Contract Status Says Too Much About New Jersey Devils Future
The New Jersey Devils victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday night pushes them to a tie in standings points for the top seed in the Metropolitan Division. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are coming like a high-speed bullet train.
Most people around the Devils are gearing for a long run, but that doesn’t stop upcoming players like Luke Hughes, Topias Vilen, and even Simon Nemec from joining the club. Despite the impending playoffs, players like Damon Severson, Miles Wood and Michael McLeod are still trying to solidify a long-term spot with the only franchise they know.
The salary cap might not go up as much as teams hope, and it could lead to hard decisions for Devils management. Jesper Bratt is owed $5.45 million for a qualifying offer. Timo Meier is looking at a $10 Million dollar qualifying offer. Even if the Devils hope to sign both to long-term deals, it is going to take a huge chunk of their cap space to do it. Yegor Sharangovich could be qualified despite being at an all-time low, but it won’t cost the Devils nearly as much. It might be the right time to give him a shot and see if he can pop next season.
Locking up players like Bratt and Meier gives the New Jersey Devils a contingent of firepower that can do damage on the wings. A fully-stacked top nine will behave like first lines going forward. As the Devils add younger pieces and cheaper contracts like a Nemec and Luke Hughes, it gives the Devils a lot of depth and talented defensemen that can strike from the back end. Having Nico Daws and Akira Schmid under Vitek Vanecek is a huge benefit to the Devils’ goalie depth.
For example, look at what Fitzgerald acquired & signed in last 2, 3 years.
— Andy & Rono (@ARHockeyStats) February 27, 2023
Hamilton, Meier, Palat, Tatar, Marino, Siegenthaler, Graves, Vanecek, Haula.
That's absolutely amazing.
Michael McLeod is having a solid season offensively and has been popping the past three years. As a restricted free agent, $1.2 million is the highest he will command. Jesper Boqvist is expected to make no more than $1.05 million this offseason and could be a player who does blossom offensively to 30-35 points. Nathan Bastian missed some time with an injury but has been a leader physically and a bit on offense. He is nearing a career-high of 16 points with 12 so far. Defenseman Kevin Bahl is looking for a new contract, but don’t expect it to be too much higher than league minimum.
Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald will extend the key role players. However, with so many pieces looking for new contracts, don’t be surprised if he flips some here or there. The Devils have kept Kevin Bahl instead of moving him in trades. This could be a sign with Ryan Graves facing unrestricted free agency this year. A similar question faces Severson, who is also a UFA.
If Slovak stud Simon Nemec is ready to make the jump before next season, the Devils should roll the dice or let Reilly Walsh take the leap of faith. Nemec is not far off on his path to becoming that very mobile right-handed defenseman.
Nemec showed a ton of promise at the World Junior Championships. He came incredibly close in leading Slovakia against Connor Bedard’s Gold Medal-bound Canada team. He is gonna play a huge role for this franchise and shows flashes of a very smooth, agile Brian Rafalski-type. Rafalski would be his ceiling and Erik Cernak would be his European comparable.
Luke Hughes also coming into the fold for the 2023-24 season. He adds more youth on defense. His offensive abilities are already NHL ready. His defensive abilities might force a player like Bahl to stay back in the offensive zone.
Mackie redirects a Keato shot, and Luke Hughes has his second apple of the evening pic.twitter.com/rkYa71FWHa
— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) March 11, 2023
Teams trying to beat the Devils on defense will have to deal with the physical and long-reach play of Bahl but also have the headache of Luke catching up and stopping breakaway goals like brother Quinn can.
These kinds of hockey ops situations are all good problems to have for Tom Fitzgerald & Company. This team has the very potential to become a great dynasty with what they have now, and what they will have going forward. Fans of the New Jersey Devils are embracing this team and its winning culture this season.
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The atmosphere will be so hard to ignore for future players who are drafted, signed, and potentially traded for that player say “I want to play, live, and win in New Jersey because of the way this team plays, and how the fans support their studs like Timo Meier and Jack Hughes.” An atmosphere and a dynasty in the making will only attract more and more phenomenal talent to The Garden State to play for the Red and Black, and be part of the fun that can potentially lead to a 4th Stanley Cup.