The trade was a fleece! Yes, I’m not afraid to say it, an absolute fleece! I’m so confident with what Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald has done that I don’t even want to waste any more time. Let’s dive right in with three reasons this is a massive win for the Devils.  

Devils Fleece Flames for Tyler Toffoli

Who is Tyler Toffoli?

Toffoli is a 31-year-old top-six right-shot winger who can really rip the puck and play off the rush. He is a well-above-average goal scorer who also ranks in the 93rd percentile with in-zone exits. For the Devils, he is the perfect fit for what they’re looking for, it almost seems like a perfect marriage.  

Per data from CapFriendly, Toffoli has a projected WAR% (Wins Above Replacement Percentage) of 91%. He has an Evolving Offense of 85% and an Evolving Defense of 73% with his finishing coming in at 87%. The guy is a playmaker in many facets of the game who will really give the Devils the scoring boost they’re looking for. You can also get used to seeing Toffoli on the power play where he’s going to feast on goalies in the Devils system.  

Toffoli was so good for the Flames last season, his totals were higher than his previous season. He averaged 0.93 goals per 60 minutes at five-on-five and finished with 34 goals and 73 points.  

The Devils can now trot out a top-six of Meier-Hughes-Mercer and Bratt-Hischier-Toffoli giving both lines very capable scoring options. There’s no question the Devils are a much better team with Toffoli now in the mix. 

The Trade Package 

When reports were originally swirling that the Flames may be shopping Toffoli, the assumed return on assets seemed to be much more than what the Devils seemed to have given up.  

For a player of Toffoli’s caliber, coming off a career season on a sub $4.5 million contract, I would’ve expected the Flames to fetch Yegor Sharangovich, the Devils 2025 first-round pick (their 2024 first-round pick was used in a conditional trade for Timo Meier), and an A or B level prospect. Let’s say, Seamus Casey.  

Instead, the Devils were able to land Toffoli for only RFA Yegor Sharangovich and a third-round pick. The free third-round pick was acquired in the Damon Severson sign-and-trade only a week or so ago. Sharangovich and the Flames haven’t even kicked tires on contact talks yet. This isn’t a scenario where we see a sign-and-trade to get more value in assets coming back the other way. 

This was strictly a fleece from Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald. We’re talking about giving away a player who had a 16-point drop-off (Sharangovich) and a free third-round pick for a guy who the coach of the Montreal Canadians called “captain material”.  

Toffoli will bring leadership and added experience to the Devils. He has 733 games under his belt, 227 goals, and 239 assists, for 466 points.  

The Contract

A very interesting piece that makes Toffoli so attractive is his contract situation. He has a year left on his contract before he becomes a UFA (Unrestricted Free Agent), but he has a cap hit of $4.25 million with a base salary of only $3.5 million.   

In his 2021-2022 season, Toffoli totaled 20 goals and 29 assists for 49 points. This past season, Toffoli’s stats spiked to 34 goals and 39 assists for 73 points. His increase in production makes his contract situation much more appealing.  

Now with Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier as his center, there’s no doubt Toffoli will be ready to cook come next season. 

One could argue that Tom Fitzgerald and the New Jersey Devils have won the offseason so far to this point. We aren’t even to the NHL Draft yet and Fitzy seems to have made plenty of positive moves to better the team. I have full confidence that Fitzgerald will keep making the right decisions to better the Devils’ chances of becoming cup contenders for many years to come. Get ready Devils fans, it seems next season is going to be a heck of a ride.  

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LeBrun on Insider Trading: “The New Jersey Devils are one of the teams we understand that Connor Hellebuyck would be interested in signing an extension with in a sign-and-trade. New Jersey has investigated it, and they’ve had a conversation with Winnipeg, but I think what probably would give NJ pause and some other teams is the kind of money that Hellebuyck would want in an extension, we believe that to be in the Vasilevskiy range, $9.95M per year.” 

As exciting as landing a goalie of Hellebuyck’s caliber would be, today we’re going to play devil’s advocate and list four reasons why the New Jersey Devils should not trade for Connor Hellebuyck. 

Three Negatives on the New Jersey Devils Possibly Trading for Hellebuyck 

Too Much Money

As LeBrun mentioned above, Hellebuyck is asking for Vasilevskiy-type money which would be around the $9.5M range. If a trade were to take place, do the Devils have the money to take on a long-term extension for Hellebuyck? The answer should be no, but they could make it work if Hellebuyck is who they really want. 

