New Jersey Devils

NHL Scouting Combine Preview

May 28, 2017 at 10:47 am CDT | by Zach Leach Leave a Comment

While members of the hockey media flock to Pittsburgh for Stanley Cup Final media day today, NHL executives and scouts from all 31 teams are instead headed to Buffalo for the NHL Scouting Combine. The event kicks off tomorrow and runs all week long. A relatively new exercise for the NHL dating back to the early 2000’s, the combine has been hosted by the Sabres since 2015 and is scheduled to take place in Buffalo through 2019, the combine allows NHL teams their first chance both at one-on-one interviews with prospects and to discover specific medical and physical issues that may arise. The combine is hugely informative and executives around the league have raved about the impact it has made on the draft process.

The 2017 NHL Scouting Combine will feature 104 of the top prospects for the NHL Draft later in June, comprised of 84 North American prospects and 20 international prospects. Altogether, there will be 58 forwards, 36 defensemen and 10 goaltenders in attendance. This array of prospects should largely cover the entirety of the first three rounds of the draft, meaning every team has a reason to be in attendance and will have an eye on gaining insight beyond just the players likely to be there at their first round slot.

Much more extensive than other professional scouting combines, the NHL combine includes testing for joint movement, lung capacity (VO2 Max), balance, and grip strength. This is in addition to typical combine procedures like height and weight measurements and workouts such as the bench press, pull-ups, standing long jump, vertical leap, and the hockey equivalent to the 40-yard dash.

Some noteworthy top-ten prospects whose combine performance may be more important than others include Casey Mittelstadt, Cale Makar, and, of course, Nolan Patrick. The debate rages on ahead of June 23rd over who the better prospect and likely first-overall pick will be: Patrick or Nico Hischier. Hiscier supporters have increased in number, but the majority are still on the side of Patrick, even after a season spent mostly sidelined due to injury. Patrick can help his case for #1 in a major way with a clean bill of health and strong results in musculoskeletal workouts this week. If instead he still shows signs of wear and potentially risks of long-term issues, the New Jersey Devils could easily take Hischier instead. For Mittelstadt and Makar, as well as a few others in first-round consideration, their lack of experience playing against elite competition makes their measurables that much more important. Mittelstadt spent half of his season dominating high school kids in Minnesota and the other half in the USHL, while Makar played in the Junior A Alberta Junior Hockey League. While both are headed to the NCAA in 2017-18, where they can be better evaluated, that comes too late for the teams interested in selecting them this year. Neither faced the same level of consistent competition as their peers in the major junior CHL leagues or against men in European pro leagues, but can make up for it and add to their draft resumes with comparable workout results to fellow top prospects.

The Scouting Combine has become very important to all prospects and evaluators alike and has no doubt impact the draft order in each of the past two years. 2017 should be no different; stay tuned for any news coming out of Buffalo this week.

Snapshots: Kovalchuk, Kerfoot, Ruhwedel, Grabovski

May 26, 2017 at 7:53 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

There have been no discussions in the past two weeks between the Devils and Jay Grossman, the agent for winger Ilya Kovalchuk, GM Ray Shero told The Record’s Andrew Gross. Grossman does have permission to speak with other teams to gauge their interest and potentially attempt to broker a trade.

Kovalchuk retired from NHL and New Jersey back in 2013 but has played in the KHL since then. He has indicated that he would like to record to the NHL next season but will require a sign-and-trade to do so since it’s unlikely that all 30 teams will willingly sign off on his return. Although early indications are that Kovalchuk isn’t particularly interested in returning to play for the Devils, Shero hasn’t completely given up on hope on that happening just yet.

