Devils Pivot To Plan B Palat After Getting Dissed By Johnny Hockey
Zacha Gets The Change of Scenery He Needs; Ruff’s Leash Just Got Shorter
Johnny Hockey had the whole hockey world fooled.
Despite the assumption that Flames left wing Johnny Gaudreau would land somewhere close to his Southern New Jersey roots as he soaked up the offers on the opening day of the NHL’s free agency market, with the Devils deemed by some experts as the frontrunners for the six-time All-Star’s services, he ended up signing on Wednesday with, of all places, Columbus for seven years at a $9.75 million AAV.
So the Devils didn’t secure the biggest name on the free agent market for a second straight year after inking defenseman Dougie Hamilton to a $9 AAV contract over seven years last summer. Losing out on Gaudreau wasn’t as big a deal as many fans might think.
For all of Gaudreau’s exquisite offensive gifts--he’s coming off a fabulous season where he scored 40 goals and dished 75 assists for freaking 115 points, second in the NHL behind Edmonton’s Connor McDavid--his presence wouldn’t have been a cure-all for what ailed the Devils last season. He doesn’t stop pucks from going in the net nor does he move it without error from deep in the defensive zone. At 5-foot 9, he would have joined an already healthy contingent of undersized forwards who have difficulties against the heavier teams, not to mention how injury-prone they’ve been (though Gaudreau has been remarkably durable, not missing any games for the last four seasons).
Still, had New Jersey General Manager Tom Fitzgerald upped his opening bid such that Columbus couldn’t have swooped in late, fans would have been lining up (or typing excitedly on their keyboards) to purchase Gaudreau Devils jerseys. For it’s not overpaying star players that get NHL teams in salary cap holes, it’s usually the long-term deals handed out to the mid-tier and lower contributors.
Enter Ondrej Palat, who has had a fine 10-year career while winning two Stanley Cups in Tampa Bay. Not too long after the Gaudreau news broke, the Devils pivoted to their Plan B, which was to sign Palat to a reported five-year, $30 million contract.
Love the one who loves you back, I guess.
Well, at least until Palat’s production in New Jersey doesn’t match what he achieved playing alongside future Hall of Famers Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos in Tampa Bay. Even when given such opportunities, Palat exceeded 20 goals just once in his career (23 in 2013-14) and his 0.84 points per game last season tied his career high.
To me, other than two more inches and 20 extra pounds, Palat isn’t all that much different from Devils wing Tomas Tatar. They’re both 31 with similar production rates. Switch supporting casts and who knows if Tatar would have been the one given the long-term deal instead of needing a bounce-back season to earn a new contract above the veteran minimum?
I don’t want to dismiss what Palat can bring to New Jersey through his championship experience, but remember that this is a very different locker room. Tampa Bay’s roster was loaded with leadership, from Stamkos to veteran defensemen Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh. The Devils are known for defenseman Damon Severson’s remark that the team gives up when facing adversity. So it will be challenging, to say the least, for Palat to make a significant intangible impact in his new home.
Fitzgerald is still in pretty good shape with the salary cap—he has about $17.5 million before getting signatures on new contracts for restricted free agent forwards Jesper Bratt, Miles Wood, and Jesper Boqvist plus recently acquired goalie Vitek Vanecek. Most analysts believe the commitment to Palat won’t go sour immediately after the Devils remove the sticker price. However, as Palat ages and New Jersey finally turns the corner to the point where cap space becomes precious, this could be the type of contract that could cost them assets to unload.
__________________________________________________________________________
Fitzgerald also completed a hockey trade on the first day of the league calendar when he sent underachieving forward Pavel Zacha to Boston for forward Erik Haula.
It had to happen, as there was no way the Devils could justify extending the restricted free agent Zacha after the body of work he put forth over the last six seasons. It wasn’t about living up to his billing as the No. 6 overall selection in the 2015 NHL Draft; Zacha drifted through too many games as just another guy--when he wasn’t standing still on the ice.
Whereas Zacha desperately needed a change of scenery, Haula will be wearing his seventh different sweater in his last seven seasons. Not that he performed poorly last season in Boston—he was rewarded with top-line ice time for a decent segment of the season and placed 26th in the league with a nearly 54% faceoff win percentage (minimum 500 draws).
The word on Haula, 31, is that he’s an ok finisher but isn’t much of a play driver. I could see the Devils moving exciting sophomore Dawson Mercer over to wing on defensive zone faceoffs on a third line with Haula and responsible wing Andreas Johnsson. That could click, the more I think about it.
As for Zacha, maybe the Bruins can unlock the talent. I doubt it was ever going to happen in New Jersey.
_________________________________________________________________________
Possibly the most underrated story coming out of Devils camp on Day One was the report that Andrew Brunette, who led Florida to the best record in the Eastern Conference in his first season as an NHL head coach, will be joining Lindy Ruff’s staff as an assistant.
Despite the Panthers’ ignominious exit in the second round against in-state rival Tampa Bay, Brunette was hailed for his work by the Pro Hockey Writers, who placed him third in the voting for the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year. Prior to last season, Brunette was a highly-regarded assistant in both Florida and Minnesota.
For those who’ve been reading this forum, you know my feelings on Ruff: The day he gets fired will be X days too late. I have to believe that putting Brunette on the bench has to be Fitzgerald’s contingency if the Devils get off to another horrendous start this season.