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Major Checklist For New Jersey Devils Offseason

By Samanew Annaluru

NEWARK, NJ - JANUARY 25: Jack Hughes #86 of the New Jersey Devils skates during the game against the Dallas Stars on January 25, 2022 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - JANUARY 25: Jack Hughes #86 of the New Jersey Devils skates during the game against the Dallas Stars on January 25, 2022 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Getty Images) /
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It’s that time of year again. The New Jersey Devils and the rest of the NHL have officially entered the offseason. While it is a bitter end to a tumultuous season in the Garden State, there is a lot of hope and potential with this team. However, none of that potential will be realized if management squanders this offseason.

Being the offseason kings is nothing new to the Devils. In 2019, they made a huge splash by taking franchise center Jack Hughes. Coupled with the trades for Nikita Gusev and more importantly P.K. Subban, the Devils were primed for a productive year. Sadly, the following season showed us no improvement, with the majority of the star players out with injury. On top of that, we saw disappointing seasons from Hughes, Gusev, and a laundry list of others.

Last season was in a similar vein, bringing in Dougie Hamilton, Tomas Tatar, and Jonathan Bernier. Just like in 2019-20, the 2021-2022 campaign also proved to be a disappointment. Unlike the 2020 season, last year showed real improvement in the 5v5 offense, a welcome sight to most fans. With that in mind, Tom Fitzgerald should go into these next couple of months with an improvement mindset, especially went it comes to goaltending, the power play, and wing depth.

New Jersey Devils
Jesper Bratt #63 of the New Jersey Devils. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Getty Images) /

Re-signing Bratt

There are some very important resigning the Devils need to make if they want to be competitive in the future.

The biggest and the most obvious one is Swedish winger Jesper Bratt. Bratt has always been a player that Devils fans loved, but did not have the production to garner attention from the rest of the league and national media. Last season, he changed all the narratives about him, scoring 73 points in 72 games while leading the Devils in points. While production in a contract year is always scary, it seems like this is the natural step in development for Bratt. New Jersey needs to retain him at all costs.

A contract of $6.85 mill AAV over 7 years seems like a decent compromise for both parties. While Fiala’s new deal of $7.875 mill AAV over 7 years may throw a wrench into the negotiations, Bratt’s desire to stay in Jersey may help out. Either way, this is a priority for the Devils.

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