Free Agency, Options, and Playing the Market
Good morning Devils fans. Today is the beginning of free agency. As teams scramble to fill up cap space with hopefully viable options, the Devils are in a good position. The majority of their offense, defense, and both goalies set in for this season with a little over $10M left in cap space. Here are the list of current RFAs and UFAs as well as our own remaining cap:
UFAs: LW/RW Tomas Tatar LW Miles Wood D Ryan Graves G Jonathan Bernier
RFAs: RW Nathan Bastian C / Winger Jesper Boqvist C Michael Mcleod D Kevin Bahl
Current Available Cap Space (Per CapFriendly): $10,207,500
Right off the bat, I’m totally ok with us letting the UFAs walk. Tatar and Wood will be role players for different teams. There’s a good chance Jonathan Bernier retires this offseason if he doesn’t find a team to take him on. Ryan Graves will 100% find a suitor for a decent price. I’m not arguing to get rid of him because of any criticism towards his game. Unfortunately, Graves signing with us during his prime free agency will end up eating up a lot of our cap.
Now, let’s explore scenario A: resigning our RFAs at the rates I’ve suggested at previous articles: ________________________________________________________________________________________
RFAs: RW Nathan Bastian - $1.3M C / Winger Jesper Boqvist - $1.5M C Michael Mcleod - $1.75M D Kevin Bahl - $1.5M
Possible Available Cap Space: $4,157,500
If we run a team like this with other pieces filling in from our AHL system, here’s what that could look like:
Bratt - J. Hughes - Mercer Toffoli - Hischier - Meier Palat - Haula - Boqvist Lazar - Mcleod - Bastian
Sieganthaler - Hamilton L. Hughes - Marino Bahl - Nemec
Schmid Vanacek
Scratch Forwards: Foote, Holtz, Clarke Scratch Defenseman: Smith
Benefits: Keeps the majority of the team from last year while losing the unnecessary pieces Drawbacks: Avoids possibly better UFA options with youth pieces in the wings lacking development ________________________________________________________________________________________
Scenario B: Sign only necessary RFAs and fill in with youth players
RFAs: RW Nathan Bastian - Trade C / Winger Jesper Boqvist - Trade C Michael Mcleod - $1.75M D Kevin Bahl - $1.5M
Possible Available Cap Space: $6, 957,500
Here’s what that could look like:
Bratt - J. Hughes - Mercer Toffoli - Hischier - Meier Palat - Haula - Holtz Foote - Mcleod - Lazar
Sieganthaler - Hamilton L. Hughes - Marino Bahl - Nemec
Schmid Vanacek
Scratch Forwards: Clarke Scratch Defenseman: Smith
Benefits: More cap space while playing young prospects and jump starting their development, trades could grow draft capital or prospect system Drawbacks: Holtz and Foote could struggle, losing core players like Bastian and Boqvist could negatively affect overall performance
If we are looking at $6M+ in cap, we can’t really go for a big name in free agency. But we could find some diamonds in the rough that could foundational roles in our bottom half of offense or defense:
C/RW JT Compher - Recent cap hit was $3.5. Could be a 3rd line winger for a reasonable price but that wouldn’t be the most cost effective and could hinder the development of Holtz without a spot. Rumored to be going to Nashville.
LW Michael Bunting - Similar supporting arguments as Compher. More affordable and starting to develop into a solid player.
D Dmitry Kulikov - Affordable 2 way defenseman. Would take the place of Nemec if he was not ready for the NHL.
Another name I would throw out for discussion is RW Kailer Yamamoto. Recently bought out by Detroit following a trade from Edmonton. I would be interested in the price and role he was seeking and if that could fit into the Devils plans for the season.
The biggest question that could throw this whole conversation into a loop is if the Devils pull the trigger on Connor Hellebuyck. Would that include any of the RFAs? Assuming Vanacek is the goalie sent, the difference between his cap hit and Hellebuyck’s would take away roughly $2.766M from our current cap so possibly scenario could be the closest to reality.
What are your thoughts on the upcoming free agency and some suggested scenarios I’ve laid out? Any lines you would shuffle? Are you looking for the Devils to make some trades or runs at current free agents, especially with any recent buyouts?
Raise Hell,
-Josh Biringer