StevenToddIves
Registered User
The Devils have $25.3 million in cap space, and the NHL free agency frenzy begins tomorrow. I'd like to offer a few suggestions to improve the Devils playoff position in the Eastern Conference next year, and I don't think any of them are particularly drastic.
CENTER
The Devils have an ideal (you could even say elite) center option for the 1st line (Nico Hischier), 3rd line (Travis Zajac) and 4th line (Brian Boyle) for 2018-19. The big question is: can Pavel Zacha finally fulfill his potential to become the big, two-way, 50+ point second line center the Devils desperately need?
I'm saying that the Devils should give him another opportunity to prove this -- Zacha is only 21. Playing him in more of a scoring role alongside offensive players like Marcus Johansson and Kyle Palmieri might give him a chance to blossom. It's a bit of a risk, but if it fails the Devils can always go back to last season's model of using Zajac in the 2C role and lower Zacha's responsibility to 3C.
That being said, I think it would still be wise to add a center in free agency. A team can never have too much depth at the position, and even with John Quenneville and perhaps Mikey McLeod ready to challenge for a spot on the big club, I believe there is a nice, undervalued option at the position.
While everyone else is eying the Tavares sweepstakes, I feel the Devils could swoop in and grab Nick Shore for little over a million per year, perhaps for two years. Shore skates well, is extremely smart, is solid in the face-off circle and shows a high compete level in all three zones. He also sees the ice well and has a very good shot, leading many to believe he has a bit more upside than his scoring totals have displayed thus far.
LEFT WING
If anything, the Devils have a logjam at the position. Taylor Hall is one of the four or five best hockey players on earth, and behind him the Devils have a several players who could play middle-6 (Johansson, Bratt, Wood) or bottom-6 (Coleman, Quenneville, Lappin) roles effectively. In addition, Jesper Boqvist could push to make the team out of training camp.
It is for these reasons that I feel that the Devils should not use the $4+ million necessary to try to re-sign Pat Maroon, despite the fact that he is one of my personal favorite players. As a matter of fact, I think it's quite possible that the Devils trade a LW before the season to address another area of need. Quenneville seems like the most likely one to go, as he still has very solid trade value, but 2020-UFA Marcus Johansson could also net a nice return and Jespers Bratt/Boqvist might offer even more upside at the 2nd line LW slot.
RIGHT WING
This is an area where the Devils need help, but the help might be available from within the prospect pool. Palmieri is a terrific top 6 option and Noesen proved himself with flying colors as a great bottom-6 RW. Last season the Devils played left-shooting Jesper Bratt at RW, but the better answer might be offering the other 2 RW slots to two of the Devils top three prospects, Joey Anderson and Mikey McLeod. Still, you want some options to challenge these kids, and I'm going to offer a couple of below-the-radar suggestions.
1. Re-Sign Brian Gibbons: he's cheap, he plays all three forward positions, and he plays a smart two-way game. I don't think there would be a single Devils fan who would be upset with this scenario.
2. Sign Nail Yakupov: this one would be a bit more controversial, but after a series of setbacks, he would likely be available for a one-year "Prove It Deal" at around one million. His style fits the Devils attack/puck pressure game, and his lethal cannon of a shot would be a huge asset on the second PP unit. The Devils need secondary scoring, that's obvious, and maybe a low-cost signing of Yakupov could offer some lighting in a bottle.
LEFT DEFENSE
The Devils have a very strong top two with Andy Greene and Will Butcher, but beyond that are a series of question marks. Will Mirco Mueller ever be able to put together two consecutive solid shifts, much less two games? Could Yegor Yakovlev be as good as he looked in the Olympics and provide an answer at LD?
My best case scenario would be the guy who, in my mind, should be the Devils #1 free agency target: Calvin de Haan. Though decidedly unspectacular, he is solid across the board. He is very good defensively, blocks shots, clears creases, wins in the corners, and is aces with the safe outlet pass. He's a quiet, steady 20+ minute defenseman, and he could take defensive minutes away from Greene, who is in his late 30's now, while taking some pressure off the young and supremely talented Butcher. I think we could get De Haan for 3-4 years at around $4 million, and he wouldn't even need to sell his house.
