Here are some good FAs to ponder that nobody here is really talking much about (taken from an AATJ article comment of mine):
I don’t think I would want to sign three defensemen (Schlemko included) and I think most need convincing that the Devils need two. At forward, I think you left out a lot of interesting players that could slot in at that top-6 RW spot.
Everybody talks about the top forward free agents: Kyle Okposo and Steven Stamkos. They are going to have several suitors if they make it to the big market. But of pending UFAs, neither are first in points. Jaromir Jagr (65 pts) comes in first, Stamkos (64) in second, and then Okposo tied with Loui Eriksson (63) for third.
Stammer is definitely a pipe-dream. Jagr has said repeatedly that he wants to come back and he wants to play in Sunrise. That leaves Okposo and Eriksson. Eriksson is a left-shooting right wing for Boston and scored 30 goals this year. He has had five 60 point seasons and in his last eight seasons, he played 95% of games in seven of them. He has gotten Selke votes three times in his career and is a solid possession player by all indications.
I don’t care if it’s a "playoffs in 2017" or a "compete by 2020" plan, Eriksson is the type of durable, high scoring veteran who can set up Adam Henrique and Mike Cammalleri and get them to 30 goals in the future. According to this he wants six years at six million per season. Boston offered him three or four at the same salary. At age 30, maybe he will regress by the end of his contract, but if you’re looking for a Kyle Okposo consolation prize, I’d look no further.
Another guy I’d be looking at for the forward corps is Andrew Ladd. He can take the body but he’s also an on-ice leader who is good for about 45-55 points a season. He’s not a thumper like Ryane Clowe but instead he has a perfect blend of on-ice responsibility and pure scoring ability. His HERO chart rivals that of Kyle Okposo. He would probably come cheaper than Okposo. Maybe we offer him Clowe’s contract: 5 years at 4.85m per year.
One more guy I want to mention is Jiri Hudler. He’s good at everything, a master at nothing, but he offers solid and reliable play in a top-six role. Maybe we can slot him at 2RW and put Palmieri at 1RW. His HERO chart is impressive too but take that for what it is given his 70 point season in 2014-15.
Of course, the grand prize of this all would be if the Devils could pick up Alex Radulov and he decides to be mature. Artemi Panarin is good and all but he never played as well in the KHL as Radulov did. Radulov scored 58 points as a 21-year old for Nashville. His KHL numbers show a player who improved a lot since he was 22 years old. Now 30, he is past his prime but still producing. If you want a game breaker and are not worried about potential downfall of character issues, Radulov is your guy. Note that Shero did a lot of scouting in Nashville and was there at the time Radulov was drafted. If he wants to stay close to New York (as it sounds) then maybe he wouldn’t mind crossing the Hudson to get first line minutes and a fat paycheck.
On defense, I think the consensus is that Greene and Larsson should be broken up and most want Greene to pair with Severson. On the third pairing we could do Moore/Merrill with Santini/Mozik and I don’t think the results would be so detrimental to the rest of the team. Yandle would be nice for sure and it would balance out with Larsson next to him providing quality blue-line play. However, I’d also look long at Alex Goligoski. He’s only 30 and his HERO chart paints a prettier picture than it does for Yandle. I’m not sure how acrimonious of a divorce it was between Shero and Goligoski when the then Penguins GM sent him to Dallas in a trade for James Neal and Matt Niskanen. If Goligoski’s alright with a reuniting, I’d be totally on board. He’s a top-two defenseman who has been paid and treated like a second-pairing guy. No longer.