Free Agency: Day 1 Moves, Signings, Reactions, and Next Steps
Good morning Devils fans. The NHL had a busy and wild day 1 of Free Agency. Teams dealt out an insane amount of money and term yesterday. Per CapFriendly, organizations issued contracts that totalled $638M in both short term and long term agreements. Arizona was active, locking up Jason Zucker, Alex Kerfoot and Nick Bjugstad. Dmitry Orlov and Michael Bunting will make Carolina a deeper and more dangerous team. Dallas locked up Matt Duchene on an affordable $3M AAV contract. These moves can shift the balance of divisions and accelerate the plans of teams for success.
As eyes were on NJ, GM Tom Fitzgerald had to make some decisions, both with players within the organization and new possibilities outside of the Devils. First, C Michael Mcleod and RW Nathan Bastian were brought back on decently priced contracts. Bastian signed a two year, $1.350M AAV contract while his linemate Mcleod inked a 1 year, $1.4M agreement. RFA D Kevin Bahl reportedly received a qualifying offer, but this is awaiting confirmation as far as I can tell from CapFriendly. Tom Fitzgerald then made a depth move, trading a 5th round to Dallas for D Colin Miller, who will most likely slot in on the bottom D line. Most importantly, the Devils have kept most of their core, improved with veteran defense, and avoided a costly trade rushing into the Hellebuyck situation.
On the minor league side of the organization, Fitzgerald brought in C Justin Dowling, G Erik Kà¤llgren, and C Kyle Criscuolo. Dowling has had limited time in the NHL over the past 4 seasons with Dallas and Vancouver, racking up decent numbers and minutes for the Texas Stars and Abbotsford Canucks of the AHL. Kà¤llgren has struggled both on the Leafs for the past two seasons as well as transitioning successfully from the SHL to the AHL, putting up Blackwood-like numbers as we’ve seen over the past 2-3 seasons. Criscuolo has bounced from multiple AHL squads over the past few years, playing for Grand Rapids, Rochester, Lehigh Valley, San Diego, and San Jose, showing that he is roughly an AHL 0.5-0.75 points per game player when he’s healthy and playing well. Overall, I don’t foresee most of these players suiting up for the top squad, instead providing veteran leadership and depth to the Utica team.
Before I preview the makeup of the roster for next season as of now, there was an interesting rumor I saw on the HockeyBuzz rumor tracker I wanted to discuss. Reportedly, the Devils are interested in bringing back LW Zach Parise. The 38 year old veteran has played for two seasons for Lou Lamoriello’s Islanders, putting up mid-30 point, full 82 game seasons. This followed up and down years in Minnesota, the team he left NJ for following the 2012 Stanley Cup run and was eventually bought out from. I’m going to argue against the move for a number of reasons. First, while he will be very affordable, I’d rather take that cap hit and put it somewhere else, like either a younger free agent or towards Bahl’s contract, assuming the qualifying offer doesn’t come to fruition. Additionally, giving Parise a spot would take away a spot for Alexander Holtz or Nolan Foote. Finally, I'm a firm believer in the Moneyball mindset of “you pay for who the player is, not who he used to be.… While he played a formidable bottom 6 role, this a far cry from where Parise played for the Devils in 2000s and early 2010s. In my opinion, GM Tom Fitzgerald will make the best possible decision given his track record over his tenure.
As of now, here’s how the breakdown for the team could look as we head into October:
Bratt - J. Hughes - Mercer Toffoli - Hischier - Meier Palat - Haula - Holtz Lazar/Foote - Mcleod - Bastian
Sieganthaler - Hamilton L. Hughes - Marino Bahl (pending QO) - Miller
Schmid Vanacek
Scratch Forwards: Clarke (Could play AHL while waiting) Scratch Defenseman: Smith, Nemec (Could play AHL while waiting)
What are your thoughts? Are the Devils wise to wait out the Hellebuyck trade? What should we give Winnipeg for him? Any free agent targets still on the board that you think we should go for?
Raise Hell,
-Josh Biringer