New Jersey Devils Make Massive Moves In NHL Draft Week
The New Jersey Devils wasted no time at all starting the NHL offseason. In the time since the Stanley Cup was raised, Tom Fitzgerald has got some big business done. Leading up to the NHL Draft, Fitzgerald put together a Masterclass of moves.
It all started with the Devils signing their own free agents. Jesper Bratt signed for eight years and $7.8 million per season. Eric Haula signed for three more seasons at $3.1 million per season. Bratt coming in at under $8 million is a win. Most thought Haula would be closer to $2.5 million, it is not a bad signing and solidified this team’s depth on offense.
The first trade the team made was moving Reilly Walsh who has been so close to making this team for a few years now. If we are being honest, this team has so much depth there is virtually no chance Walsh could make this team now. For the prospect, the team received Shane Bowers. This feels and looks like a minor-league deal, but if he can be a decent call-up for an injured guy on the fourth line, maybe it works out for the Devils. It almost feels like they moved Walsh so he could try to make the NHL, which is just fine.
The second trade this team made was finally moving on from Mackenzie Blackwood and somehow getting a draft pick out of it. This is a win-win for both teams. Even if the pick turns out to be nothing it shows the Devils fans and more importantly our two goalies that they are locked in for the next season. From the Sharks’ perspective, they either get a miraculous bounce back and a good goalie for nothing or a guy who will keep the same kind of play and lead them right into the draft lottery where they are destined to be for a few seasons.
The final and most important trade came out of nowhere. The Devils moved Yegor Sharangovich and a third-round pick to the Calgary Flames for Tyler Toffoli. Toffoli is 31 years old and has one year left at $4.25 million might be a good pickup for this team. While we should not expect a repeat of his career year last season, we should expect him to slot into the middle six easily and add a bit of fire into this lineup.
Toffoli has always been a strong player analytically, which fits right into what this team is doing, and has been positive relative to his team for Corsi and Fenwick every year of his career. That should continue with the Devils. The next few weeks will really show us where this team intends to go direction wise, and they could have some insane forward depth if they can resign their own UFA/RFA’s but if not, swapping him for Tatar will probably be a small step forward.
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The Devils finished it off by signing Timo Meier to eight years and $8.8 million per season. It was a miraculous week for the Devils, Tom Fitzgerald, and New Jersey fans. What a week, and we can’t wait to see what’s next.