The Devils already have five players on contracts making north of $7 million dollars with Timo Meier looking for an extension between the $8-9 million range.  

Considering Dougie Hamilton is getting paid $9M, extending Hellebuyck to a $9.5 million dollar contract (what he’s asking for) would give the Devils two players on long-term extensions of $9 million or above. 

With Dawson Mercer, Luke Hughes, and Simon Nemec looking for extensions after their ELC (Entry Level Contracts) burns up, taking on another long-term extension could be a recipe for disaster. 

Age  

Let’s face it, Hellebuyck is already on the wrong side of 30. He’s got one year left on the expiring contract he already has and will be looking for a long-term extension of say eight years.  

Does GM Tom Fitzgerald really think signing an eight-year contract to an elite goaltender north of 30 is a good idea? We would be looking at Hellebuyck’s extension expiring near the age of 38 to 39.  

Don’t get me wrong, Hellebuyck is the real deal and has shown no flashes of regression, but you’ve got to think as he grows older the wheels will start to fall off or the risk of injury is much greater. 

This also comes from an organization that knows a thing or two about signing goalies to long-term contracts and ends in disaster, a la Corey Schneider.   

Asset Management 

So, let’s say the Devils and Jets agree to terms on a sign-and-trade to bring Hellebuyck to New Jersey. Even after a massive cap hit, there’s still another obstacle to hurdle. What assets would a sign-and-trade for an elite goaltender in Hellebuyck cost the Devils? 

Well, for starters, the Devils would almost certainly have to give up their 2025 first-round pick. The Devils 2024 first-rounder can’t be moved due to conditions from the Timo Meier trade.  

The Jets would then need a goaltender to replace Hellebuyck so one would assume they would try to pry Akira Schmid from the Devils. Though it’s doubtful the New Jersey Devils will give up Schmid, they’d likely try to give up Vitek Vanecek to shed some cap.  

Losing Vanecek to add Hellebuyck sounds like a pretty good deal for the Devils, right? Well, if Winnipeg was forced to take on Vanecek then they would most likely demand the rights to the number seven overall pick in the 2020 draft, Alex Holtz.  

I’d imagine Yegor Sharangovich would be part of a deal to give the Jets some added scoring and help on special teams as well.  

Another direction the Devils could move with Hellebuyck is adding him on a shorter-term contract to avoid regression and cap implications far into the future. Still, as earlier reported, that is not what Hellebuyck is looking for.  

Whatever Tom Fitzgerald and the New Jersey Devils decide to do with Hellebuyck, it will be a franchise-altering decision. Though nothing in the NHL is guaranteed, adding an elite goaltender in Hellebuyck could dramatically improve the Devils’ chances of winning a cup, but it could also damage the cap for the future.  

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The deal lands the Swedish winger the third highest-paid contract on the team sandwiched between center Jack Hughes ($8M AAV) and captain Nico Hischier ($7.25 AAV). 

Today, we’re going to go over four important takeaways from the lucrative contract the two sides agreed upon.  

Four Takeaways from Jesper Bratt’s New Contract 

Hidden Gem

One of the most fascinating takeaways is the fact that Bratt has come from being a #162 overall draft pick to a $63 million man at the young age of 24. Bratt was a sixth-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft who hit the ground running right out of camp.  

Finding a player that late in the draft with as much success in the NHL as Bratt has had is like finding a needle in a haystack. On average, only 15% of fifth and sixth-round picks play some games in the NHL, let alone becoming a star and bonafide play-driver.  

Bratt has turned into a dynamic two-way forward with an accurate shot and skilled rush play who has no issues with driving a line if needed. His 2022-2023 scorecard projects to have an Offensive WAR (Wins Above Replacement) value of 94% with a finishing WAR% coming in right below at 91%. There’s no question this guy knows how to generate offense and put the puck in the back of the net.  

I’ve seen a lot of Twitter GMs and Devil fans breaking down the value of Bratt’s contract and I think everyone needs to just stop what they’re doing and take a second to acknowledge the fact the New Jersey Devils hit a home run with Jesper Bratt and the progression he’s made since his eligible draft year. Not often do you find a star player of Bratt’s caliber in the sixth round of the NHL Draft. 

