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Tomas Nosek Signing, Levy Restaurants, and Logan Thompson |
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Good morning Devils fans. Sorry for the delay between articles. Let’s jump right into it. On Wednesday, the Devils announced that they had signed Tomas Nosek to a 1-year, $1M contract. Interestingly, the contract is a 1-way, meaning that he’ll make the same salary in the NHL as the AHL. This financially incentivizes New Jersey to keep Nosek in the NHL roster to maximize his earnings for the organization. Now, what kind of player are we getting with Nosek? One that would help shore up the bottom 6.
Nosek is a 30-year-old Czech utility forward. He can play center or left wing and shoots from the left side. During his youth development, he played in various levels of junior and professional Czech hockey rosters, including the Czech World Junior Roster, Czech National team, and most prominently, HC Dynamo Pardubice. Going undrafted, he was eventually picked up by Detroit. Limited time with the Red Wings would leave Nosek to develop well with the AHL affiliate, Grand Rapids Griffins. He won the Calder Cup with Grand Rapids in 2017.
Left exposed in the 2017 Expansion Draft, Nosek found his next home in Las Vegas. He would go on to score the team’s first home ice goal and spend the next handful of seasons with the Golden Knights, putting up 65 points in 240 regular season games and 10 points in 38 playoff games. Following a free agency opportunity, Nosek signed a 2 year deal in Boston worth $1.75M AAV. His production would remain consistent with expectations, hitting 17 and 18 points in each of his two regular seasons and a pair of assists in each of 7 playoff game series the last two years in Beantown.
Outside of goals, assists, and points, Nosek brings a few other nice attributes to the table. Last year, he had a faceoff win percentage of 59.3%. That would put him 2nd behind Michael Mcleod from last season. He can also get physical at 31 blocked shots and 69 hits, although that doesn’t put him as high up when compared to the Devils roster last year. He can still handle a decent amount of time on the ice, averaging around 12:13 per game for his career.
Overall, this would make the bottom 6 pretty deep and the roster overly full. If you include Nolan Foote, we have currently 14 forwards to fill 12 spots. That will also make it hard for Alexander Holtz to crack into a roster position. We have to wonder what GM Tom Fitzgerald will do with this. Could he include Holtz in a trade package for a goalie? While Vegas may be rumored to have discussed Logan Thompson as a possible trade option, there is reason to be doubtful that this could work for both teams. First, Vegas is already above the cap by more than $4M. If they are doing anything, the Knights would be looking to subtract in an effort for cap compliance. Second, while Logan Thompson is a very good goalie with an incredibly reasonable cap hit at $766K, he has no NHL playoff experience. If the Devils are moving for a goalie trade, one would think that they would target a veteran who understands the pace and danger of Cup run hockey. I’m doubtful that Thompson is our solution to the goaltending question.
Finally, according to Ryan Novozinsky of NJ.com, the Devils have made an offseason acquisition of sorts, partnering with Levy Restaurants for their arena food and drink options. The organization has their fingerprints on a number of professional sports teams and arenas. On the NHL side, they handle the food and drinks for the Predators, Stars, and the Wild to name a few. They also serve MLB ballparks, zoos, and concert arenas. Their food offerings in some of these arenas include Mexican street corn, pulled pork tacos, and brisket-topped BBQ hot dogs. It will be interesting to see what New Jersey themed items will be offered or if there will be any changes with how service will function in the arena.
What are your thoughts? How should Nosek factor into the Devils team this season? Would you be willing to take a chance on Logan Thomspon if Hellebuyck is off the trade block? What dish would you want Prudential to offer next season?
Leave your thoughts and comments below. Raise Hell,
-Josh Biringer
New Jersey Devils Blogger • 
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