Miles Wood
This one is a little different than the rest. The Devils could have re-signed Miles Wood at any time, but they elected to let him hit unrestricted free agency, and the Colorado Avalanche gave him a six-year deal. The Avs are trying to hit home runs in free agency, signing players to term in exchange for lower AAV. Well, the Devils never had interest in signing Wood for six years. Every Devils fan knows why.
Wood played well when the Devils came to Colorado earlier this month, and he’s done a lot for this team so far. He’s been on the penalty kill, something he wasn’t trusted to do in New Jersey. The Avalanche have different priorities. The Devils really have no interest to pay Wood for six years based on what they’ve seen from him. His inconsistencies are maddening.
The Devils likely didn’t even “avoid” this deal like the others. They weren’t lucky to have Wood choose another franchise. The Devils likely made that decision for him.
Nobody is saying the Devils have made all the right decisions, but Tom Fitzgerald’s patience and stubbornness has worked out in his favor time and time again. For every Andreas Johnsson, there’s John Marino. Every Corey Crawford comes with a Timo Meier. The losses are small and the wins are big. Hopefully, that comes to fruition on the ice this season.