My Plan B here (if someone overpays De Haan in a thin D market) would be far less conventional. How about a trade for Dmitri Kulikov? The Winnipeg Jets are desperately trying to unload salary, and might even trade us a draft pick for taking his two remaining years at $4.3 million. Kulikov is physical and big (which our D unit lacks), good defensively and decent offensively. Though Devils fans have yet to see much of Yakovlev, Kulikov would clearly represent an upgrade over Mueller as the third-pairing LD.
RIGHT DEFENSE
Let's face it, there's very little available in free agency at the RD position. The Devils have a strong top-two with Vatanen and Severson, but can Santini finally take the reins to become the solid third-pairing RD NJ needs him to be? It's safe to say that, for all his heart and soul, Ben Lovejoy's ideal role is as the 7th defenseman, a veteran who could jump off the bench and dress if a need arises for whatever reason.
Again, the best solution here would be through a trade. Some nice names have been bandied about the rumor mill, notably Matthew Dumba and Justin Faulk, but would a trade package of names like Quenneville, Mueller and Speers be enough to pry a player of that caliber from their current team? Probably not. As Devils GM I'd offer all three of those players and perhaps another prospect just in case, especially for Dumba.
There are a couple of very promising RFAs at RD who might be available due to cap crunches on their current teams, notably Anaheim's Brandon Montour and Boston's Brandon Carlo. I'm not saying this would require being someone named Brandon, but those are both very good youngsters with unique skill-sets, Montour as an uptempo offensive D and Carlo as the huge, physical defensive D the Devils desperately need to keep opposing forwards out of the crease of Schneider/Kinkaid.
SUMMARY
The Devils are an extremely exciting, up-and-coming franchise. But there are few who believe they are quite ready to challenge for the Stanley Cup. A few smart additions in the coming week could make them even stronger in the present without sacrificing the future.
What are your thoughts? I'd love to hear them.
CENTER
The Devils have an ideal (you could even say elite) center option for the 1st line (Nico Hischier), 3rd line (Travis Zajac) and 4th line (Brian Boyle) for 2018-19. The big question is: can Pavel Zacha finally fulfill his potential to become the big, two-way, 50+ point second line center the Devils desperately need?
I'm saying that the Devils should give him another opportunity to prove this -- Zacha is only 21. Playing him in more of a scoring role alongside offensive players like Marcus Johansson and Kyle Palmieri might give him a chance to blossom. It's a bit of a risk, but if it fails the Devils can always go back to last season's model of using Zajac in the 2C role and lower Zacha's responsibility to 3C.
That being said, I think it would still be wise to add a center in free agency. A team can never have too much depth at the position, and even with John Quenneville and perhaps Mikey McLeod ready to challenge for a spot on the big club, I believe there is a nice, undervalued option at the position.
While everyone else is eying the Tavares sweepstakes, I feel the Devils could swoop in and grab Nick Shore for little over a million per year, perhaps for two years. Shore skates well, is extremely smart, is solid in the face-off circle and shows a high compete level in all three zones. He also sees the ice well and has a very good shot, leading many to believe he has a bit more upside than his scoring totals have displayed thus far.
LEFT WING
If anything, the Devils have a logjam at the position. Taylor Hall is one of the four or five best hockey players on earth, and behind him the Devils have a several players who could play middle-6 (Johansson, Bratt, Wood) or bottom-6 (Coleman, Quenneville, Lappin) roles effectively. In addition, Jesper Boqvist could push to make the team out of training camp.
It is for these reasons that I feel that the Devils should not use the $4+ million necessary to try to re-sign Pat Maroon, despite the fact that he is one of my personal favorite players. As a matter of fact, I think it's quite possible that the Devils trade a LW before the season to address another area of need. Quenneville seems like the most likely one to go, as he still has very solid trade value, but 2020-UFA Marcus Johansson could also net a nice return and Jespers Bratt/Boqvist might offer even more upside at the 2nd line LW slot.
