New Jersey Devils: 3 Choices To Build A Dynasty
The New Jersey Devils have a very important offseason ahead of them. We’ve pointed it out time and time again. It cannot be said enough. We’ve seen how one bad offseason can have a domino event on the franchise’s compete window. In 2018, the Devils made the playoffs with a young roster, a star in his prime, and the pieces to build a winner. Then, the Devils spent the offseason relying on John Quenneville to take them to the next level. It led to another first-overall pick, and four more years of a rebuild.
This year, the playoff run feels different. For one, the Devils won their first-round series this time around. Also, they finished in second place in the Metropolitan Division, third best in the NHL. In 2018, the Devils barely made the playoffs, the 16th best team in the league.
Still, Tom Fitzgerald has to make the right moves to make this a sustainable winner. Can this become a dynasty? It only happens if the Devils make the right decisions now. If these three things happen, the Devils have a chance to win for the next decade.
1. Make The Right Goalie Decision
The Devils finally found a starting goalie who brought them to the playoffs. Vitek Vanecek was the first goalie since Martin Brodeur to win 30 games in a season. He was never one of the top goalies in the league, but he was good enough to win with a stacked Devils team.
Then, Vanecek was dreadful in the playoffs. The only goalie who had a worse goals saved above average in the playoffs is Jake Oettinger. He only played in seven games because Lindy Ruff benched him for Akira Schmid. Schmid was great in the New York Rangers series, especially in Game 7, where he shut out the Devils rivals. He was less than great in the Hurricanes series.
Now that the Devils are in the offseason, figuring out the goaltending market is a top priority. We’ve said the Devils are fine with Schmid and Vanecek, but the Devils must figure out if fine is good enough. John Gibson and Connor Hellebuyck are likely available through trade. Would it be in the Devils’ best interest to get a superstar?
The issue is if the Devils go after a Hellebuyck or Gibson and they fall off a cliff, it could send the Devils’ plans of winning Stanley Cups into the dirt. That’s why we say make the “right” decision. Doing nothing might be the right decision. Getting Hellebuyck might be the right decision. Unfortunately, we won’t know until one goes wrong.
2. Set Up Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec for Success
The Devils defense is losing two veterans this offseason. There is no way the Devils can afford to pay Ryan Graves and Damon Severson. The Devils have to decide whether Simon Nemec is as ready as Luke Hughes showed to be. If Hughes and Nemec can jump into the lineup full-time, it saves the Devils a lot of headaches and a lot of money.
Dougie Hamilton, John Marino, and Jonas Siegenthaler are signed long-term. Kevin Bahl is a restricted free agent, but he should be an easy contract to fix. So, the Devils need to figure out what to do with that last right-handed spot. The Devils won’t know if Nemec is ready or not until training camp. Will they risk it by just signing a PTO or will they bring in a decent veteran to take that spot?
Meanwhile, Hughes is in the NHL next season. That’s a guarantee. He was fantastic in his short time with the Devils last season. Now, the Devils need to find his right partner. He had very different results in the playoffs with the different veteran defensemen. He didn’t really play with Hamilton, which makes sense. He split his time mostly with Marino and Severson.
He actually had better overall numbers with Severson. They had a majority of the chances when they were on the ice. They had high-danger chances, and the play was volatile. They allowed three goals on the ice while scoring three. With Marino, Hughes gave up zero goals in 20 minutes, but he wasn’t on the ice for any goals.
The Devils need to develop Nemec correctly. If that means another year in the AHL, so be it. Hughes needs to find the right partner. There is no Severson, so the Devils have to decide if that’s Marino, or if they want to find a veteran that’s Taylor made for Hughes.
3. Avoid Overpaying Wingers
Everyone knows where this one is going. Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt are the most important negotiations this summer. The Devils are hoping to keep them under a combined $16 million AAV, but realistically, the AAV needs to be under $18 million. Ideally, they keep these contracts under $17 million. It would be great for them to sign team-friendly deals, but if that was the case, it would have happened by now.
If the Devils somehow go over $18 million for both Meier and Bratt on really long-term deals, it will make things very hard down the line. It will be fine next season. The Devils have $34 million in cap space. Losing about half of that still gives them enough space to sign all the important free agents and add the necessary components.
Where it hurts is down the line. Luke Hughes will need a contract in two years. Dawson Mercer needs a contract next offseason. If Akira Schmid takes over the starting goalie role, he will need a new contract. This all gets hard with the Devils dwindling cap space.
Next. 3 Devastating Decisions Devils Must Avoid. dark
On top of Meier and Bratt, the Devils need to avoid a bad contract with the remaining winger spots. That includes Tomas Tatar, who is an unrestricted free agent. Could the Devils afford to repeat the contract the Devils gave Tatar two years ago? What about Ryan O’Reilly? He’s technically a center, but he might play some wing in this offense. Are there other UFAs the Devils could target? If they do, Tom Fitzgerald has to avoid any contract over two years.