Term That Should Age Well

In the last few months, much of the debate has been around GM Tom Fitzgerald’s comments stating he wanted to keep his players’ AAV below the Jack Hughes contract signed for $8 million. Getting lost in this topic was the length of the contract. 

With the NHL salary cap projected to rise within the next couple of years, we’ve seen RFA (Restricted Free Agent) contracts getting shorter. Star players are wanting to sign deals at a higher AAV on a lesser term contract of maybe three-to-five years. The process behind a deal like this offers a star player the opportunity to cash in on another contract when the cap goes up. 

With that being said, I expected Bratt and his camp to settle on a three-to-five-year contract of around $8 million so they can yet again cash in when Bratt hits the healthy age of around 28-30. However, that was not the case. Fitzgerald and the New Jersey Devils did a spectacular job of getting Bratt locked up for eight years.  

The term on the Bratt contract is a win in many different ways for the Devils. Having Bratt locked up at $7.875M for the next eight years will allow the Devils more cap space to work with down the road. Since the Devils’ core is all but locked up aside from Timo Meier, the added money can be used to add extra depth pieces in the bottom six when needed for a playoff run.  

Reasonable AAV

I’m not going to waste too much time on this one because it’s a topic that has been beaten to the ground the last few weeks. 

I don’t think the $7.875 AAV was a slam dunk or an out-of-the-park home run, but I do think it’s a healthy number for the Devils. Recent rumors had Bratt projected anywhere between $7.7M and $8.5M so it’s nice to see Bratt get in at the lower end of these projections.  

As I stated in the previous takeaway, GM Fitzgerald wanted to keep Bratt’s contract below star centerman Jack Hughes’ $8 million cap hit and that’s exactly what he got.  

Front Loaded Contract

As previously stated by New Jersey Devils team reporter Amanda Stein, Bratt’s contract has been front-loaded. Below is a breakdown of the contract.  

• 23-24: $10M 
• 24-25: $9M 
• 25-26: $9M 
• 26-27: $8M 
• 27-28: $7.2M 
• 28-29: $7.2M 
• 29-30: $6.6M 
• 30-31: $6M 

Total $63M (Bratt’s jersey number)  

 As you can see, the contract is very top-heavy in the beginning and drops off year by year. I’m a big fan of this considering the Devils have a few players coming in on ELC (Entry Level Contracts) this coming season. The Devils have the money now to take on a little extra cap to set themselves up down the road. Once the young players ’ELCs burn up, they will need a heavy extension and the fall-off on Bratt’s contract is a nice place to find some extra needed cap space for the future.  

Considering it took two years for Fitzgerald and Bratt’s camp to come together on a deal, this is a win for both sides. Fitzgerald stands his ground getting Bratt locked up below $8 million and Bratt gets a lucrative contract paying him for the next eight years while staying in New Jersey. 

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The deal for Severson is 8 years at $6.25M AAV (Average Annual Value) with $10.8M in bonuses which bolsters the Columbus Blue Jackets’ top-4 on the blue line. Below is a breakdown of Severson’s contract.  

-2023-23: $6M salary, $2M Bonus
-2024-25: $6M salary, $2M Bonus
-2025-26: $5.5M salary, $2M Bonus
-2026-27: $4.1M salary, $2M Bonus
-2027-28: $3.3M salary, $1.8M Bonus
-2028-29: $5.1M salary, $1M Bonus
-2029-30: $5.1M salary, No Bonus
-2030-31: $5.1M salary, No Bonus 

Today we will quickly take a look at what the trade does for both sides.  

Damon Severson Traded from Devils to Blue Jackets 

New Jersey Devils

There’s no question that losing Severson is a bitter taste in the mouth of Devils fans. He was New Jersey’s longest-tenured Devil and had overcome a ton of adversity. Most of his lengthy career with the team was during a rebuild. The reality of the situation is the Devils were going to lose Severson regardless. 

If GM Tom Fitzgerald wants to re-sign star wingers Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt, then something had to give in other areas due to cap complications. The Devils have a young star in the making Luke Hughes, who is more than prepared to step in and fill Severson’s role next year on an ELC (Entry Level Contract).  

