5 New Jersey Devils Playing For New Contracts This Season
The New Jersey Devils are looking at a very exciting season starting on Thursday. Despite spending a ton of money this offseason to retain talent, Tom Fitzgerald still has quite a few negotiations coming his way in 2024.
Last offseason, Tom Fitzgerald was staring at two incredibly tough negotiations. Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt both needed new deals, and the New Jersey Devils were pretty adamant they wanted to get max-term deals with both. They did exactly that.
This offseason will be nothing like last offseason. There isn’t the laundry list of unrestricted free agents looking for new deals (they let almost every single one of them go outside of Erik Haula). The stars are all locked up for a long time. However, there are some interesting negotiations the Devils will deal with at the end of the season.
Some of these players can earn lucrative deals if they have a big season. Maybe nobody is getting the deal that Bratt or Meier signed, but they can get some nice money. There are some restricted free agents and some unrestricted free agents looking to play up to their worth.
1. Dawson Mercer
Dawson Mercer is the most important cog (well, right now) that is looking for a new contract in 2024. He was just escalated into the Devils’ top six, expected to play next to Nico Hischier and Timo Meier to start the season. The former 18th overall NHL Draft pick has played way above his expectations. Based on Hockey Reference’s Point Shares, only Tim Stutzle has been better in that draft.
So, what does a contract look like for Mercer? That’s hard to tell. Would anyone be floored if he signed for $6+ million per season? Would anyone be upset? That’s a lot of cash for a player who has yet to hit 60 points in a season.
Mercer is streaky, but when he gets hot, he looks as good as any player on the ice. He had a stretch last season where he carried the team. He had some very good games in the playoffs, too. Mercer’s contract might not actually be as high as he deserves. The Devils will take whatever discount they can get, and Mercer seems like the type of player to offer them one. We expect this deal to get done in the middle of the season.
2. Akira Schmid
This might be the most underrated storyline of the season. The New Jersey Devils spent all offseason enthralled with rumors of goaltending trades and signings. Nothing came to fruition, and now Connor Hellebuyck is off the table entirely. That leaves the Devils with Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid.
Vanecek was quite good in the regular season last year, but he was awful in the playoffs. That’s where Schmid took over, helping the Devils beat the New York Rangers in the playoffs, securing a successful season. That was the first time in a long time Devils fans could end a season with a positive outlook.
Despite Vanecek’s performance in the regular season, Schmid is likely the goalie of the future. Even before his stellar playoff performance, he was probably the Devils best goalie in the regular season. He had the lowest goals-against average, the highest save percentage, and the best goals-saved above average of any Devils goalie despite playing just 18 regular season games.
If Schmid comes in and takes the starting job, how will the Devils want to pay him? Even the average starting goaltender is getting $5 million per season. Will the Devils be willing to do that? We can see Fitzgerald doing his best to lock up the one goalie that’s worked for him, but there are issues with goalies in general. This one is intriguing, but we expect nothing to get done until next offseason.
3. Tyler Toffoli
We come to our first unrestricted free agent on the list. The Devils traded Yegor Sharangovich and a third-round pick to the Calgary Flames for Tyler Toffoli. The move solidified the Devils top six, adding a significant piece coming off one of his best seasons.
The issue with Toffoli is he has been somewhat inconsistent in his career. His 34 goals last season were a career high. He had 31 goals in 2015-16, but that was the only other time. That was way back when he played for the Los Angeles Kings. Since then, injuries and strange team situations led to less-than-stellar numbers.
The Devils aren’t going to re-sign Toffoli now. He’s built great chemistry with Jack Hughes, but the Devils need more than preseason chemistry. Ondrej Palat and Alexander Holtz had great chemistry with Hughes last preseason. We know how that ended.
Toffoli probably has the most on the line when it comes to money this season. He could earn a really nice contract with the Devils or another team. If he stays on Hughes’ wing, he could very easily put up another 30-goal season. With Hughes scoring himself, his assists could hit a career-high. Imagine putting up 70 points in your contract year. He might end up pricing himself out of New Jersey if that happens.
4. Michael McLeod
Tom Fitzgerald’s most baller move this offseason was letting Michael McLeod and Nathan Bastian hit unrestricted free agency despite both being restricted free agents. He said he had no interest in going to arbitration with either party. Bastian quickly re-signed to a two-year deal and McLeod followed suit with a one-year deal.
The fact the Devils gave Bastian more term despite McLeod playing arguably a more important role says a lot about their situation. McLeod was electric in the playoffs. His penalty killing after Game 2 of the Rangers series was producing more offense than it was giving up. He actually found an offensive touch he didn’t have in the regular season. He seemed to thrive during the playoff atmosphere.
McLeod has been a faceoff specialist and shutdown defender. Head Coach Lindy Ruff goes to the McLeod line when he needs a stop or to take possession off the draw. Eric Haula could do that to some degree, but not to the level of McLeod. So why not give him multiple years?
Something is holding the Devils back. McLeod is a restricted free agent again, so the Devils have negotiating power. If he mimics this performance and nothing comes up off the ice, McLeod might sign for a surprisingly long deal.
5. Luke Hughes
Just because a contract isn’t ending at the end of the season doesn’t mean a player isn’t looking towards his next one. Luke Hughes is going to re-sign for massive money with the Devils. Barring a serious injury, Jack Hughes’s younger brother was drafted by the Devils to play here next to his brother for more than a decade.
If Luke Hughes finds himself in the Calder Trophy race or looks like a legit top-four defenseman right off the bat, Fitzgerald will want to lock him up. Don’t be surprised if he immediately gives Luke Hughes the Jack Hughes contract. We’re serious.
It sounds wild to us too, but that’s been how the Devils do business. They’d rather sign their stars a year early rather than a year late. Can you imagine the price they could have gotten Bratt to sign for three years ago? They learned from that with multiple stars, including Jack Hughes.
We just don’t see the Devils letting Luke Hughes play into his contract year. Too many young defensemen are signing for insane contracts. Look at the deal Rasmus Dahlin just signed with the Buffalo Sabres. The Devils don’t want to pay anyone $11 million per season. They can avoid it by paying one of their final stars a year early.
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