Power Ranking New Jersey Devils Biggest Roster Decisions This Offseason
The New Jersey Devils have a lot on their plate now that Sheldon Keefe has been hired as head coach. What should Tom Fitzgerald prioritize this offseason to upgrade this roster?
The New Jersey Devils have multiple major decisions to make this offseason. They’ve already made arguably the biggest decision, hiring Sheldon Keefe as head coach. Now, he will work to put together his coaching staff. Once that’s done, Tom Fitzgerald needs to get to work.
Most likely, his first move will come on or slightly before Friday, June 28th. That’s when the Devils are expected to make the 10th overall pick in the NHL Draft. They might make a pick or they might use the pick to upgrade the current roster through trade.
That brings us to today’s article. After the draft, the Devils and Tom Fitzgerald will focus solely on upgrading the current roster. Has has a few different avenues to do that. Trade and free agency are the most popular methods to upgrade a team’s roster. That is what Fitzgerald will look to use this offseason, as well. With a few weaknesses showcasing themselves last season, the Devils have a few spots to focus on. These are the five biggest roster decisions the Devils must make in 2024.
5. Should the Devils re-sign Tyler Toffoli?
The Devils have been pretty open about wanting to re-sign Tyler Toffoli this offseason. They haven’t been that secretive about their desire to bring him back. They only traded him because it seemed like they were going to get a massive haul. Then, they didn’t even get that.
It’s fine, as this made the Jake Allen trade basically a wash, and Allen returns to the Devils this season. It would be much better if the Devils could re-sign Toffoli for a simple price.
The Devils have just $18.8 million in cap space this offseason. If Toffoli earns himself a $6 million yearly salary, that leaves the Devils with just $12.8 million to re-sign Dawson Mercer and then do everything else that’s on this list. That’s such a hard pill to swallow. If the Devils truly want to re-sign Toffoli, it makes the rest of the offseason much, much harder. Will the Devils want to do that?
4. Upgrade the bottom six
The Devils saw multiple losses to the bottom six last season that really impacted its production. At one point, it seemed like the bottom six could be a strength. Then the injuries started to pile up. Nolan Foote started it all, missing the season opener and then not playing until the season was already basically over. Tomas Nosek was also injured early and never truly recovered. Nathan Bastian, Ondrej Palat, Curtis Lazar, and Chris Tierney all missed games.
Then, there was the Michael McLeod situation. He, along with Cal Foote, were arrested for an alleged sexual assault that happened during a Hockey Canada event. Replacing him will be harder than anything when it comes to the bottom six.
The Devils have to add some grit without sacrificing cash. Can they do that? They need to add a few names, as there are only eight players currently under contract at forward (not including players expected to be in the AHL). Some of those options have to be filled by players on the minimum. Can they get lucky with a buyout to a good bottom-six forward that will accept the minimum to rebuild his value?
It is still a priority to upgrade the bottom six, even if the Devils have no money to do it. There are some creative ways the Devils can make this work.
3. Figuring out Jonas Siegenthaler and John Marino
The Devils currently have six, and possibly eight, NHL defensemen currently on the roster. They have the starters in Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, Dougie Hamilton, John Marino, Kevin Bahl, and Jonas Siegenthaler. They also have Santeri Hatakka, Kurtis MacDermid (who also plays forward), and Seamus Casey all pushing for time.
Yet, most believe the Devils need to add to the defense. After how bad last year went, most fans would be pretty upset with running it back. We already discussed the issues with the salary cap. The Devils don’t want to add unnecessary depth, and anything more than that costs money.
The easiest way to make this work is trading either Marino or Siegenthaler. Marino makes $4.4 million and Siegenthaler makes $3.4 million per season. Trading one or the other gives them a little more breathing room.
It’s a huge risk, because if the Devils get Marino and Siegenthaler from 2022-23, then they are exactly what they need. However, if they are what they were last season, then it’s another massive problem. Siegenthaler had a huge issue with positioning in a new defensive scheme. Marino watched 71 goals go against the Devils while he was on the ice, and he missed 11 games. It was a rough year for both, but they could bounce back. Fitzgerald has to figure out what he thinks of them moving forward.
2. A final partner for Jack Hughes
This might be solved by re-signing Toffoli, but the situation with the salary cap is making that really hard. So, the Devils need to do something to bring in another player to finish off the top six. That could be someone to play the Erik Haula role at a might higher level, basically taking faceoffs for Jack Hughes and then moving to a wing-like position for the rest of the play. It could also be a high-quality winger.
Now, that could be Alex Holtz or Dawson Mercer, but the Devils haven’t shown interest in the past to make that move. Both had a chance to make a major jump in their career, and they played 82 games each, but neither made the third-year jump many hoped.
That leaves the Devils in a tough spot. They have what looks like the best top-six in the league, but it’s missing one piece. Timo Meier, Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt are all fantastic hockey players. They did deal with injury issues last season (minus Bratt), but it seems impossible to have the same kind of injury luck next year.
After the Toffoli trade, Hughes spent time with Haula, which just isn’t the best use of the team’s best player. Hughes is a star. We’ve seen teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins use their best players to lift other players up, but Hughes is not prime Sidney Crosby yet. The Devils need to set him up for success.
1. A goalie... duh
By far, the Devils biggest need right now is goalie. Some even think that the Devils needed to get goalie right even more than they needed to get the head coach right. They've dealt with goalie issues for years now. Pretty much all of Tom Fitzgerald's career, he's struggled to get a goalie he could trust. He's tried Mackenzie Blackwood, Jonathan Bernier, Corey Crawford, Vitek Vanecek, Akira Schmid, Nico Daws, Aaron Dell, Andrew Hammond, and somehow even more.
Right now, the Devils have Jake Allen on the roster. They also had Kaapo Kahkonen on last season's roster, who was even better than Allen. However, the fans want someone who is more of a sure thing. Will the Devils go for the massive win and trade for Juuse Saros? Or will they go with the older player who already waived his no-trade clause in Jacob Markstrom?
Linus Ullmark was another target on the list, but he's reportedly killed a trade away from Boston last season. Is there a huge piece we're not thinking? We are seeing in the Rangers-Panthers how important goaltending can be to winning series. The Devils need someone to win them games when they aren't on their own.
This move might happen before the draft, or it could drag well into the offseason, keeping fans sweating just like last season. We would strive for patience, but that failed everyone last season. This season, Fitzgerald would be smart to just get a deal done, even if it means overpaying slightly.
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