Decision 

With Hughes ready to step up and UFA (Unrestricted Free Agent) Severson looking for a huge bag of money with a lengthy term, losing Severson was only a matter of time. The Devils only had two choices in this situation. 

Choice 1: Let Severson walk to free agency as the #1 touted prospect where he would be able to choose his future destination and risk receiving nothing in return. 

Choice 2: Trade Severson’s rights to an interested team and receive somewhat of a return in the process. 

The Devils seemed to go the second route by not only trading his rights to Columbus but signing Severson beforehand to maximize the return. The deal fetched the Devils a 3rd round pick which holds decent quality value for this year’s NHL Draft. Some pretty good work by GM Fitzgerald and the Devils. 

Columbus Blue Jackets

As a Devils fan, I can sit here all day and rave about the person and player Columbus is getting in Severson but nobody has time for that so I will try and make this brief. 

The Saskatchewan native, right-side offensive defenseman is an analytical darling with incredible passing ability. He has a knack for making bold passes which would result in either the occasional silly mistake or an incredible stretch pass across the ice for a high-danger chance.  

Severson has a WAR% (Wins Above Replacement) of 94%, which is very impressive. He can quarterback the PP2 (2nd line power play) and has a heavy shot that can get through traffic from the blue line.  

The Trade 

In the last 72 hours, the Columbus Blue Jackets have acquired Severson and Ivan Provorov, setting themselves up for a lethal blue line and a run at the playoffs. The trade clearly speeds up any sign of a rebuild in Columbus.  

I’ve always believed that if you feel the perfect player to fit your system is available on the market, then you should go get him and that’s exactly what the Blue Jackets did.

Giving up a third-round pick to solidify getting your player is more than worth the risk. I applaud Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekäläinen for locking up Severson before hitting the market and becoming available to other teams.  

The only thing about this trade I’m skeptical about is an 8-year contract will bring Severson to age 36, which will be after his prime. The back end of this contract just screams a buy-out if Severson cannot sustain the above-projected analytics.   

For now, the trade seems to be a win for everyone. The Devils receive a 3rd round pick, the Blue Jackets get their guy locked up for 8 years, and Severson gets the big bag of money he’s worked so hard to earn.  

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There was speculation for some time that Ruff would move into a front office role and hand the reins over to assistant head coach Andrew Brunette. However, this never came to fruition considering Ruff coached the Devils to a 55-22-8 record.  

Once Fitzgerald made it clear in the Devils end of season media availability that Ruff would be back as head coach, Brunette decided to part ways and take on a head coaching role with the Nashville Predators.  

Today we’re going to explain why Fitzgerald is making the right move in bringing Ruff back into a head coaching role. 

Bringing Back Lindy Ruff: New Jersey Devils

Jack Adams Award Finalist  

For the fourth time in his career, after already winning the award in 2006 with the Buffalo Sabers, Ruff has been named a Jack Adams Award finalist after making the biggest turnaround in NHL history. Though he didn’t win the award, it’d be very hard to let go of a coach who was in the running considering you almost never see Jack Adams finalists available looking for a new job.  

After coaching the Devils to their 55-22-8 record and finishing second to only the Carolina Hurricanes in a tight race for the Metro, the Devils didn’t stop there.  

They went on to win a round in the Stanley Cup Playoffs against their rival New York Rangers. Though Akira Schmid stole the show, the Devils certainly wouldn’t have won that series without Ruff’s adjustments to the Rangers. 

Players Coach 

There’s no question Ruff is highly respected in the locker room by players. Superstar Jack Hughes has made it very clear in post-game interviews that Ruff has been a big part of the identity and culture the Devils have developed in the 3 years he’s been behind the bench.  

Ruff has a knack for trusting young players with a lot of ice time and allowing them to develop in ways most coaches would never give an inexperienced player.  

For example, look at how he handled Luke Hughes towards the end of the Devils’ season. Ruff put his trust in Luke and he delivered, eventually getting rewarded with the second most ice-time in the last two games of the playoffs by a Devils defenseman.  

According to team reporter Amanda Stein, in Fitzgerald’s end-of-season media presser, he mentioned “I’ve always said that Lindy Ruff was the right coach for this team. So here we are today. He’s still the right coach for this group, he’s earned that right. He deserved that; we deserve him to be quite honest…those kids love him.” 