Other news and notes from around the hockey world:

Still from Gross, there have been no talks between New Jersey and 2012 fifth rounder Alexander Kerfoot since the Frozen Four tournament. The Devils will lose the rights to the 22 year old on August 15th if they are unable to reach a deal. Kerfoot had a strong senior season at Harvard where he tied for the team lead in scoring with 45 points (19-26-45) in 36 games and would attract a lot of interest if he were to hit the open market.
Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel took part in yesterday’s morning skate as he works towards returning to the lineup from a concussion sustained in Game Four against Ottawa, notes Bill West of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The 27 year old has skated in six postseason games so far and, when healthy, will likely be the first to draw in if there are any more injuries to Pittsburgh’s back end between now and the end of the Stanley Cup Final.
Although he was skating on his own during the second half of the season, Islanders center Mikhail Grabovski hasn’t recovered enough from his concussion symptoms to be eligible to be bought out this summer, reports Newsday’s Arthur Staple. The 33 year old last played in March of 2016 but carries a pricey cap hit of $5MM though he’ll likely be placed on LTIR once again if he doesn’t get the green light to return from team doctors at the start of next season.

Expansion Primer: New Jersey Devils

May 25, 2017 at 5:14 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 3 Comments

Over the next few weeks we will be breaking down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. Which players are eligible, and which will likely warrant protection or may be on the block. Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4pm CDT on June 17th. The full rules on eligibility can be found here, and CapFriendly has provided a handy expansion tool to make your own lists.

When the New Jersey Devils swung one of the biggest deals of the offseason, trading young defenseman Adam Larsson to Edmonton for former first-overall pick Taylor Hall, it suggested that the team believed it could compete in the short term with a little more added offense. Hall cost more, was older and had fewer years left on his deal and the Devils were coming off a year in which they took a step forward and finished with 84 points.

While Larsson went on a deep playoff run with the Oilers, Hall struggled through a knee injury and saw the Devils take another step backwards, unable to do much offensively. The team finished with just 70 points, but as luck would have it were selected at the lottery and will pick first in the upcoming draft. The Devils now have some interesting choices to make in regards to the expansion draft, and decide whether to expose some of their aging veterans or keep them protected for another shot at it next season.

Eligible Players (Non-UFA)

Forwards:

Taylor Hall, Travis Zajac, Mike Cammalleri, Kyle Palmieri, Adam Henrique, Devante Smith-Pelly, Ben Thomson, Jacob Josefson, Stefan Noesen, Beau Bennett

Defensemen:

Andy Greene, Ben Lovejoy, John Moore, Dalton Prout, Jon Merrill, Viktor Loov, Damon Severson

Goaltenders:

Cory Schneider, Scott Wedgewood

Notable Exemptions

Miles Wood, Pavel Zacha, Michael McLeod, John Quenneville, Nick Lappin, Blake Speers, Nathan Bastian, Joseph Blandisi, Yohann Auvitu, Ilya Kovalchuk

Key Decisions

The Devils will almost certainly go with the 7-3-1 protection scheme for the expansion draft, as they can’t afford to lose any of their scoring threats up front. The decision will be whether to use a slot on some of their aging veterans, or protect some younger players who haven’t lived up to their potential yet. That decision likely rests with the idea of whether or not the front office believes they can compete next year.

Up front, the trio of Hall, Henrique and Palmieri are all in their prime and ready to compete, while Zajac is still an effective player at age 32. All four will surely be protected, even if Zajac’s contract is starting to look like a little ugly—he’ll be paid $5.75MM through his age-35 season. After that, it becomes a little less clear. The team could protect Cammalleri and hope he rebounds next season to the effective scoring threat he has been his whole career, or use that slot on a younger winger like Bennett who showed that he’s a capable NHL forward. Getting rid of Cammalleri’s $5MM cap hit isn’t a bad thing, but the Devils also don’t need the room right now. They’re heading into the summer with well over $20MM in cap space before even factoring the few million the limit may rise by.

On defense, the team has the same problem. Protecting Greene, the much beloved captain and career Devil would cause the team to decide between Moore and Merrill both of whom showed the ability to at least contribute in a depth role on the blueline. That’s assuming of course that the team would protect Severson (they will) and expose Lovejoy, who logged nearly 21 minutes a night for the team. Greene and Lovejoy will play next season at 35 and 33 respectively, and have already started their decline. Protecting either of them would be a move directly tied to next season, instead of keeping the younger defensemen.

In net, Schneider is one of the most secure netminders in the league despite his down year, though Wedgewood is a potential option for Vegas.The 24-year old netminder returned from injury and finished the season strong for Albany, and still looks like he may have an NHL role one day in the future.

