Editor’s Note: this piece was written prior to the announcement that the New Jersey Devils signed Ondrej Palat to a five-year deal.
The New Jersey Devils are left in a very familiar position as the first day of NHL’s free agency comes to a close. That position is: everyone in the division gets better while they add decent, but not great players. Well everyone in the division got better besides the Philadelphia Flyers. No one has no idea what they are doing. The Carolina Hurricanes added Brent Burns and solid forwards. The New York Rangers added Vincent Trocheck. The Washington Capitals added Stanley Cup winning goalie Darcy Kuemper. The Pittsburgh Penguins were able to keep Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. The Flyers and Islanders have either made questionable moves or no moves at all. At least that we know of. That just leaves the Devils and Columbus Blue Jackets.
You know what happened. The Devils missed out on New Jersey native, Johnny Gaudreau. Gaudreau is exactly what the Devils needed. A top line winger that can produce a lot of points. That has what the Devils have needed since Taylor Hall was traded in 2019. It is bad enough general manager Tom Fitzgerald missed out on the likes of Kevin Fiala and Alex DeBrincat. But to lose Gaudreau to a team within the division hurts worse than if he had stayed in Calgary. The Devils had to have known it was a possibility that Gaudreau would not end up in New Jersey.
Backtracking, the Devils have never really been players in free agency since Ray Shero became the general manager back in 2015. Fitzgerald has proven that he went to the “Shero School of Free Agency” for the last two seasons. The lone exception is the massive contract that he gave to Dougie Hamilton. Hamilton is well worth the price that Fitzgerald paid, he was an organizational need, and a veteran that was needed on the blue line for when young prospects like Luke Hughes, Kevin Bahl, and Shakir Mukhamadullin arrive. However, without Gaudreau, it is just another boring day for the Devils.
It is usually a bad sign that when the rumored hiring of an assistant coach is the best part about the teams day. The rumored hiring of Jack Adams nominee Andrew Brunette as an associate coach is a massive get for the Devils. Brunette also is lurking to replace current head coach Lindy Ruff should the team get off to once again another shaky start. The Devils only added two players of note: Brendan Smith and Erik Haula.
Smith is a 33 year old defenseman that signed a two year contract that will play no more than bottom pair minutes and possibly even be the teams seventh defenseman pending the play of Ty Smith and Simon Nemec. This signing is a lot like the signing of Ben Lovejoy back in 2016. Lovejoy was 32 at the time of the signing and played bottom four minutes due to the inexperienced defensive core the Devils had in the beginning years of Shero’s tenure. Smith screams competent and not needle moving.
Haula was the other addition. To get Haula the Devils traded less than fan favorite Pavel Zacha to the Bruins. Haula was not even a free agent addition. Haula projects to be the Devils third line center and is an upgrade from Zacha in that regard. There are seemingly no issues with Haula joining the Devils. But once again, it screams competent and not needle moving.
To lose out on Gaudreau, the Devils have to be licking their wounds. As the day progressed, other options signed elsewhere. Now the forward market is incredibly thin, especially when it comes to the wing, a position the Devils need to improve upon. The options include Ondrej Palat, Nino Niederreiter, Phil Kessel, and Dylan Strome. The latter being mainly a center, a position that the Devils do not need to improve on. The Devils backed themselves into a hole. The only other options are via trade or an offer sheet. To do that, the Devils need to give up assets, something Tom Fitzgerald has become incredibly reluctant to do.
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The Devils also re-signed Mason Geertsen, who is not a game changer in any way, shape, or form. He is someone that will play five minutes or less a night, take a penalty, and then return to the bench never to be seen again. One wonders if Utica is the main destination for him or will be stick with the big club like he did all of last season. The Devils also made the obligatory Utica depth signings that probably will not make it to the NHL in Jack Dugan, Brian Pinho, and the returning Tyler Wotherspoon.
With all of this being said, it was just another mediocre day for the Devils which was made worse by Gaudreau signing with the Blue Jackets. Tom Fitzgerald needs to prove he has a backup plan to improve the top six forward group. Otherwise we will be sitting here in December wondering if Lindy Ruff is not the only one getting fired.