Experience

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll be the first to admit Ruff makes some head-scratching lineup decisions from time to time. He catches plenty of criticism when, for example, he takes Kevin Bahl out of the lineup for Brendan Smith. 

Ruff, at 63 years of age, has coached in 1,713 games with an overall record of 834-652-78-149. He is currently the fifth-most-winning coach in NHL history, as he was previously the coach of the Buffalo Sabers and Dallas Stars before he took over the New Jersey Devils. 

Experience is certainly not an issue with Ruff behind the bench for this young team and more importantly, he has plenty of playoff history as he’s coached in 120 games with a record of 66-54. 

Bringing back Lindy Ruff as the go-to guy behind the bench may not seem like an absolute slam dunk but it certainly is the right move. The positives immensely outweigh the negatives and if the players are happy then it’s a good sign we will even see him past the 2023-2034 season. 

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In April, Corey Pronman of The Athletic released his infamous NHL Prospect Pipeline Rankings. He had the New Jersey Devils ranked third. That’s an extremely promising pipeline for a team whose window is just opening for a long Stanley Cup run. The Devils will certainly need some of these guys on ELCs (Entry Level Contracts) to balance the Salary Cap. 

Let’s dive right into which star-studded prospects should have a chance to make the team next year! 

 New Jersey Devils: Prospects Who Could Shine in 2023

Luke Hughes 

Luke Hughes is all but a lock to make the team next year. He finished his college career with the Michigan Wolverines totaling 10 goals and 38 assists in 39 games, but most importantly, he sharpened up his defense.   

Lindy Ruff decided in the final game of the regular season to put Hughes out there and he shined. Hughes had an assist and the overtime game-winning goal against the Washington Capitals. He blew through the zone, toe-dragged through three defenders, and turned on his speed for a beautiful wrap-around goal. 

Hughes was then thrown to the wolves in the playoffs after gaining Ruff’s trust and held his ground. He finished with two points in three games and 19:15 of time on ice. He will no question be on the team next year. 

Šimon Nemec 

Šimon Nemec, the rangy Slovak right-shot defenseman taken second overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, has been more than solid in his first stint in American pro hockey. He played in 65 games and finished with 12 goals and 22 assists for a total of 34 points with a goal share of +5.2% at even-strength. Doing all this at only the age of 19. 

When the puck is on his stick, he shines with confidence and uses his deception and body control to his advantage. Nemec is an outstanding two-way defenseman with a high-end hockey sense. He excels with his passing and has a knack for finding the open man. Some compare his play to Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings. His control and patience are why he will find himself in the NHL next season.  

Akira Schmid  

Schmid is in an interesting position. He had an outstanding season and playoff performance. He stepped up and did everything right when called upon. I think everyone will agree, he saved the season against the New York Rangers with his incredible comeback.  

It’s really going to depend on what the organization decides to do at the goaltender position. Mackenzie Blackwood will be gone. Will GM Tom Fitzgerald want to pay up to bring in a proven goaltender like Connor Hellebuyck? I think that’s a terrible idea considering it would block Schmid’s development and crush the salary cap. 

Fitzgerald and the Devils should decide to run with Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid as their tandem next year and it shouldn’t be a surprise.  

Alex Holtz

The Swedish winger has been a highly regarded pick in the New Jersey Devils system for some time now. Alex Holtz was drafted seventh overall and has high expectations. Many have expected him to be in the big league by now, but his skating and pace have really held him back.  

Holtz has an elite shot that has New Jersey Devils fans foaming at the mouth to get this guy on Jack Hughes’s wing already. The question is, can he keep pace with the speedy center? It’s been frustrating for both parties considering he hasn’t found his footing and he had a rocky season in the AHL as he only played in 14 games.  

In those 14 games though, he produced six goals and five assists. I think Holtz will finally take advantage of the opportunities in front of him and join the big-league next year. He’s just too talented.  

Graeme Clarke  

Graeme Clarke, the big brother of the highly touted defensive prospect for the Los Angelos Kings, Brandt Clarke. Graeme, however, hasn’t had the smoothest transition to the NHL like his little brother is expected to have. He was drafted in the third round at 80th overall in the 2019 draft class.  