On that note, the Devils still have several issues to deal with in terms of exposure requirements. Every team needs to expose at least one goaltender who is signed through, or has received a qualifying offer for next season. Wedgewood, as a restricted free agent would need to be qualified to be allowed to protect Schneider. Each team also needs to expose at least two forwards and one defender who is signed through 2017-18 and played at least 40 games this season or 70 the past two combined. Currently the Devils would need to expose two of Hall, Zajac, Cammalleri, Palmieri, Henrique and Smith-Pelly. Even just to give themselves other options, it’s likely that a player is extended in the next few weeks.

Vegas will have a chance to sign any free agents from a team in loo of a selection from that club, but the only one who possibly would interest them is goaltender Keith Kinkaid. Outperforming Schneider at times this season, Kinkaid now has 56 NHL starts under his belt with a solid .912 save percentage. At just 27, he may eventually land a starting job somewhere but it would be surprising to see Vegas go after him seeing as they have several more experienced options available to them through the draft.

Projected Protection List

F Taylor Hall
F Travis Zajac
F Kyle Palmieri
F Adam Henrique
F Devante Smith-Pelly
F Jacob Josefson
F Beau Bennett

D Andy Greene
D John Moore
D Damon Severson

G Cory Schneider

With no no-movement clauses tying their hands, the Devils find themselves in a fine situation going into the expansion draft. They can carefully examine their players and see who they want moving forward. Is it a real rebuild, or just a reload for a quick turnaround? Would Vegas even take one of Cammalleri or Greene, with their hefty cap hits and advanced age? The team could also make a move for a forward before the draft, and decide to protect him instead.

One thing to note is that Ilya Kovalchuk, expected to return to the NHL this summer at some point will not need protection. Kovalchuk currently sits on the Voluntary Retirement List, and cannot be officially reinstated until July 1st. As he’ll technically still be retired and out of the league, he won’t need protection. This is also true, though in a different manner, for Ryane Clowe, who will be exempt due to his career-ending injury. Clowe hasn’t played since 2014-15, and even though his deal technically has a no-movement clause he was listed as exempt among other former players like Chris Pronger and David Clarkson.

The Devils will have some tough decisions to make, but luckily they are all internal. The team won’t be forced to move anyone out in order to protect a young asset, instead just evaluating their immediate future to see if it’s worth hanging on to some aging stars.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Devils Need To Focus On Fixing Defense

May 21, 2017 at 1:18 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

Already stocked with the first-overall pick, the New Jersey Devils next question is how to repair their sieve of a defense that they had to endure through the 2016-17 season. This might be that year in which they can do that as they also have $21MM in projected cap space, are armed with a key trade chip of Ilya Kovalchuk and have draft assets to move if they want to take part in the expected trade flurry right before the expansion draft.

The team is in desperate need to make some changes, which includes rebuilding that blueline that gave the Devils the sixth-worst goals allowed (2.94) in the NHL last year. The Hockey Writers’ Will Agathis break down some of the current defensemen on the roster and the key is moving to a youth movement. The team’s lone bright spot is 22-year-old Damon Severson, who will be a restricted free agent this year, but started to put everything together in his third year in the league. His three goals and 28 assists highlighted the defense. However the highlights ended there.

One critical aid to the defense would be to begin limiting minutes for veteran Andy Greene and last year’s free agent acquisition Ben Lovejoy. Greene, a 34-year-old blueliner, is still a solid defender but probably is not a top-2 defenseman any longer. The veteran still has three years remaining on his contract at $5MM each. While Greene was never much of an offensive defenseman, his 13 points in each of the last two years are the lowest output since the 2008-09 season. The team will also need a bounce-back season from veteran Lovejoy, who put forth a disappointing season after signing over from the Pittsburgh Penguins last offseason. The veteran still has two years remaining at $2.67MM. It’s also suggested that he may need to move further back in the lineup.

So, who should the Devils rely on?

Agathis suggests the team should put more emphasis on their youth such as Severson and maybe even John Moore. Despite his lack of defensive presence, the 26-year-old still has time to improve on defense and just needs the ice time. He also suggests that Steven Santini and Jon Merrill should be given more ice time to prove themselves. Santini, a former second-round pick in 2013, only played in 38 games last season, but showed promise. Merrill, a second-round pick in 2010, has been inconsistent with injuries throughout his career, but also has shown flashes of promise.

