The New Jersey Devils had a disappointing season a year after making it to the second round of the playoffs.
Devils President and General Manager Tom Fitzgerald took accountability for the team’s poor performance at the end of the season press conference. Last offseason, New Jersey went in a different defensive direction by not bringing back Damon Severson and Ryan Graves. Both players wanted to stay, but New Jersey would not give them the term or money on contracts they sought.
With a younger defense, the Devils exposed their goaltenders to more shots on goal. This past season, goaltending, defense, and lack of physicality were issues for the Devils. Instead of addressing the position, Fitzgerald rolled with Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid. That decision proved to be costly.
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The Devils fired Lindy Ruff and replaced him with Travis Green on an interim basis, but it was too late by then. Not to mention, Fitzgerald did not address the goaltending until the NHL Trade Deadline, bringing in Jake Allen and Kaapo Kahkonen. Allen showed he could carry the load, and many wondered why the decision, especially at cost, was not made sooner.
After hiring Sheldon Keefe as the new head coach the roster construction officially began. Entering this offseason, Fitzgerald wanted to go “Big-Game Hunting” and was open to moving the 10th overall pick in this year’s NHL Draft. Last year, the Devils missed an opportunity to get a goaltender; they cannot make the same mistake twice. In addition, the Devils need the same things as last year. Along with the goaltender, there is an upgrade on defense, a scoring winger, and physicality.
Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremuchuk, on the June 14th edition of the Daily Faceoff Show, discussed what the New Jersey Devils needed to get this offseason. Seravalli stated they are pretty much looking for everything.
Oh, where do we start? I had a GM message me yesterday and say, hey, the New Jersey Devils are looking for a top-six forward, bottom-six forward, top-four defenseman, bottom pair defenseman and the goalie, and then they said a partridge in a pear tree. Like where do you start?”,” said Seravalli.
And he is right. Where do you begin? The goaltender is the biggest priority. The New Jersey Devils need a number one goalie to pair with Jake Allen. Allen has a great cap hit of $1.9 million, thanks to the Montreal Canadiens retaining salary. New Jersey has been tied to Jacob Markstrom, Linus Ullmark, Juuse Saros, Filip Gustavsson, John Gibson, and Elvis Merzlikins.
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But the Devils defense was a problem last year. They had two rookies, Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec, in the lineup. John Marino and Jonas Siegenthaler took steps backward last season, and Dougie Hamilton was hurt. However, securing the top four and getting someone to play with Luke Hughes is essential. It was not Brendan Smith.
Could the Devils go after players like Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei, Nikita Zadorov, whom they were linked to back in November. Chris Tanev was linked to at the Trade Deadline. What about Brandon Montour? Could they trade for a defenseman, as some teams will still be up against the cap this offseason?
With the 10th overall pick in play, Tom Fitzgerald and the New Jersey Devils can use that pick to upgrade their team, whether that be in between the pipes, on the back end or just adding goal-scoring. Jake Guentzel is the hot free agent. A Tyler Toffoli reunion seems doubtful as, according to Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period, he was not happy he got traded to Winnipeg.
Do they trade for Patrik Laine, another scoring winger, or a dynamic forward like Martin Necas? If they dip into the free agent pool, Jonathan Marchessault, Vladimir Tarasenko, Jake DeBrusk, and Tyler Bertuzzi are options. Or could they sign someone like Chandler Stephenson and maybe move Jack Hughes to the wing?
Regardless, the New Jersey Devils and Tom Fitzgerald have a busy offseason ahead, filling many holes to get back into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