In his D+1 season, he had a gruesome shoulder injury. In his D+2 season, the OHL canceled forcing him to develop in the Chechia league. 

However, Clarke has been improving year after year and lit it up this AHL season finishing with 25 goals and 33 assists in 68 games for the Utica Comets. He’s been one of Utica’s top players and has proven he can overcome adversity. Look for Clarke to possibly carve out a role as an NHL regular next year.  

Nolan Foote 

Nolan Foote was drafted 27th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the 2019 draft. He was eventually traded to the Devils as a piece of the Blake Coleman trade. Foote had a rough start to his development as he was injured for quite a while.  

By the time Foote was traded to the Devils, his injury was still nagging him, and he struggled in the AHL. Now he’s turned it up a notch scoring 20 goals and 17 assists for 37 points in 55 games.  

Foote’s most dangerous attribute is his shot. Like Holtz, Foote has had trouble keeping pace in the AHL but has certainly turned a corner this year and should have a shot at joining the Devils next season.  

Reilly Walsh

Reilly Walsh is an interesting prospect; I believe he could be playing in the NHL now if he was in a different organization. He’s probably hit the peak of his production as he’s 24 years of age.  

Walsh is an offensive defenseman who has above-average skating and a decent shot. His defense is what holds him back from really excelling in his development. Walsh has turned himself into one of Utica’s star players as he’s finished this season with nine goals and 32 assists in 71 games.  

I could see the Devils using Walsh next season as either the extra defenseman or sending him to another team in a trade to give Walsh a chance to better his career.  

 The New Jersey Devils have plenty of talented prospects in their system. It should be interesting to see how things unfold with some veterans leaving and younger prospects getting a shot at making the big club. Time will tell who is going to step up and make the best of their opportunities. 

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Who Stays and Who Goes: New Jersey Devils

Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier

Currently, the Devils have eight restricted and five unrestricted free agents on the roster with the two most important players being wingers Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier. Bratt should land somewhere around five years to give him another big contract for the future. Whereas Meier will probably be looking for a max contract. These two players will be GM Tom Fitzgerald’s top priorities as it’s a no-brainer to get them signed long-term. Guys like Bratt and Meier don’t grow on trees. 

Kevin Bahl and Nathan Bastian

Once Bratt and Meier are taken care of, we should then see the trickle effect of what’s to come afterward. I’d imagine Kevin Bahl and Nathan Bastian will be back. Each should expect a 2-3 year bridge deal to reevaluate their play at another time. 

Bahl’s size and physicality make him an attractive player to want to keep around. He has developed into a very capable defenceman who can play top-4 minutes if needed. It’s not every day you see a guy as big as Bahl be able to skate, hit, and get the puck where it needs to be with competence.

Bastain is a player who fits his 4th-line role perfectly. He’s not afraid to muck it up in front of the goaltender and he helped the Devils to 59% goal-sharing at 5v5 this year. He plays on the power play when needed and produced at a 30-point pace. However, the remaining FAs should be a question mark.  

Michael McLeod and Jesper Boqvist

Michael McLeod impressed in the playoffs and is relied upon heavily for the penalty kill and his elite faceoff percentage, but he is still dealing with the Canadian World Junior investigation which has raised some eyebrows. If the investigation works out in McLeod’s favor, I’d expect a healthy extension of 3-4 years.  

Then you have Jesper Boqvist with solid defensive metrics who could come back on a cheap one-year deal. Boqvist should not be fetching much money because he doesn’t offer much offensively. The question is, are the Devils content with his lack of offensive production in a top-9 role? 

Mackenzie Blackwood and Yegor Sharangovich

I would not expect Mackenzie Blackwood or Yegor Sharangovich to return. Blackwood has had a rough go with the Devils due to injury and issues inside the organization. I’d expect him to move on to a team that will give him opportunities for more ice time. Blackwood would fit nicely on a team like the Senators. 

Sharangovich should be expecting a decent raise and I don’t think the Devils have the money to fork over if they sign Bratt and Meier. However, I could see Sharangovich sticking around if the Devils value his finishing and PK (penalty kill) abilities. If the Devils decide to bring him back, expect somewhere between a one or two-year deal. 

