactful Siegenthaler would be. He became not just a shutdown guy, but he might be the best defensive defenseman in the league.

That’s right, a Devils defenseman was ranked as the best shutdown guy in the league. He ranks ahead of Charlie McAvoy and Miro Heiskanen. Those are two young superstars. Siegenthaler won’t put up near the offense those two will, but to have this kind of a defensive impact is insane.

Can Jonas Siegenthaler mimic his 2021-22 season for the New Jersey Devils in the future?

177 defensemen played at least 750 minutes this past season. Siegenthaler was 10th in high-danger chance percentage. That means his team was getting high-danger chances at a much higher clip than they were giving them up when he was on the ice. He had an insane impact on the team every shift.

The question is whether Siegenthaler can do it again. He’s eligible for an extension this offseason. On July 13th, he can sign any new deal he wants, or he can play out the final year of his deal. The Devils have to decide whether they should sign Siegenthaler to a long-term deal now (betting on him doing this over and over again), or if they should wait it out to see if last season was a fluke. It’s rare that a defensive defenseman has a fluke season, but it’s not impossible, either.

Siegenthaler just didn’t seem to fit what Laviolette wanted to do. His numbers were actually bad with him as head coach, but his numbers were quite good every other year. When he first came to the Devils, he was playing well before a COVID diagnosis pretty much ended his season. He now has a serious track record as a really good shutdown option.

Siegenthaler is also a great penalty killer. That’s something that comes with some value, and it’s not really something that drops off from season to season. Unlike power play performance, penalty killing is a skill that carries over. Obviously, it doesn’t matter a ton if the Devils get similar goaltending, but Siegenthaler seems like a huge part of the Devils future on the blue line.

He’s only 25 years old. The Devils could just pay him now so they have him locked up through his prime. He seems like a good bet to keep producing at this level for a long time barring injury.