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Don't hit the panic button just yet |
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Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
Free agency is well underway and the New Jersey Devils have signed exactly zero (0) players to improve their pro roster.
Naturally, this has a lot of people on edge. I don't think it should.
The Devils remain interested in extending Patrick Maroon and recent news elsewhere should improve the chances of that happening.
It was widely reported Calgary and St. Louis were among the handful of teams seriously pursuing Maroon.
Calgary just handed a lucrative contract to James Neal, which almost certainly takes them out of the running for Maroon.
St. Louis has also been very active thus far. They committed $5 million annually to Tyler Bozak, $4 million annually to David Perron, and moved five assets to acquire Ryan O'Reilly. It's reasonable to assume they're no longer competing for Maroon's services.
If the Devils can lock up Maroon, who averaged 22 goals and 42.5 points over the last couple seasons, and get a healthy Marcus Johansson back, their offense will be better than it was for the vast majority of last season.
Defensively, the Devils are among the teams interested in Calvin de Haan, according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
I'm not saying the Devils will land both players. Maybe they won't land either. But they are still in the running for some solid free agents and also have better than three months to work on any potential trades.
I wouldn't hit the panic button just yet.
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The Devils should target Calvin de Haan
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