However, the scribe writes the best opportunities for the Devils is to pick up some defenders through free agency and through trades. The Kovalchuk trade chip would be one great way to net a top defender, while waiting for a team to desperately trade one of the unprotected prospects before having to give them up to the Las Vegas Golden Knights for nothing would be another way to find a blueliner. Along with their cap space, the Devils may be able to totally redesign their defense in just one offseason.

Metro Division Snapshots: Capitals, Darling, McLeod

May 20, 2017 at 11:35 am CDT | by Glen Miller Leave a Comment

Big changes are expected this summer in D.C. after the Washington Capitals once again failed to advance beyond the second round of the postseason, despite boasting perhaps the most talented roster ever assembled in the organization’s 42-year history. Even if GM Brian MacLellan wanted to return the roster mostly intact, he would have a difficult time doing so given the team’s salary cap situation. It’s along this vein that Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post examines potential free agent and trade fits to replace the players the Capitals may lose off their President’s Trophy winning roster.

T.J. Oshie, coming off a career high 33-goal season, will be a UFA this summer and while the Capitals would like to re-sign the winger, doing so may prove hard to do, according to Khurshudyan. The scribe writes that Oshie is due for a significant raise on his $4.5MM 2016-17 cap charge, and suggests a long-term deal in the $6MM annual range is reasonable. Khurshudyan notes that both Kyle Okposo and David Backes, two players with similar profiles and historical production to Oshie, inked free agent deals with cap hits of $6MM last summer. If that should prove to be too rich for MacLellan’s blood, the team could pivot back to Justin Williams, who is coming off a two-year deal with the Capitals worth $3.25MM per year. Andre Burakovsky, a RFA, is expected to graduate to a full-time top-six role and the duo of Williams and Burakovsky could be good enough for Washington to get by. In terms of outside free agents Khurshudyan lists Drew Stafford and Patrick Eaves as potentially inexpensive fits, though at 31 and 33 respectively, each is on the back-half of their careers and would represent a risky proposition. As it is, Stafford netted just eight goals in 58 games in 2016-17. Eaves notched a career high 32 goals, besting his previous best by 12 and suggesting heavy regression is likely.

On the blue line, both Karl Alzner and trade deadline pickup Kevin Shattenkirk will head to free agency. Khurshudyan expects both to depart for greener pastures and speculates that Nate Schmidt will likely assume a role next to John Carlson on the team’s top pair next season. That leaves a hole on the third pairing with Brooks Orpik. Internal candidates, according to the scribe, include Taylor Chorney along with prospects Madison Bowey and Christian Djoos. The free agent market is thin at the position, though veteran defender Johnny Oduya could represent one option, according to the author.

On the trade front, Khurshudyan mentions recent reports that Minnesota would be willing to listen to offers for RW Nino Niederreiter, a pending RFA. Coming off a 25-goal season with the Wild, Niederreiter would certainly command a sizable return in any trade, but he would satisfy Washington’s need for a top-six forward and is young enough to fill that role for years to come. Additionally, given the restrictive nature of the expansion draft rules, both the Wild and Anaheim may have to leave a talented young blue liner exposed and could elect to make a trade to secure some value in return. While that may provide Washington with another means with which to add a needed defenseman, many teams in the league will be shopping in the same market and likely have more to offer in return than the Capitals.

Elsewhere in the Metro Division:

