Will Rising Bahl Make Graves Expendable To Devils?
When Devils defenseman Kevin Bahl takes an opposing forward into the boards, that player is usually pinned for a bit.
The 6-foot 6, 230-pound Bahl, just 22, seems to be developing at a faster rate than even the Devils’ organization might have expected. Ostensibly the extra d-man in New Jersey’s 11/7 lineup formation, Bahl was curiously given more ice time (3:26-to-1:46) than veteran Brendan Smith in Saturday’s third period with the Devils clinging to a 2-1 lead over visiting San Jose.
None of those Bahl shifts were extra long, either. In fact, the Sharks totaled just one shot on goal with an expected goals for of 0.04 of when Bahl was on the ice all game, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
The Devils (3-2), who held on to win their third consecutive game, have some interesting roster decisions to make later this season. The sample sizes are too small and the Devils’ competition to date hasn’t exactly been daunting to trust that any of their mind-blowing current stats can be sustained, but the eye test can give clues as to where the team might be headed.
Devils General Manager Tom Fitzgerald will have to deal with two of his top defensemen, right-handed Damon Severson and left-handed Ryan Graves, who are pending unrestricted free agents after the season. If the team can somehow keep pace in the playoff race, I can see them riding out the Severson deal, since he’s their best at moving pucks up ice—and yes, he’s better at it than $9 million man Dougie Hamilton—and Simon Nemec, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, didn’t look ready to make the jump as an 18-year old during the preseason. If, on the other hand, the Devils don’t fare as well when the schedule toughens and slide down the standings like they have done just about every season for the last decade, then it would be organizational malpractice to allow Severson to get to free agency instead of trading him at the deadline.
Graves, though, is a different story, with not only the lefty Bahl inching up the corporate ladder, but Luke Hughes is also on the horizon. The Devils No. 4 overall pick in the 2021 Draft finished in the top ten in voting for the 2022 Hobey Baker Award as a freshman at Michigan. He is expected to complete the college hockey season and then sign with New Jersey to play with his brother Jack—at the tail end of this season or next year.
Salary cap management is going to be crucial as the young Devils mature and are rewarded with new contracts. As a big (6-foot 5, 220 pounds), rugged defenseman who can move up ice, Graves, who sports a very fair $3.167 million AAV for this season, will likely command a raise to over a $4 million AAV—Boston’s Brandon Carlo, though two years younger than Graves, is a similar player who just inked a 6-year, $24.6 million deal in the offseason.
That’s too rich for a Devils club that will have 12 of their 23 rostered players hitting some form of free agency after the season. Bahl will be among them, but he will be a restricted free agent, which gives Fitzgerald some wiggle room as to how to design an appropriate package going forward without much worry that the player will be poached since the Devils can match any offer.
For now, Bahl can only control what he does on the ice, and, in his limited (two games totaling just over 20 minutes) time, he’s been impressive. His skating looks improved from last season’s 17-game sampling and he’s making quicker decisions. Using his incredible reach, he nearly executed a wraparound against the Sharks after bursting down the left wing boards—the puck, though, ended up pinned against the side of the post.
And then there’s the size and strength, which Bahl uses to just flat out move people. Head Coach Lindy Ruff has been reluctant to trust him on the Devils’ penalty kill (just 19 seconds, per NST), which has been outstanding to start the season, but there’s no reason why he can’t grow into that role as well.
I always viewed Bahl as the prime return piece when the Devils traded reigning Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall to Arizona in late 2019 because draft picks are always a crapshoot. Well, it turned out that New Jersey used the first-round pick on top-six forward Dawson Mercer and traded a third-rounder to Washington for defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler, who has been a horse on the top pair. Bahl now looks like icing on the cake.
That sweetness, though, might be bitter for fans of Graves, who has been an exemplary Devil but seems to be caught in a numbers game that he can’t win.