The New Jersey Devils were intent on shedding money this offseason. It did not work out as planned. While they did surprisingly get positive value for Erik Haula, they were unable to offload Ondrej Palat, and despite weeks of rumors, Dougie Hamilton and Dawson Mercer are still on the roster.
All this is happening while the Devils try to figure out how to fit a long-term Luke Hughes contract on the books. This has been a devastatingly slow offseason, and nobody is taking on money they don’t want. We haven’t seen a trade in a month, and there are still quality free agents that aren’t signed, including center Jack Roslovic.
This has led to a Devils team wondering what to do next. The money has to work this season, and there are only so many avenues the Devils have to save money. One that’s not discussed much has to do with Kurtis MacDermid.
The big, bruising forward/defenseman was signed last offseason to a three-year deal worth $1.1 million per season. Many Devils fans scratched their head at the contract, and it makes even less sense today when the Devils are working with a little over $6 million in cap space.
But here’s the beauty of MacDermid’s contract. It’s just at the line of being completely buried when he’s in the AHL. That’s right, if the Devils send MacDermid to the Utica Comets, their cap space immediately jumps to about $7.2 million. Now, a Luke Hughes deal seems possible without using LTIR that comes with Johnny Kovacevic’s injury.
So we have to ask, what could MacDermid bring? Is his fighting prowess really that important? Couldn’t Paul Cotter just fight Matt Rempe when necessary? Or let Timo knock his head off if it’s that important.
MacDermid can hit, but he’s not even as good at hitting as Brenden Dillon or Cotter. Heck, Jesper Bratt put 80 hits on the stat sheet this season.
It’s really hard to find where MacDermid fits on the roster besides a veteran presence in the locker room. The Utica Comets really need that this season. We’re sure Josh Harris and David Blitzer won’t love paying someone $1.1 million to play in Utica, but it’s the route forward to make this salary cap work.