Scott Darling’s move to Carolina, where it is expected he will be given every chance to be the team’s #1 goalie, is viewed as the 28-year-old netminder’s biggest opportunity at the professional level. For his part, however, Darling sees it as just the next step in a pro career chock full of opportunities, writes Luke DeCock of The News & Observer. As DeCock notes, Darling has already overcome a drinking problem which nearly sunk his career before it ever even got started, and has worked his way up the pro ranks all the way from the SPHL up to where he is today; the presumptive starter for a young Carolina team hoping to contend for a playoff spot next season. It’s been a lengthy process for Darling but his approach finally appears to be paying off. “It’s kind of been my thing to just saw the wood in front of you, and just keep working toward the next step.” The “wood” in front of him is the high expectations that he will have to shoulder as the new #1 goalie for a team whose recent chances to compete in the postseason have been derailed by poor to mediocre play between the pipes. But given his history, Darling appears well-suited for the challenges that await in Carolina.
The New Jersey Devils have high expectations for their 2016 first round draft selection, center Michael McLeod, a skilled offensive talent who starred for Mississauga of the OHL. Chris Ryan of NJ Advance Media spoke with Paul Castron, the team’s Director of Amateur Scouting, about McLeod’s progress one year after the team made the 6-foot-2, 194-pound pivot the 12th overall pick in the draft. After impressing team brass at the Devils developmental and training camps last summer, McLeod struggled during the first couple of months of the OHL season, writes Ryan, though Castron is still high on the prospect: “He’s one of those players where he never lets you down with his work ethic and his speed game is always there, he’s always a factor. I think he was just frustrated early in the season for not producing at a higher rate. The team as a whole really struggled, and I think he felt a lot of pressure because he was captain, too, and he was their leader.” McLeod would get his game going in the second half of the season, notes Ryan, amassing 46 points over his final 31 contests and leading his team to the OHL Final, recording an impressive 27 points in 20 postseason games along the way. With New Jersey in the midst of an all out rebuild, one buoyed by winning the rights to the first overall choice in the 2017 draft in the NHL’s recent lottery, McLeod’s development will be important to the future success of the organization. It’s possible given the team’s dearth of offensive talent that McLeod could open the year in New Jersey with a strong training camp performance.

Snapshots: Morin, Devils, Balinskis

May 19, 2017 at 1:25 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

Travis Morin will be staying in Texas next season, after the Texas Stars captain signed a one-year AHL deal today. The 33-year old forward has been one of the more impressive scoring threats in the AHL for years, and recorded another 55 points this past season. With 468 points in 548 games, you’d think Morin would have gotten more of a look at the NHL, but he’s only spent 13 games there over his career.

Texas finished out of the playoffs this season, but will hope Morin will bring back his offensive touch to a group that should be improved in 2017-18. Mark McNeill, acquired at the deadline from the Chicago Blackhawks, will be an especially important addition should he not be able to crack the Dallas lineup next year.

The New Jersey Devils scouting staff is preparing “like we’re making the No. 1 pick” according to Mike Morreale of NHL.com, though there still does exist the possibility that the team would trade down. The team won’t make that final decision until much closer to the draft, but it’s clear that they have interest in both projected top picks. Paul Castron, the team’s director of amateur scouting, talks about how Nolan Patrick’s injury shouldn’t be held against him, and that Nico Hischier has made a meteoric rise up everyone’s draft boards this season. For a team looking to turn their franchise around quickly, they’ll have to decide whether one of the top two names can help them in the short-term, or if moving down a few spots in exchange for an NHL-ready player makes more sense.
Keep an eye on Uvis Balinskis from Dinamo Riga of the KHL and most recently the Latvian team at the World Championships. He’s now represented by Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey, who claims that the “NHL is next” for his client. Balinskis is “open for business” according to Milstein, and was impressive at the tournament. Balinskis played half the season for Riga after moving up from the MHL, and recorded 5 points in 21 games. The left-handed defenseman is just 20-years old and could have a professional future in North America should he continue to develop his two-way style.

Metro Division Notes: Capitals, Smith, Flyers, Shero

May 13, 2017 at 10:05 am CDT | by Glen Miller Leave a Comment

With perhaps the most complete team top-to-bottom in franchise history, the Washington Capitals believed they had all the pieces to finally propel themselves past the arch-rival Pittsburgh Penguins and into the Eastern Conference Final for the first time in Alex Ovechkin’s 12-year NHL career. However, after yet another disappointing defeat at the hands of the Penguins, Washington must now once again go back to the drawing board in search of the right formula. Unlike in years past when the roster’s shortcomings were easy to identify, Capitals GM Brian McLellan will have a much tougher time this summer identifying an obvious solution to the team’s deficiencies, as Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washington Post writes.

