- Friedman also discussed that while the New Jersey Devils have expressed interest in retaining pending restricted free agent Cody Glass, the team may not have the financial flexibility to do so. With several pending free agents—including Curtis Lazar, Brian Dumoulin, and Jake Allen—and a significant restricted free agent in Luke Hughes, Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald must be strategic in allocating the team’s $14.3 million in cap space (per PuckPedia). Glass spent last season between the Penguins and Devils and posted a combined six goals and 22 points in 65 games. The former sixth overall pick (and first in Golden Knights history), added a career-high 51.2 faceoff win percentage.
Devils Rumors
Goalie Jake Allen May Command $5MM Annually
Pending free agent Jake Allen could be the top goalie available in this year’s free agent class, and he’s certainly approaching it as such. According to Anthony Di Marco of the Daily Faceoff, Allen is believed to be seeking a multi-year deal in the “$5MM AAV range.”
As Di Marco notes, Allen and the New Jersey Devils continue to discuss a potential extension ahead of free agency. However, it appears Allen is seeking at least a two-year deal and a large raise on his previous $3.85MM AAV deal. With the clock ticking and Allen set to be the top available goalie, the Devils will need to act quickly if they hope to retain him.
Allen, 34, is coming off a solid showing during the 2024-25 season. Despite his 13-16-1 record, Allen produced a .906 save percentage and 2.66 goals against average. His save percentage actually exceeded that of starter Jacob Markström, who posted a .900 mark, and the two goalies finished tied with four shutouts each, despite Markström starting 20 more games.
The Athletic’s Pierre Lebrun also recently made note of Allen’s strong position given the limited availability at the position in free agency. While Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald has expressed interest in re-signing last year’s backup, Allen is already drawing interest from other teams, with the Flyers, Oilers, and Sharks having been linked to the netminder.
While Allen was previously projected to land a two-year deal worth $3.5MM per season on the open market, according to AFP Analytics, both the term and annual value could exceed those expectations as teams scramble to secure his services. With this in mind, it will be interesting to see where Allen ends up next season. With the Devils holding just over $14MM in cap space (per PuckPedia), they may not be inclined to sign Allen for an AAV much higher than his last deal.
If the Devils are unable to come to an agreement with Allen, they could look to pair Markström with Nico Daws next season. While the 24-year-old Daws only appeared in six contests last season with the Devils, he impressed with a .939 save percentage.
AHL Notes: Pitlick, Gibson, Utica
The Oilers’ AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, announced Wednesday they’ve signed forwards Rem Pitlick and Rhett Pitlick to one-year and two-year contracts, respectively. Both are still free agents in the NHL’s eyes, but will have a secure playing role in the pros in Edmonton’s system next season.
Rem, 28, is the older of the two brothers and has the NHL experience to show for it. He’s produced quite well in limited minutes when given the chance but has never found a stable home, suiting up for the Predators, Canadiens, Wild, and Blackhawks in parts of five seasons from 2018-19 to 2023-24. He’s managed a 21-33–54 scoring line in 132 career games, but despite that solid production, he didn’t land an NHL contract for 2024-25. He didn’t sign anywhere until February, when he inked an AHL contract with the Sharks’ affiliate. He finished the year with two goals and 13 points in 18 games, a diminished output from the point-per-game rate he’s hovered around in the minors over the past few years.
He’s joined by his younger brother, Rhett. The 24-year-old was a fifth-round pick by the Canadiens in 2019, but they relinquished his signing rights last offseason. Instead of turning pro following three years at the University of Minnesota, he transferred to Minnesota State for his senior season. He led the Mavericks with 27 assists, 40 points, and a +32 rating in 39 games en route to a CCHA regular-season and tournament championship. He was also named to the conference’s First All-Star Team and was dubbed CCHA Forward of the Year. He finished the season on a tryout with Bakersfield, notching six assists in six games with a plus-eight rating. Both are strong candidates to get NHL contracts from the Oilers at some point next season if they perform well and move up their list of potential call-ups.
Other notable news out of the AHL:
- It’s unclear if the Capitals plan on issuing a qualifying offer to pending RFA goalie Mitchell Gibson, but the depth netminder will be staying in the organization next season regardless. He’s agreed to a one-year contract with the Hershey Bears, per a club announcement. Gibson, 26, was a fourth-round pick by the Caps in 2018 and turned pro in 2023 following four seasons at Harvard. He’s spent the vast majority of his pro career down a level with ECHL South Carolina but has made three appearances for the Bears in the past two years, recording a 1.95 GAA and .920 SV% in the process. He also did quite well in limited ECHL action this past season with a .933 SV% and 1.75 GAA in 14 games for the Stingrays. That may be enough to land him a full-time AHL job as a backup with Hershey in 2025-26 without taking up a contract slot on Washington’s books, particularly if the club doesn’t plan on re-signing UFA Hunter Shepard.