RIGHT WING
This is an area where the Devils need help, but the help might be available from within the prospect pool. Palmieri is a terrific top 6 option and Noesen proved himself with flying colors as a great bottom-6 RW. Last season the Devils played left-shooting Jesper Bratt at RW, but the better answer might be offering the other 2 RW slots to two of the Devils top three prospects, Joey Anderson and Mikey McLeod. Still, you want some options to challenge these kids, and I'm going to offer a couple of below-the-radar suggestions.
1. Re-Sign Brian Gibbons: he's cheap, he plays all three forward positions, and he plays a smart two-way game. I don't think there would be a single Devils fan who would be upset with this scenario.
2. Sign Nail Yakupov: this one would be a bit more controversial, but after a series of setbacks, he would likely be available for a one-year "Prove It Deal" at around one million. His style fits the Devils attack/puck pressure game, and his lethal cannon of a shot would be a huge asset on the second PP unit. The Devils need secondary scoring, that's obvious, and maybe a low-cost signing of Yakupov could offer some lighting in a bottle.
LEFT DEFENSE
The Devils have a very strong top two with Andy Greene and Will Butcher, but beyond that are a series of question marks. Will Mirco Mueller ever be able to put together two consecutive solid shifts, much less two games? Could Yegor Yakovlev be as good as he looked in the Olympics and provide an answer at LD?
My best case scenario would be the guy who, in my mind, should be the Devils #1 free agency target: Calvin de Haan. Though decidedly unspectacular, he is solid across the board. He is very good defensively, blocks shots, clears creases, wins in the corners, and is aces with the safe outlet pass. He's a quiet, steady 20+ minute defenseman, and he could take defensive minutes away from Greene, who is in his late 30's now, while taking some pressure off the young and supremely talented Butcher. I think we could get De Haan for 3-4 years at around $4 million, and he wouldn't even need to sell his house.
My Plan B here (if someone overpays De Haan in a thin D market) would be far less conventional. How about a trade for Dmitri Kulikov? The Winnipeg Jets are desperately trying to unload salary, and might even trade us a draft pick for taking his two remaining years at $4.3 million. Kulikov is physical and big (which our D unit lacks), good defensively and decent offensively. Though Devils fans have yet to see much of Yakovlev, Kulikov would clearly represent an upgrade over Mueller as the third-pairing LD.
RIGHT DEFENSE
Let's face it, there's very little available in free agency at the RD position. The Devils have a strong top-two with Vatanen and Severson, but can Santini finally take the reins to become the solid third-pairing RD NJ needs him to be? It's safe to say that, for all his heart and soul, Ben Lovejoy's ideal role is as the 7th defenseman, a veteran who could jump off the bench and dress if a need arises for whatever reason.
Again, the best solution here would be through a trade. Some nice names have been bandied about the rumor mill, notably Matthew Dumba and Justin Faulk, but would a trade package of names like Quenneville, Mueller and Speers be enough to pry a player of that caliber from their current team? Probably not. As Devils GM I'd offer all three of those players and perhaps another prospect just in case, especially for Dumba.
There are a couple of very promising RFAs at RD who might be available due to cap crunches on their current teams, notably Anaheim's Brandon Montour and Boston's Brandon Carlo. I'm not saying this would require being someone named Brandon, but those are both very good youngsters with unique skill-sets, Montour as an uptempo offensive D and Carlo as the huge, physical defensive D the Devils desperately need to keep opposing forwards out of the crease of Schneider/Kinkaid.
SUMMARY
The Devils are an extremely exciting, up-and-coming franchise. But there are few who believe they are quite ready to challenge for the Stanley Cup. A few smart additions in the coming week could make them even stronger in the present without sacrificing the future.
What are your thoughts? I'd love to hear them.
