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.

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Hire Mike Sullivan or Joe Sacco

With Ruff gone and Green looking more and more unlikely to get the full-time gig, the Devils will be at the front of the queue for a new coach. We highlighted before some of the reasons why the Devils job is one of the best ones available this summer. Fitzgerald's search should reach far and wide, and whoever he decides to hire NEEDS to be the one to get this team over the hump.

However, in this exercise, the choice is Mike Sullivan or Joe Sacco. Again, we went into depth as to why either would make for a great fit with the Devils, with Sullivan being the top choice. The current Pittsburgh Penguins head coach has an elite pedigree with two Stanley Cups. He has shown he can work with superstar players while getting them to play within a structure. This Devils team is crying out for a new voice in the locker room, and he would command respect inside the locker room. With the Penguins in a tailspin and on track to miss the playoffs for a second year in a row, GM Kyle Dubas could continue to put his stamp on the team and find a new head coach.

In a scenario where Sullivan is retained, the Devils still have good options. There's a handful of solid coaches who were fired this year (Craig Berube, Jay Woodcroft, Dean Evason), but if they decide to go the assistant coach route, then there may be no one better than Joe Sacco of the Boston Bruins. The former Colorado Avalanche and Team USA head coach has been an assistant with the Bruins since 2014. He's overseen one of the best defensive and penalty-kill units in the league over the past decade. Fitzgerald has praised the Bruins organization in the past, so it'd only be fitting he'd snag their top.

Trade For Jacob Markstrom

Okay so here's the deal, Markstrom would not be the top goalie choice this offseason, but we're going for realism and he has been the hottest name attached to the Devils. The 34-year-old is having a strong season on an incredibly average Calgary Flames team. In fact, if they were a smidge worse than average, Markstrom would probably be a Devil already.

The Markstrom and Devils saga has been talked about at nauseam and until the team finally gets its number one goalie we'll keep hearing about it. Other options like Juuse Saros and Linus Ullmark are more appetizing than Markstrom because of their age, but both of those goalies will command a big extension and trade compensation.

So, for now, the Devils acquire Markstrom for a fraction of what Calgary was asking for earlier in the year and have a new number-one goalie for at least $6 million for two more seasons. What shouldn't be lost in it all is that he is still a very good goalie. Markstrom is near the top of the league in Goals Saved Above Expected, while the rest of the Devils goalies sit in the cellar. His age doesn't make him choice number one, but he's a solid and realistic option this offseason.

Salary Cap Space Remaining: $15.3 million

Sign Dawson Mercer to 3 Years, $4 Million AAV Contract

Fitzgerald did a good job over the years, locking up a lot of key pieces. Heading into this offseason, their pending free agents consist of mostly depth players. The only one that will earn somewhat significant money is Dawson Mercer.

Mercer's 2022-23 season went about as good as possible. He evaded any talk of a sophomore slump by putting up 27 goals and 56 points. However, 2023-24 hasn't been kind to him. He will end up falling well below that point production from a year ago and hasn't looked the same this season, as has most of the team. That being said, Mercer still fits into the future of this team and will be a fantastic top-nine contributor. The biggest downside is that Mercer likely cost himself some money and a long-term contract this summer.

Mercer has shown to be a high-end complimentary player at his best, and his reliability and 2022-23 season will earn him a solid contract. A bridge deal is the safest bet with Mercer and gives him a few years to prove he can be consistent from year to year. Four million dollar AAV would represent a strong financial commitment to Mercer while also not breaking the bank and locking the team into anything long-term.

Salary Cap Space Remaining: $11.3 million

Sign Free Agent Forward Chandler Stephenson to 4 Years, $4.25 Million AAV Contract

The Devils don't have the money to go big-game hunting, but they have enough to add an impact player like Stephenson. The Devils need a lot of things that Stephenson brings to the table. He has center/winger versatility, plays with pace, is a solid point producer who's played with elite talent, and, most importantly, has a Stanley Cup pedigree.

Stephenson gives the Devils the option to either play 3C and give them tremendous depth down the middle, or play top-six wing and Erik Haula can go back down to center. Either way, it fixes their center problem with Michael McLeod no longer a part of the team. The element of speed in his game is also what makes him an attractive fit for the Devils. Toffoli was brought in to be that top-six goal scorer, but his lack of foot-speed showed and it hampered the Devils transition game. That won't be the case with Stephenson, who has also shown the ability to score. His offensive game popped once he went from Washington to Vegas, and he put together back-to-back 60-point seasons in 2021-22 and 2022-23.

Even though he will be 30 by the start of next season, the organization hasn't been afraid to add veterans to this young lineup. And unlike Palat, Stephenson has the boots to skate with the likes of Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. He is the quintessential playoff player, who at $4.25 million AAV would be a big investment but wouldn't kill them financially.

Salary Cap Space Remaining: $7.05 million

Sign Free Agent Defenseman Chad Ruhwedel to 1 Year, $1.1 Million AAV Contract

The Brendan Smith era is coming to an end, and it's time to find a new depth defenseman. The Devils could probably take a bigger swing for a defenseman, but it would mean demoting one of the younger players or moving off of a veteran like John Marino or Jonas Siegenthaler. What should, and likely will happen, is Dougie Hamilton comes back from injury, and Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, and Kevin Bahl take steps forward and improve the defense. That still leaves room for a seventh defenseman who can do a job in a pinch.

Ideally, Santeri Hatakka comes in and earns that spot, but it probably makes more sense to bring in a veteran. As we've seen with Smith over the last two seasons, that seventh defenseman is more important than people realize. This is exactly why someone like Chad Ruhwedel would be an under-the-radar great addition. He brings no offense but has fantastic underlying defensive and penalty-killing numbers.

Ruhwedel is currently coming off of a two-year deal that paid him just $800,000 AAV, so he shouldn't sign for much more. He's made a career as a solid bottom-pair/seventh defenseman, and for just a little over $1 million he could do the job.

Salary Cap Space Remaining: $4.45 million

Set Up for the 2024-25 Season

Putting this season behind as quickly as possible and looking towards 2024-25 is the easiest way for Devils' fans to keep their sanity. The first and biggest task of the season will be finding the head coach. Sullivan is the dream hire, but there is no guarantee. Sacco would be a risk, given he hasn't been a head coach in over a decade, but he provides upside coming from the Bruins organization.

Acquiring Markstrom finally gives the Devils some form of a number-one goalie. A Markstrom/Allen tandem has some potential and would only account for $7.9 million in cap space. Dipping into the free agency market and getting Stephenson, Duhaime, and Ruhwedel fix the other holes in the roster gets them closer to competing for the playoffs while simultaneously making them a much faster team. Those three combined moves leave them with $4.45 million in cap space to do any other minor moves.

It's a big offseason for Fitzgerald, but a plan similar to this keeps the Devils from breaking the bank on any one player and spreads the wealth, allowing for the team to be competitive everywhere on the ice.