The New Jersey Devils need to upgrade their defense. They had an amazing unit in their breakout 2022-23 season. With some combination of Dougie Hamilton, John Marino, and Damon Severson on the right side, it was one of the best right sides in the NHL. On the left, they had Ryan Graves, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Brendan Smith/Kevin Bahl/Luke Hughes. It was a formidable unit with few holes.
Last offseason, both Ryan Graves and Damon Severson signed huge contracts with division rivals. That left the Devils with a very young unit. They didn't want to sign veterans because they needed to give Hughes, Bahl, and eventually Simon Nemec that NHL ice time. The issue was MUCH larger than we hoped, only perpetuated by terrible goaltending that could not stop high-danger chances.
That leads up to this offseason. The Devils have already solved the goaltending issue, trading for Jake Allen at the trade deadline and Jacob Markstrom last week. Now, it's time to solve the defensive problems.
Hearing Brett Pesce is likely to end up with the New Jersey Devils 👀
— Dan Powers (@Dan_Powers_) June 24, 2024
Hearing about where free agents will sign more than a week before free agency opens is rare, at least with this much certainty. There have been rumors all week about Pesce ever since Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman revealed on the 32 Thoughts Podcast that he had heard about their tie as well.
Pesce is a good player who's been able to play in multiple roles while in Carolina. He had a career-high 30 points in 2022-23, but that dropped to 10 in 70 games last season. His prowess comes from his defense, however. He's put in a position to prevent big-name players from scoring with varied results. He was basically middle of the pack in terms for goals against per 60 and high-danger chances against per 60.
This deal will likely lead to hard decisions Fitzgerald has to make. He currently has Marino, Hamilton, and Nemec on the right side. Simple math says you can't play four right-handed defensemen without putting one on his off hand. The Devils have tried that with Marino before to disastrous results.
Pesce is an upgrade, and upgrades should be celebrated. We expect the deal to be surprising in length, but it might be to drop the average-annual value down. Players have been known to drop their yearly salary in an effort to guarantee a longer career in one place. We will see if the rumors bear fruit once free agency opens on July 1st.