New Jersey Devils: 5 Biggest Questions Headed Into Offseason
The New Jersey Devils season ended in disappointment with an overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Now, GM Tom Fitzgerald has a lot of questions to answer as this franchise deals with new expectations.
The New Jersey Devils are coming off one of the most fun seasons in its history. Not only did they break a bunch of franchise records, but they were one of the most exciting teams in the NHL. They led the league with the most comeback wins, turning deficits into two points 26 times. Everything about this season, short of the playoff series with the Carolina Hurricanes, was great.
If you told Devils fans in October that this team would not only make the playoffs but they would beat the New York Rangers in Game 7 for their first series win in more than a decade, every single gan would be on board.
Now, the Devils are a true contender. There will be analysts picking them to win the Stanley Cup next season based on the moves they make in the offseason. This team needs to answer some very important questions, and some need to happen sooner rather than later.
1. What Do Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt Contracts Look Like?
We won’t spend much time on this one since we’ll be doing multiple full articles on this. For now, let’s focus on the importance of this question. There were some absolutely insane opinions, including pushing to trade Timo Meier and some actually thinking it’s smart to make Jesper Bratt an unrestricted free agent. We don’t care about the monetary demands. Those opinions are preposterous.
Fitzgerald has to find great contracts for both players. He’s negotiated an insane deal for Jack Hughes, locking up an NHL superstar for $8 million per season. He also put together a great long-term contract for Jonas Siegenthaler. Those are the two internal contracts Fitzgerald dealt with (some might forget Ray Shero negotiated the Nico Hischier deal). Now, he has two at the same time.
So much could happen here. They might both sign eight-year deals for massive money. Fitzgerald might sign one to a bridge deal just to save on the cap space. They might both get to arbitration just to stress every Devils fan out. One thing we do know is both Meier and Bratt will be on the team on opening night.
2. What Happens In Net?
Vitek Vanecek was the goalie this team had been looking for for years. Since Cory Schneider’s hip injury ruined his Devils career, the Devils have gone through a laundry list of goalies. Over the three seasons prior to this one, the Devils used 12 different goalies. There were the famous seven goalies last season, and then there was the sprint for waiver pickups the year prior. This season, Vanecek solidified the position.
He did this despite another spate of injuries. Mackenzie Blackwood got hurt on two different occasions. Despite training in the early parts of camp, a setback to his hip recovery likely ends Jonathan Bernier’s chance at a career comeback. Akira Schmid ended up spending large parts of the season as the team’s backup, but Vanecek was always the starter.
That is, until the playoffs. The Devils turned to Schmid when Vanecek struggled against the New York Rangers. Schmid carried the Devils to a Round 1 victory but also struggled against the Hurricanes (although he was hardly the problem).
Now, the Devils are looking at either a Vanecek-Schmid combo, or they could go for one of the big fish. Connor Hellebuyck is the big fish many have mentioned, but he’s on the final year of his contract. John Gibson clearly has greatness still in him, but his time with Anaheim is really draining his superstardom. There are others, but the Devils have to decide if they want to go with the players in-house or if they want to make a splash for a star.
3. What Happens To Lindy Ruff Now?
Lindy Ruff has been one of the more controversial coaches in Devils history. No, he isn’t stealing headlines for no reason like John Tortorella or doing something embarrassing that puts a bad name on the Devils. He is controversial because deciding whether he’s a great or bad coach is hard. And depending on who you ask, there is no in-between.
He has been a development dynamo. So many Devils players are seeing their best seasons under Ruff. Jack Hughes is now a superstar, and Ruff has a lot to do with it. Nico Hischier is seeing a similar trajectory, and he even got nominated for the Selke Trophy. Jesper Bratt has back-to-back 73-point seasons. On top of that, the defense is finally something to be proud of, even if the system is frustrating.
There are issues, however. The power play still looks just as bad despite replacing Mark Recchi with Andrew Brunette. Sometimes the players seem like they don’t know where they need to be, but that could be on the players themselves.
There would be no chance that Ruff would be fired. He secured that when he beat the Rangers. However, his contract is likely up. He signed a three-year deal that has not been extended as of this writing. Will the Devils give him a blank check to return? Does Ruff, who is 63 years old, want to commit to another three years of coaching? One thing nobody really brought up is the fact Ruff could leave for another job. He is a Jack Adams finalist. Is there another job he thinks would fit his system better for the twilight of his career? It’s a very interesting situation.
4. How Much Can They Spend On Internal UFAs?
The Devils have around $34 million in cap space next season. They could be set at goaltender if they just decide to let Blackwood walk and make Schmid the backup. The defense could also be easy if Fitzgerald wants to take a chance on two rookies in Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec. Then, he just has to worry about re-signing Kevin Bahl. That means the Devils have around $31-32 million to spend on the forward position.
That’s a ton, right? Well, not really. The Devils have to re-sign Bratt and Meier. Let’s say that takes up $16 million. That leaves the Devils with around $15 million to spend on seven forwards (at least). Michael McLeod could be in for a raise. Yegor Sharangovich is a complicated contract to decide, as is Nathan Bastian. Let’s say, just for ease, that takes up another $5 million. If they bring back Jesper Boqvist, that’s another $1 million.
So, with $9 million left, the Devils have to make decisions on Erik Haula, Miles Wood, and Tomas Tatar. That’s without even considering bringing back Damon Severson or Ryan Graves. Haula seems like a pretty good bet to return. He’s made it clear he wants to be here for the long term. Maybe he will take a discount.
Tatar is a different story. After an amazing regular season, Tatar did a disappearing act in the postseason. It’s not his first disappointing postseason. He went from a player who could be getting a raise to taking a discount or leaving in free agency. Wood is another player who might have to take a pay cut to return. He agreed to a one-year deal worth $3.2 million last offseason. If he were to return, we think it would be at a lower cap hit.
5. Which Young Players Deserve A Spot On Roster?
With such limited cap space, the Devils will have to rely on young players next season. The question is which young players. Akira Schmid seems like he should get a shot at the net. Nemec is likely going to get a chance to win a spot on the right side of the defense. Alexander Holtz, Graeme Clark, and Nolan Foote will be fighting for NHL minutes in training camp.
There are also long-shot candidates, like Nico Daws in net, Reilly Walsh and Topias Vilen on defense, then Tyce Thompson, Arseni Gritsyuk, and Brian Halonen at forward. However, these are all training camp questions. Fitzgerald has to decide how many open positions he wants going into training camp. That will impact who he targets in free agency and trades.
This free-agent class is pretty weak. There are a lot of big names (Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Ryan O’Reilly among them), but none are near their prime. Interesting younger players include Michael Bunting and Max Domi. Damon Severson is probably considered one of the better free agents.
Discourse On Jesper Bratt Is Now Insane. dark. Next
So, Fitzgerald must decide how many open spots he wants going into September. Does Holtz deserve his own spot? What about Nemec? This includes decisions on the qualifying offers for McLeod, Sharangovich, Bastian, and others. Answering these five questions is key to keeping this team a contender for years to come.