Dearth Of Free Agents Means Devils Must Pivot To Plan B To Fill Hole In Middle
Solutions were always going to be hard to find in NHL free agency this offseason, more so after most of the top eligible players never made it to market. That included Devils backup goalie Jake Allen, who re-signed on Tuesday for an incredibly team-friendly $1.8 million AAV, which makes the generous five-year term less painful should New Jersey need to get out of the last few seasons when he approaches 40.
Unfortunately, the Devils have holes to fill up the middle, and the pickings after all the re-signings prior to Tuesday’s market open were slim. Mikael Granlund, 33, was perhaps the best center to change teams, going from Dallas to Anaheim for a $7 million AAV. Such a number was always going to be too rich for New Jersey’s blood, as they need most of their remaining salary cap space, which puckpedia.com estimates at about $8.8 million, to extend restricted free agent defenseman Luke Hughes.
Devils General manager Tom Fitzgerald did a 180 on center Cody Glass, whom he acquired from Pittsburgh at the March trade deadline, extending Glass a qualifying offer on Monday to keep his free agency status restricted. Prior reports suggested the Devils were willing to let Glass test the market unrestricted, but the run on centers, even bottom-six guys, motivated New Jersey to change its tune. Should Glass accept that offer (he doesn’t have to; he seems like a possible rare offer sheet candidate), it would put another $2.5 million dent into the cap space.
With New Jersey counting pennies, it seems odd that Fitzgerald would expend $3 million AAV on former Edmonton wing Connor Brown, 31, a solid two-way player who might be coming off a productive run to the Stanley Cup Final for the Oilers, but his 13 regular season goals were his most since the 2020-21 campaign. Fitzgerald made a more risk-appropriate bet with the signing of wing Evgenii Dadonov to a 1-year, $1 million contract. Though you have to wonder why Dallas would bid adieu without so much as a token offer, Dadonov, 36, certainly didn’t look washed last regular season, putting up 20 goals and 20 assists before seeing his ice time curtailed in the playoffs. Still, those numbers were matched only by Stefan Noesen among New Jersey’s bottom six last season, and 15 of Noesen’s 41 points were scored on the power play.
The Devils could also get an infusion of bottom-six skill on the wings if Arseny Gritsyuk and Lenni Hameenaho show the coaching staff they are ready for the jump to the NHL after their tenures in Russia and Finland, respectively. Of course, those salaries, totaling $1.875 million, aren’t counted in the above cap calculation.
On paper, Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes form as good a top two duo up the middle as any team in the NHL, so it would be hyperbolic to call the Devils a donut squad, as in no center. However, Hughes has seen his last two seasons end prematurely due to shoulder injuries and his faceoff work has been so poor that Devils coaches often push him to the wing for defensive zone draws.
Erik Haula, traded to Nashville two weeks ago, took the second-most faceoffs on the team last season behind Hischier, who finished five draws behind Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby for the league high. As an aside, I should mention that Dawson Mercer’s faceoff percentage was 40.5% during the regular season and 28.6% in the playoffs. Unacceptable. If you think faceoffs aren’t important, go review the video from the Devils’ five-game first-round loss to Carolina in the playoffs—a bunch of the Hurricanes’ offensive zone wins ended up in the back of New Jersey’s net.
With free agency a bust, Fitzgerald must get creative to bolster the center position. A lot will depend on where the Luke Hughes figure lands—I’m guessing both sides want an 8-year extension, but either way we’re certainly looking at a prohibitive raise over his rookie deal given what we’re seeing around the league. If the Canes just gave K’Andre Miller $7.5 million per year for 8 years following the trade with the Rangers, does that make Hughes a $9 million player?
It seems that Fitzgerald is going to have no choice but to dump payroll, likely expending Draft capital as additional compensation for pawing off the cap hits. Wing Ondrej Palat ($6 million AAV through 2027) and defenseman Dougie Hamilton ($9 million through 2028) are the most likely candidates to be offloaded. Then Fitzgerald will have to pivot to the trade market to complete the makeover that will allow his team to compete with the elite in April and May.
Easier said than done. Here’s where I have the Devils currently standing after Tuesday’s binge:
Timo Meier/Nico Hischier/Dawson Mercer
Ondrej Palat/Jack Hughes/Jesper Bratt
Stefan Noesen/X/Connor Brown
Paul Cotter/X (RFA Cody Glass?)/Evgenii Dadonov
Brendan Dillon/Dougie Hamilton
Luke Hughes (RFA)/Brett Pesce
Jonas Siegenthaler/Jonathan Kovacevic
Jacob Markstrom
Jake Allen
Extras: Arseny Gritsyuk, Lenni Hameenaho, Juho Lammikko, Kurtis MacDermid, Simon Nemec, Seamus Casey, Nico Daws (G)
It would seem that the Devils have the reserves to step in for a Palat/Hamilton departure plan; the only question is if Fitzpatrick has the resolve to find trade partners who won’t inflict unacceptable pain.
At Wednesday’s scheduled press conference, Fitzgerald will receive some kudos for the Brown/Dadonov signings and getting Allen back on the relative cheap. However, the bottom line is that the opening day of the new league year failed to address New Jersey’s most pressing need. Not that Fitzgerald had a realistic chance at it.