As Khurshudyan notes, since assuming the top job with the Caps, MacLellan has strategically set about filling holes on the roster as he attempted to construct a championship team. First he went to work to address the team’s defense corps, inking veteran blue liners Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik as free agents in the summer of 2014. The next year, the GM brought in Justin Williams and T.J. Oshie via free agency and trade respectively, to “bolster the top-six.” Last summer, MacLellan dealt two draft picks to Montreal for Lars Eller and signed Brett Connolly to add more speed and skill to the team’s third line. The cherry on top was acquiring prized, puck-moving defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk at the trade deadline, adding an impact player to an already stacked lineup while at the same time keeping him from going to a conference rival (it was believed Pittsburgh and the N.Y. Rangers were also in the Shattenkirk sweepstakes). While it all added up to perhaps the best team in the league on paper, in the end Washington couldn’t exorcise their postseason demons and once again are left wondering what could have been.

Clearly MacLellan will again try to construct a Stanley Cup-caliber club but with Oshie, Shattenkirk, Karl Alzner and Williams all scheduled to be UFA’s, and with less than $22MM available in projected cap space, it’s likely the team will lose at least two key contributors from that group. Complicating matters is the fact that Evgeny Kuznetsov, Andre Burakovsky and Dmitry Orlov will be RFA’s and in line for significant raises over their 2017 salaries. Barring some savvy salary cap maneuverings this summer, it’s quite possible the Capitals best chance to win a Stanley Cup with Ovechkin on the roster just passed them by.

Minor Moves: Bratt, Carey, Carrick

May 12, 2017 at 11:56 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

The New Jersey Devils have inked one of their 2016 draft picks, signing Jesper Bratt to a three-year entry-level contract. The sixth-round pick played this season for AIK of the Swedish second league, scoring 22 points in 46 games. Bratt is a small, shifty winger that is still a long way away from being considered a real NHL prospect. Still just 18 years old, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him stay in Sweden next season, perhaps moving up to the SHL at some point.

Bratt will also have a chance to appear in this year’s World Juniors, after playing in the U18 tournament last year. He’s shown a good hard shot at international competitions in the past, though only scored six goals with it for AIK this season.

Washington Capitals forward Paul Carey has cleared waivers and been re-assigned to the Hershey Bears of the AHL. Hershey won game 3 of their series against the Providence Bruins last night, and will hope Carey can help them all the way to the Calder Cup finals. If there has been one complaint about the Bears this postseason it’s that they haven’t scored enough goals, notching just 17 in the 8 games thus far. Carey will likely change that, after his point-per-game season that saw him register 24 goals for the Bears.
Sam Carrick has been recalled by the Anaheim Ducks once again, as they get set to start their series against the Nashville Predators. The Ducks have been beat up by injuries all playoffs, and will rely on Carrick as insurance should they get into any trouble before the game tonight. Carrick hasn’t played in the NHL this season, though he did put up 11 points in 15 AHL games after coming over in a mid-season trade with the Chicago Blackhawks. He also has recorded five points in the playoffs for the San Diego Gulls, who are currently down 2-1 to the San Jose Barracuda in their second-round series.

Snapshots: Simek, Carey, AHL

May 11, 2017 at 4:13 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

While just today Jan Rutta’s agent told us that his client was getting NHL offers, it seems that perhaps another Czech defender will soon sign. TSN analyst Ray Ferraro responded on Twitter to the fact that Vancouver GM Jim Benning is only watching games in Paris at the World Championships, saying that the most interesting players are Rutta and teammate Radim Simek. There have been reports floating around that Simek has already signed an NHL deal, and it is supported by his own words that he plans on coming across the Atlantic this season.

Ferraro seemed to agree with the idea that Simek was already signed, though still had no details on who the team is. The 24-year old is another puck-moving defender that can put up points and skate well enough to make the jump, though he didn’t have quite the offensive impact of Rutta or Jakub Jerabek (another Czech teammate) this season. While the Sharks are rumored in the above article as having scouted him this year, several teams likely have shown interest at the tournament.

