Free agency is now less than a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. Even with the UFA crop being thinned out in recent months, there will be some quality veterans set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Devils.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Arseny Gritsyuk – Coming up on nearly six years since the Devils used their 129th overall pick to select Gritsyuk in the fifth round, the 25-year-old Russian finally played his first season of NHL hockey in the 2025-26 campaign after signing a one-year, $925K contract in the summer of 2025. The Krasnoyarsk native had seen several stints in the KHL before this year, scoring 44 points in 49 games with SKA St. Petersburg. 13 goals for 31 points in 66 games in year one, including a 53.7% expected goals share at 5-on-5 play, should definitely command more years for Gritsyuk to contribute in New Jersey.
D Simon Nemec — The former second-overall pick has demonstrated quite a trajectory in his entry-level years with New Jersey. Scoring 26 points in this past season’s 68 games played. The Slovakian defenseman has risen to the occasion in big moments for the Devils, most notably registering his first career playoff goal against the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2025 playoffs. Nemec’s future could see his next deal go a few ways, either via a long-term extension or a bridge deal, based on the projected deals provided by AFP Analytics. Given there are already six players under contract on the blue line that are being paid $34.9MM combined, it’ll be interesting to see how GM Sunny Metha approaches Nemec within the offseason.
Other RFAs: F Paul Cotter, F Dylan Wendt, F Xavier Parent, D Calen Addison, D Topias Vilen, G Nico Daws, G Jakub Malek, G Tyler Brennan
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Evgenii Dadonov – The 37-year-old had a rough go in New Jersey. Former GM Tom Fitzgerald had the veteran Russian inked on a one-year, $1MM contract that saw Dadonov play just 24 games in 2025-26, after suffering two injuries, a hand maiming in the season opener on October 9th vs the Hurricanes, followed by a wrist injury just four games in his return from that initial injury. That later forced him onto the Devils’ injured reserve list. Before this season, Dadonov scored 20 goals for 40 points with the Dallas Stars.
Other UFAs: F Zack MacEwen, D Dennis Cholowski, F Jonathan Gruden, F Nathan Legare, F Ryan Schmelzer, F Mike Hardman, F Marc McLaughlin, F Brian Halonen, D Colin White
Projected Cap Space
The Devils have a little under $11MM of cap space to utilize, enough to re-sign Nemec and depth players to fill out the lineup for next season if they’re looking to be conservative in their moves. However, if they pull the trigger on a Nemec trade this offseason, the Devils could spend those available dollars elsewhere. Additionally, if they’re able to move off Dougie Hamilton‘s $9MM salary, they’ll have a ton of flexibility for other moves.
Photo Credit: Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images