Miles Wood

Then we have the five remaining unrestricted free agents of Miles Wood, Erik Haula, Tomas Tatar, Damon Severson, and Ryan Graves. Wood should have a relatively decent cap hit so I think he will definitely be out of the question as far as his future with the Devils. His lack of finishing ability and knack for stupid penalties makes a new contract look very unrealistic. 

Erik Haula and Tomas Tatar

Haula seems like he really wants to be back in New Jersey. He stressed at the end of the season how he really believes in the culture the Devils are building and Jack Hughes seems to love him. He had a rough start to the season due to not being able to catch a break finishing plays, but all of that regressed towards the end of the season and come playoff time. The Devils should absolutely offer him a team-friendly deal. He offers value in the top six and brings much-needed leadership to a young locker room.

Tomas Tatar is a tricky one, he’s currently getting $4.5M a year. That’s a lot of money for a guy who has a history of not showing up in the playoffs when it counts. Fitzgerald should part ways with Tatar and bring a bigger body into the top 9 that can put the puck in the back of the net.  

Damon Severson and Ryan Graves

Damon Severson is all but gone. Don’t get me wrong, he has been very good for the Devils, and it’ll be a hard pill to swallow but it only makes sense with the young talent in the prospect pipeline on defense. Fans are going to miss his beautiful cross-ice stretch passes, but he will be inquiring about a hefty price tag of around $6M a year. Money the Devils certainly will not have if they bring back Bratt and Meier.

Ryan Graves can go either way. I’m going to lean toward not bringing him back due to his putrid playoff performance. Graves’ roster spot should be filled with an upcoming superstar which we will discuss in the next article sometime shortly.

Regardless of what is to come, GM Tom Fitzgerald and the New Jersey Devils have many decisions to make this offseason. Getting Bratt and Meier signed should be the first priority and I would still expect the Devils to add more top 9 scoring to their roster. 

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Everyone knew their production would increase from the 27-46-9 record in 2021-2022, but I don’t think even Devils fans imagined the team would turn around and make the largest point improvement in NHL history. It was a year of breaking records. The Devils 52 regular season wins are now the most in franchise history and Jack Hughes is now the leading point scorer in franchise history surpassing Patrik Elias.

The Devils also broke their franchise record for most points in a single season with 112. The goal in the offseason was to become contenders for the playoffs. Instead, the Devils not only made the playoffs but won a grueling round against their rival New York Rangers. So, what went wrong to end such a magical season? We will dive into that next with four takeaways from the first two rounds.  

What Went Wrong for the Devils

Goaltending 

In the regular season, Vitek Vanecek was a workhorse for the Devils. His role immensely increased from his 2021-2022 season with the Washington Capitals. He started 10 more games this season than his previous one, making him THE go-to guy in New Jersey when Mackenzie Blackwood went down with an injury at the beginning of the year.

He started in 52 games as the Devils’ 1A goaltender and outperformed expectations. Vanecek finished strong with a 33-11-4 record. More importantly, he finished with a 2.45 GAA (Goals-Against Average) and a .911 SV% (Save Percentage). That’s a huge increase in production than what the Devils have had in previous years.

When the Devils signed the Czechia native to a three-year, $3.4 million contract, they were looking for competent goaltending and Vanecek gave them much more than that. However, towards the end of the season, you could see his numbers were beginning to slip and he was having trouble corralling rebounds.

Unfortunately for Vanecek, he brought that same performance into the playoffs. Though the Devils certainly didn’t help, Vanecek and his team were blown out and embarrassed in their first two games against their bitter rivals with a score of 5-1.

In game one, Vanecek finished with a .818 SV% giving up four goals on 22 shots. In game two, Vitek finished with a .833 SV% giving up five goals on 30 shots. Though Vanecek did not get much help in front of him from his fellow teammates who gave up breakaway after breakaway, his numbers were still unacceptable.

Lindy Ruff knew those numbers weren’t sustainable over a seven-game series, but he had no time to waste, so he turned to rookie goaltender Akira Schmid. Obviously, we all know what Schmid did next and we probably won’t ever forget it. After the miraculous comeback Schmid and the Devils made in their seven-game series against the New York Rangers, it was on to Carolina.  

With no time to rest, Ruff went back to Schmid for round two and he was not the same. He looked shaky, getting blown out and pulled in the first two games of the series. Ruff then went back to Vanecek to start game three and, though the Devils won that game because they scored eight goals, Vanecek still gave up four in the process and did not look good by any means. Another blowout in game five and a hard-fought battle in game six brought the Devils season to an end.