The Washington Capitals placed Paul Carey on waivers today, with the intent of sending him back to the Hershey Bears for the remainder of the AHL playoff run. Hershey will play game three in their series with the Providence Bruins later tonight after splitting the first two matchups. The addition of Carey will certainly help; he scored 55 points in 55 games this season for the Bears, and led the team in goals with 24.
Speaking of the AHL, the league has announced re-alignment for next season. The Charlotte Checkers will be moving from the Central Division to the Atlantic, while several changes will hit the North. The Senators will now be based out of Belleville, ON while the Albany Devils are moving to the vacant Binghamton. The Devils were one of the worst-attended teams in the league despite their recent success. The St. John’s IceCaps will also be moving, heading closer to their parent team in Montreal. They’ll become the Laval Rocket for next season, and stay in the North Division.

Offseason Keys: New Jersey Devils

May 10, 2017 at 5:20 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

While the expansion draft is set to headline a busy NHL offseason, there are still several other storylines for each team in the months ahead. Here is a closer look at what lies ahead for the New Jersey Devils.

Last offseason, Devils GM Ray Shero took a big swing with the addition of Taylor Hall up front in the hopes that he would bolster their offense. That didn’t exactly happen as the team managed one fewer goal scored than they did in 2015-16. Their blueline struggled with the loss of Adam Larsson and as a result, they were near the top of the league in goals allowed. Not surprisingly, those two issues resulted in a tie for 27th place overall meaning that it’s time to go back to the drawing board for Shero who has a few intriguing decisions to make this summer.

The Number One Pick – Keep Or Trade?

While there weren’t many good things happening on the ice in New Jersey, they did get some good news off it with their victory in the NHL Draft Lottery. Unfortunately for them, this draft class lacks the top flight star that we’ve seen the last couple of years while there isn’t even a consensus top selection.

Accordingly, many wonder if this might be an appropriate time to deal the top pick away. There isn’t a whole lot of precedent for doing so but with young, cheap, and controllable talent being much more valuable now in the salary cap era, the Devils could potentially land a core player that could make an impact right away.

If they decide to keep the pick, it’s likely between a pair of centers for the top spot in Nolan Patrick (Brandon, WHL) and Nico Hischier (Halifax, QMJHL). Patrick is more of the all-around player but Hischier could certainly be enticing to a team that still needs to add some offensive punch to their lineup.

The Kovalchuk Situation

Although Ilya Kovalchuk retired from NHL action in 2013 and the team is eating a small cap hit of $250K per season through 2024-25 in salary cap recapture, the Devils are poised to facilitate a move that will allow them to get something for a player that isn’t playing for them.

Kovalchuk has made it known that he would like to take himself off the Voluntary Retired List and return to NHL action next season. He can do so and enter free agency if the 30 other teams approve. That’s not going to happen which opens up a sign-and-trade scenario.

While the 34 year doesn’t appear to have much interest in returning to New Jersey, the team still has some leverage in that they have to get good enough value in a deal to entice them to facilitate Kovalchuk’s return, especially given the weak free agent market up front in terms of impact forwards. It’s not likely that they’ll command a premium return but Shero should be able to at least add an asset or two which, for someone that ‘retired’ a few years ago, is still not bad. He could opt to try to add draft picks but he could also wind up with a player in return, especially if the acquiring team needs to shed some salary to fit Kovalchuk onto their payroll.

Add Defensive Help

The Devils didn’t have the deepest of defense corps before they moved Larsson last offseason and they certainly missed his presence on the back end in 2016-17. They’re missing a true shutdown defender that can anchor a penalty kill and be counted on in late game situations and while John Moore scored 12 goals this season, he’s far from the key offensive threat that any team with eyes on a playoff push needs.

Accordingly, expect the blueline to be something New Jersey will focus on this offseason. If they do dangle the number one pick, they could potentially add a core defender with several years of team control which. It’s unlikely that they’ll do the opposite of last year and trade a key forward for a defender but they could conceivably look to the trade route to upgrade their bottom half.

It also wouldn’t be surprising to see Shero take a run at the biggest fish on the back end in free agency in Kevin Shattenkirk. The Devils have just $51.6MM committed in payroll for next season and have the cap space to make a big splash. There are several other players who could step in and play a top four role for them so there’s a good chance that they will be look to be active on the open market in July.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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