5 former New Jersey Devils free agents to target this offseason
There are a lot of interesting free agents this offseason, and some of them are already familiar with the Prudential Center locker room. Who might be a good target for the New Jersey Devils this offseason?
The New Jersey Devils are definitely not done making upgrades to the team. After hiring and introducing Sheldon Keefe as head coach, now it’s time to upgrade the roster. The Devils basically have a need everywhere. They need a center to play in the bottom six, a winger to play in the top six, a depth defenseman, and a starting goalie.
Luckily for the Devils, there are players available everywhere. There are goalies they can grab on the trade market. There are forwards and defensemen available in free agency. Tom Fitzgerald has options, but he could also go back to the well to add talent this offseason.
There are a few former Devils who can very quickly become future Devils. They did some serious remodeling of the roster during the rebuild, but now the Devils are prioritizing veterans. These five former Devils make sense to be part of the near future.
Tomas Tatar
The Devils lost a ton of player last offseason. Miles Wood, Damon Severson, Ryan Graves, Yegor Sharangovich, and Mackenzie Blackwood all signed long-term contracts. Tomas Tatar expected to sign a long-term contract, but the market failed him.
His playoff no-show was the main reason he didn’t get a deal. He ended up signing with the Colorado Avalanche, joining Wood for a semi-reunion. Wood was played in a completely different role, and Tatar was placed in a similar role, but he didn’t take to it like Wood.
The Avs cut their losses and traded Tatar to the Seattle Kraken. He was much better in Seattle, but he still wasn’t great. He finished the season with 24 points. That’s exactly half of the points he had in New Jersey. It might be as simple as Tatar fit in New Jersey. We wouldn’t be surprised if he took a small contract to play a bottom-six role with an opportunity to work his way into the top-six.
Adam Henrique
Pretty much since the Devils decided to trade him for Sami Vatanen, people have been mocking a new trade to send Adam Henrique back to the Devils. It never worked out, as the Anaheim Ducks kept him up until this past season, and they ended up getting a first-round pick and more in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers.
The Oilers have not re-signed Henrique, and there haven’t been rumors that it’s going to happen, either. He did return from injury in Game 3 against the Dallas Stars and immediately scored a goal. If he continues scoring and the Oilers win the Stanley Cup, the team might feel compelled to send the man a blank check.
However, there’s a good chance the Oilers decide to let Henrique walk. He is 34 years old, and this is going to be his last long-term deal of his career. He will likely look for something like a three-year deal, and someone will give it to him.
Honestly, it wouldn’t be the worst thing if that team was the Devils. He’s said how much he liked it in New Jersey. As a rookie, he went to the Stanley Cup Final. He took a leadership role in Anaheim, and he can help these kids progress. The Devils could play him at center or wing. This is the type of player that could still contribute late in his career.
Tyler Toffoli
This one is the one everyone expects. Tom Fitzgerald literally said he wants to target Tyler Toffoli this offseason. The Winnipeg Jets did not get what they wanted out of Toffoli. He did have 11 points and seven goals in 18 regular season games after the Trade Deadline deal. He also added two goals in five playoff games.
That last stat is the issue. The Winnipeg Jets only had five playoff games this postseason. There is a lot of change already happening with the Jets, as Rick Bowness retired and Scott Arniel took over as head coach.
With that change, usually comes roster change. As far as forwards go, there isn’t a ton of opportunities for change. Toffoli is one of four free agents, two of which are restricted free agents. Meanwhile, with their $13 million in cap space, the Jets have to replace defensemen Dylan DeMelo, Brendan Dillon, and Colin Miller (plus Logan Stanley, who’s a restricted free agent).
There’s just too much for the Jets to address to give Toffoli a big deal. The same probably goes for the Devils, but they’ve made it a point to say they are going to try, so we are going to believe them. Despite his lack of speed, Toffoli fit with Jack Hughes. If it fits, then why not try again?
Colin Miller
Speaking of the Jets, Colin Miller was a surprise trade at the deadline. They got a 2026 fourth-round pick for Miller. It was a “meh” deal at the time, but it was pretty clear that the Devils weren’t going anywhere at the deadline. They ended up falling even further, finishing the season 10 points behind the Washington Capitals, who were one of the worst playoff teams in a long time.
The Devils still need depth defensemen, and Miller is someone who played well when healthy. They need to make sure the depth defensemen they sign can actually play. The Devils already have six defensemen with Dougie Hamilton, Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, Kevin Bahl, Jonas Siegenthaler, and John Marino are returning next season. Some of them need to be better, but that’s for another article.
Miller can come in for players who aren’t performing, but he clearly also doesn’t mind staying in the owner’s box when necessary. It’s an ideal role for the Devils.
The situation all depends on what Miller is expecting on the open market. Will he get more than a minimum deal? The Jets really didn’t use him, so it’s hard to expect him to get more than like $1 million on a one-year deal.
Scott Wedgewood
Scott Wedgewood is not the player who will fix the New Jersey Devils goaltending issues, but we’ve made it clear the Devils can’t just rely on, say, Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen. As much as we like Jakes, one injury there puts the Devils in a bad spot. Adding a third decent option who can play in very specific opportunities but stay with the NHL club has a huge value for the Devils. Scott Wedgewood has already signed a deal like that in the past with the Devils. Maybe he would do it again.
He hasn’t had the best season, putting up an .899 save percentage behind the very good Dallas Stars, but he was really good last season backing up Jake Oettinger. He had a .915 save percentage and won some games on his own.
This season, he just had some stinkers. He was great when he was good, but he had issues with consistency. It is what it is. That happens to goalies sometimes. At the end of the day, he’s 31 years old, has been healthy for a while, and he might be willing to take this role.
If the Devils go into next season with Markstrom, Allen, Wedgewood, Nico Daws, and possibly Akira Schmid, they will have the depth at the position they’ve been begging for since Cory Schneider got hurt for the first time.
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