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New Jersey's most glaring issue entering free agency was a lack of scoring, and they certainly helped address that in signing Mike Cammalleri.

While the team had to hand out a little more term than they probably would have liked when signing the 32-year-old to a five-year, $25 million ($5M per) contract, there is no doubting he will be a huge help.

Last season Cammalleri scored 26 goals in 63 games (34 goal pace) while playing for a poor offensive team in Calgary that scored just .06 goals per game more than the Devils.

What was really impressive about his season is that most of his damage came at full strength. He was able to consistently score goals during 5 vs 5 play, and did so at an elite rate. Only six players were more efficient goal scorers in that regard.



That's some fine company to be with, obviously. His individual shot attempt numbers/60 aren't as high as most around him, but on a line with Travis Zajac and Jaromir Jagr, both of whom are good puck distributors, he should get his fair share of good looks.

This goes without saying, but Cammalleri's 5 vs 5 goal scoring numbers would have been far and away the best on New Jersey.



To put those numbers in perspective, the Devils scored an average of 1.5 goals/60 minutes of 5 vs 5 play last season with Cory Schneider in net, which was the worst goal support of all goaltenders with 41 starts or more. Cammalleri alone scored 1.27 goals/60, meaning if he were to play all games in their entirety at 5 vs 5, he would nearly match what the Devils five-man unit as a whole did last season. That would never happen, of course, but it helps paint the picture.

Cammalleri makes New Jersey much more of a threat during 5 vs 5 play, and is exactly the kind of player the offensively starved Devils need.

They already have a good power play, excellent team defense, and an elite goaltender. If they start filling the net at full strength, they could do some damage in a weak Eastern Conference.

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