The New Jersey Devils are in the phase of bolstering their lineup, farm system, and coaching staff to reflect the organization's philosophy to help them win a Stanley Cup and potentially more. It all starts in the first offseason, getting back into gear and moving on from the deadweight that can really gear up this group of players into being a contender and perennial Cup contender with the right additions and subtractions.
With the recent winds of Brady Tkachuk joining his brother Matthew Tkachuk, his role has officially shifted from a necessary superstar performer to a secondary star who can play at a higher level of competition. This trade now sets the tone for Sunny Mehta to make a few key moves. This is just the introduction of something under the new management.
It is only a matter of July 1st until the New Jersey Devils have Nico Hischier extended to a five or six-year, $12 Million Dollar AAV contract. Once that tidy piece of business is done, the Devils will be set for a while at the top 6 center position, but they should also be looking to draft a few centers and wingers in this draft class.Â
There’s a possibility the Devils could let Simon Nemec get offersheeted, and if he's getting $2.39M-4.78M AAV, that’s just a second-round pick they would receive in exchange for a former second-overall pick. The Devils would absolutely match that. However, the Nemec camp might be asking for more than Luke Hughes, who makes $9 million per season on his deal. If the Devils let someone else sign an offer sheet of that size, the Devils could get two first-round picks, a second-round pick, and a third-round pick. That would be much more appealing for the Devils.
If this is to be believed to be the case, Sunny Mehta should shop Simon Nemec very hard with that return as a baseline while trying to get a top-six forward with high goal-scoring potential. That big money Simon Nemec's camp was asking for too much compensation for what Hughes grossed last summer. But they're two different breeds of defenders. Luke is an offensive defender who is becoming a true two-way player with what he was drafted for.
Sunny Mehta has his word cut out for him with the New Jersey Devils
Nemec needs to work more on zone coverage and not over-committing to the outside of the faceoff dots when trying to defend. He has looked brilliant as he did versus the Chicago Blackhawks with the hat trick. However, fans and management want to see no more elephants in the circus. Sunny is the Ring Master and will only want true performers to put on a big show and dominate.
The Mehta group has proven to be more interested in keeping Dougie Hamilton as a potential win-now type player.
Bottom Line is Sunny Mehta is looking to move on from the old and outdated system, and give coaches Sheldon Keefe and Brad Shaw a new staff to work with who can implement some structures on this Devils roster. Florida just got another sasquatch in Brady Tkachuk after the Carolina Hurricanes hoisted a Cup, so this truly means war in the Eastern Conference. It is officially a hockey arms race, and the first shots on net have been released before Canada Day and Fourth of July fireworks could be set off.
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