A) You asked who the Devils should have spent money on. You said you had never seen a list. The list has been provided multiple times.
Btw, you're shifting from "who the Devils should have spent on" to "maybe they tried". Very different points.
B) I brought up Russell because he was literally a free asset. The Devils opted to sign the cheaper Quincey who the entire league also passed on. BTW - like any UFA, we have no idea who made offers to Russell. It's possible he had offers right away, but he / his agent wanted more money or more term. That's basically the rumor that made the rounds this off-season - not that no one was willing to sign Russell.
C) The Savard trade? Where they picked up $5 million in cap hit without having to spend a dime? I think that counts in the "owners are potentially cheap" column. The owners spending millions to bury Laich in order to get a young D prospect like the Leafs did? That I'd count in the owners spending to improve the team.
So Russell's 5 assists in 41 games this year at 3.1 million would have been better than Quincey's 4 goals and 8 assists in 51 games for 1.025 million?
I would like to think that the GM knows what he's doing and saved 2 million dollars by signing a guy who is performing better and may get us a draft pick at the deadline.
The Devils also got a 2nd round pick in the Savard trade which was the whole point. The practically bought a draft pick that can be used in a trade for a better player. You're picking that to call them cheap. You're ridiculous.
Demers signed a long term deal worth 5.5 million per year. Do you think he was going to sign a long term deal with a team that's rebuilding? The Panthers won their division and were in much better shape at the beginning of this season. They were a much more attractive option.
It also probably wasn't smart to sign a 28 year old to a long term deal when we aren't contending for a few years.