The Devils finished their playoffs with Vanecek finishing dead last in playoff goaltender ranking with a –7.6 GSAE (Goals Saved Above Expected). 

Discipline  

Many teams were complaining about the penalties called in the playoffs this year, so I don’t want to harp on this too much. However, the Devils simply took way too many penalties.

When matching up against the New York Rangers in game one, the game plan was to stay disciplined considering the New York Rangers’ lethal powerplay. In games one and two, the Devils allowed four power-play goals. That’s a recipe for disaster against a team like the Rangers who are incredible on the cycle. In game two alone, the Devils took 14 penalties!

After the seven-game series concluded, the teams finished about even on total penalties with the Rangers besting the Devils 39-38. Even though the two teams ended evenly, I can promise you that was not the game plan considering Ruff knew the Devils would have to stay out of the box to keep the Rangers power play aces off the ice. Especially with how absolutely dreadful the Devils were on their own power play.

Now in the second series against Carolina, the Devils were much more disciplined. They held themselves to under five penalties in every game, which was a much better recipe for victory. The most frustrating part, though, was the way they took their penalties.

The two that stuck out the most to me were when Tomas Tatar took a late cross-check from Sebastian Aho after the play and Tatar reacted with a slash. Aho was a pest in the series, and he had been trying to get under many players’ skin. Well, Tatar got frustrated and gave Aho exactly what he was looking for.

The second penalty that really bothered me was, of course, the final penalty to end the season. Game six was a tight defensive battle. You could tell from the beginning there wasn’t much ice to work with and the goalies were swallowing their rebounds. We ended up getting to see some extra hockey, but it didn’t last long considering Jonas Siegenthaler was looking to clear a puck and sent it over the wall. Go figure, the Devils end their season on a stupid mistake that results in a power-play goal for the Carolina Hurricanes.  

“Compete”

The one word Ruff harped on all season: compete.

If you followed along for most of the games, you’d realize that after a handful of losses, Ruff would address the media by saying he didn’t like the Devils compete level tonight. With the system Ruff has the speedy Devils playing, their competitive level must always be high, or it simply will not end well.

The Devils generate their goals off five-on-five play due to their speed and the way they can stretch the ice. So, what happens when the Devils don’t bring their A-game? Well, it normally doesn’t end well and that’s exactly what we saw in a handful of playoff games.

A perfect example was the first two games against the Rangers. The Devils were blown out of their own barn, 5-1. Did those performances stem from jitters? Sure, I bet some of it did, but they looked completely out of sync from the second the puck dropped. The defense looked confused, they weren’t getting pucks deep enough out of their zone, careless penalties, turnovers, bobbling pucks, you name it. Eventually, the Devils got it together and turned the series around once Schmid came in.

Against Carolina, the same thing happened to start the series. They were blown out, 5-1 and 6-1. Maybe some of this was a result of having little-to-no time to rest whereas the Canes had four days off, but this is the playoffs…nothing is going to come easy. New Jersey then followed that up with another game-four whooping of 6-1. That’s three games in the series where New Jersey simply just threw their opportunities in the dumpster. There were plenty of reasons why the Carolina Hurricanes were so dominant but no doubt, one of them was because of New Jersey’s complete level.   

Experience 

Believe me, the last thing I want to discuss, considering I’m a Devils fan, is lack of experience. I’m going to make my final takeaway short because I’m sure we’ve all heard it enough from Mark Messier considering it’s all he would ever say when belittling the Devils on camera. Unfortunately, he’s right to an extent.

I don’t agree with how important experience is in the playoffs, but it certainly is a factor. The Devils had a few guys in their locker room with some experience but not too much. For the most part, this team consists of a bunch of kids who are getting their first lick of playoff action. It’s their first time playing in a game of seven series and having to erase their memories of the previous game and move on almost immediately.

Now, with at least some playoff experience, this team has an idea of what putting it all on the line to advance is all about. Luckily for the New Jersey Devils, they can take this series as a lesson learned and should have plenty of opportunities in the future. Their Stanley Cup window is just beginning to open and it’s going to be one heck of a ride for the next 10 or so years.  

Main Image: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

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