5 New Jersey Devils players who will be MUCH better next season
By Nick Villano
Ondrej Palat
2023-24 Points: 31
There was a surprisingly large contingent of fans calling for the Devils to buy out Ondrej Palat. It was always a ridiculous premise, with the Devils finding other ways to make money available. It was never happening, and that proved to be true as the buyout window came and went and Palat is still a member of the Devils.
Where it is not entirely surprising is the actual performance that Palat put forth last season. He finished the year with just 11 goals and 31 points. This is despite getting pretty ample time to the top six.
Palat is going into the third year of his five-year deal. After this season, he will have two years left. It seems like the Tampa Bay Lightning had squeezed a lot of the juice out of Palat, going to the Stanley Cup Final three years in a row. He’s suffered pretty significant injuries in both his seasons in New Jersey, and it clearly impacted his play.
The Devils will probably have times where Palat needs to play in the top six. That hasn’t always worked out in the past, but the Devils are hoping to get a healthy Palat next season, and that will lead to the guy we saw facing the Rangers in the playoffs.