6 Moves New Jersey Devils Must Make To Have A Perfect Offseason

The 2023-24 season has been a dud for the New Jersey Devils. They got a first-hand taste of Murphy's Law; everything that could go wrong went wrong.

The past two weeks, in particular, have been a whirlwind, especially for General Manager Tom Fitzgerald. It started with the long overdue firing of Head Coach Lindy Ruff. A necessary move was made about a month too late.

Then the NHL Trade Deadline came and went, which featured a flurry of moves by the Devils. Tyler Toffoli and Colin Miller were shipped up to Winnipeg for draft picks; Jake Allen was brought in at a 50% retained salary to beef up to goaltending for the remained of this season and next, and the most important move of them all, trading away Vitek Vanecek and his $3.4 million cap hit for next season. The Devils were facing a cap crunch for next season, but by not extending Toffoli and moving off of Vanecek, in addition to Jake Allen only having a $1.9 million cap hit next season, Fitzgerald has set himself up nicely for this offseason.

This coming offseason is also shaping up to be one of the most important in franchise history. For starters, Fitzgerald may only get one more crack at picking a head coach before it's his job that's on the line. And with the Devils in a championship window, he needs to find the right man to take this team over the top.

Roster construction will also be at the forefront again. As mentioned, Vanacek's contract off the books will free up wiggle room to beef up the team. According to CapFriendly, the Devils have a projected $21.3 million in cap space. With few big re-signings to get done, Fitzgerald should have enough money to allocate to different parts of the roster where the team struggles.

In this exercise, we're going to lay out a potential (and realistic) offseason plan of attack for the Devils. We are also going to keep track of the $21.3 million in cap space and they can improve the team and still leave some money for the season. So let's get right to it.

It's fun to look ahead to the offseason, but don't let that distract you from the fact that you can win big betting on New Jersey this week at BetMGM! You'll get $150 in bonus bets if you sign up, deposit $10 or more and then bet $5 or more on Devils vs. Stars. Sign up with BetMGM with this Pucks and Pitchforks link today.