New Jersey Devils 2023-24 Salary Cap Hit Projections

Let’s take a look at the New Jersey Devils cap space situation heading into the 2023 offseason. We use Cap Friendly, Hockey Reference, and Evolving Hockey to deduce what is going to happen. There will be a couple of variables discussed like the projected cap hit, points projection, and how worthy of an extension this player is.

Kevin Bahl will be an easy signing. He is worth $954,000 per season contract over two seasons, according to Evolving Hockey. His physical play and stay-at-home defense were key in the regular season and in the playoffs. For a young defenseman growing up under the Lindy Ruff and Ryan McGill’s defensive system, he was very responsible with the puck and was very calm under pressure. He was playing his best against the Rangers and the Hurricanes in the playoffs laying his full weight out.

Nathan Bastian was picked up on waivers from the Seattle Kraken as the Devils reclaimed their player. He has been the pulse of this team on the bottom six while being a physical and defensive forward. His style of play as a goal goblin will net him $1.768 million per season over two seasons. His chemistry with McLeod is great, but both play a defensive-minded role and should be paired with more offensive-minded wingers.

Jesper Boqvist showed how he is a very responsible forward that can play the puck with speed, finesse, and plays a bit of a physical game when he doesn’t score. He is a proven 20-plus point player in his early career. Do not be surprised if he goes on to produce 30 points next season because of his skating, smarts, and his top-notch vision. Boqvist is looking at a $1.55 million per season for two seasons. This leaves the New Jersey Devils with $30 million in cap space as we start to get into the really good players.

Jesper Bratt is a Swedish winger who just repeated his career high of 73 points and scored 32 goals. Bratt is looking at a year $6.76 million a season, leaving the Devils with 23,247,500 left to use. Bratt will be one of the major cogs on the Devils’ wings for that five-year projected deal.

Timo Meier is a Swiss winger who proved to be a true fit for his physical play and his ability to score at all strengths. Meier has a predicted cap hit of $8.78 million over the next eight seasons. He has the capability to be one of the most potently strong scoring wingers opponents will have to face and will be a pest in many team’s sides who can score 66-76 points a season.

Michael McLeod is the other Mississauga Steelhead forward. Similar to his counterpart Nathan Bastian, he too is a defensive-minded forward. He can be a playmaking center who also wins a lot of faceoffs and puck battles. His projected hit is $1.946 million for three seasons.

Yegor Sharangovich fell off by 16 points from the 2021-22 season and still managed to hit 30 points this season. He was productive in shot blocking this season with 41 and had a very solid takeaway to giveaway ratio of 40-30. Sharangovich has the ability to hit 46 to 50 points per season but needs to play with other centers not named Jack Hughes. His projected cap hit is $3.55 million for three more seasons.

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Unrestricted free agents

Erik Haula spoke openly about his hope to get an extension done during his exit interview. A fair pay raise for Haula sees him making $2.8 million rather than $4 million that has been projected. It would leave just over $6.17 million left to possibly bring back Tomas Tatar, looking at around $3.9 million. However, if Tatar doesn’t want to return, that would allow the Devils to make a few external moves.

If Tom Fitzgerald decides not to bring back both Haula and Tatar, then it allows the team to have some internal competition and maybe add a few veteran players that bring more playoff experience. Rookie and pre-season training camps will be indicators after the NHL Draft occurs and the free agent frenzy occurs.