Michael McLeod
This is one many of us probably haven’t thought about, but Michael McLeod will never wear the New Jersey Devils crest again. Even if he’s proven innocent in his sexual assault trial or new evidence comes out to warrant the dropping of charges, it’s not going to come in time before the Devils have to make a decision on McLeod, so he’s going to find a new franchise to represent.
McLeod and the rest of the defendants (which includes Cal Foote, who could also be on this list) chose to pursue a jury trial, which can be a lengthy process. The next court date in this is at the end of April. However, not much will be decided there.
The Devils need to give players qualifying offers by July 1st this season. There’s no way this situation will be resolved in a place where the Devils feel comfortable doing anything but moving on from McLeod. This was an awful situation that the Devils were forced to answer for, and they will want nothing to do with signing up for more of it.
The Devils did avoid a headache when Fitzgerald only gave McLeod a one-year contract last offseason. Many wondered if this possible situation was a reason for the short-term deal. Nathan Bastian got a two-year deal, and it appeared McLeod was more integral to the lineup. At the end of the day, it allows the Devils to make a clean break this offseason.