- The Devils announced that the coaching staff for their affiliate, the Utica Comets, is set in stone for next season. Ryan Parent will stay on as head coach after taking over for Kevin Dineen on an interim basis early last year. They had a 31-33-6-2 record after the coaching change following a 0-8-1 start under Dineen. The club also promoted player development coach Mark Voakes to an assistant role under Parent and hired former NHL defenseman Matt Carkner as his other assistant. Utica’s goaltending coach, Brian Eklund, remains in his post.
Devils Looking To Add Impact Scoring
The Devils were among a myriad of teams interested in signing Jonathan Toews, and GM Tom Fitzgerald is still in the market for top-six forwards, per The Athletic’s Pierre Lebrun. Lebrun notes that Fitzgerald may be monitoring situations like the one Jason Robertson is currently facing with the Dallas Stars, and added, “Fitzgerald has been active fleshing out the forward market.” While Toews recently agreed to a one-year deal with the Winnipeg Jets, Robertson has been rumored to be available via trade.
While the Devils are led by young stars like Jesper Bratt, Jack Hughes, and Nico Hischier, they were the only players on the team to record more than 55 points last season. The Devils finished 20th in the league last season with 240 goals in the regular season and managed just 11 goals over five playoff games before being eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes. If they hope to contend with the Eastern Conference’s top teams, they’ll need to boost their offensive production.
- Lebrun also notes that Devils’ pending unrestricted free agent goalie Jake Allen is in a strong position, given the limited depth available at the position in this year’s free agency market. As LeBrun notes, Allen led all soon-to-be free agent goalies with a .906 save percentage last season. While Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald has expressed interest in re-signing last year’s backup, Allen is expected to draw substantial interest on the open market. Notably, the Flyers, Oilers, and Sharks have already been linked to Allen.
- Jacques Lemaire, who has been serving as the New York Islanders’ special assignments coach since 2018, is no longer with the organization, per NHL.com reporter Stefen Rosner. His departure from the Isles makes sense considering he was brought to the team by former GM Lou Lamoriello. Lemaire, 79, enjoyed a Hall of Fame playing career, recording 835 points in 853 NHL games. In 2017, he was named to the league’s “100 Greatest Players” list. He later transitioned to coaching, serving as an NHL head coach for 17 seasons, most notably leading the Devils to a Stanley Cup title in the 1994-95 season.
Flyers, Oilers, Sharks Linked To Jake Allen
The Flyers, Oilers, and Sharks are among the most likely destinations for pending UFA netminder Jake Allen if he reaches the open market next week, according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
Allen reaching UFA status on July 1 seems likely at this stage. The 34-year-old is coming off a strong season as the No. 2 to Jacob Markström in New Jersey. He’s due to command a larger chunk of cash than he usually would otherwise because of a UFA class devoid of starting options. It’s not a guarantee, though. Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald said earlier this month he’d make an effort to have Allen back in the fold next season and that there was some mutual interest in an extension.
Things have been quiet since then. Allen projects to land a two-year deal worth $3.5MM per season on the open market, according to AFP Analytics. With Markström likely to still receive the lion’s share of the starts as he enters the final year of his contract and the club looking to leverage its cap space to add to its forward group and get a long-term deal done for RFA defenseman Luke Hughes, that’s likely more than they’re willing to pay to keep him. They might be able to bring him back at a lower cap impact if they extend him a longer contract offer. Still, given his age and the fact that they have internal options like Nico Daws set to play next season on a one-way deal, it’s unclear if they’d be willing to offer him a three or four-year contract to bring the cap hit back down to the $2MM range.
That means Allen could be looking elsewhere for teams in a position to compensate him more up front and give him more than the 29 starts he received in New Jersey this past season. He doesn’t have a particularly lengthy resume as a starting or even 1A option, and he’s only hit the 40-game mark in a season once since 2019. Nonetheless, he played quite well in a 30-game slate last year behind much shoddier defense compared to how the Devils played in front of Markström. His .906 SV% and 2.66 GAA are above-average in their own right but translated to a far more raucous 18.4 goals saved above expected, according to MoneyPuck. That ranked ninth in the league and was more than names with more starts like Filip Gustavsson, Ilya Sorokin, and Joseph Woll.
He’s a good option to challenge an unestablished younger tandem option for the lion’s share of starts as a result, especially on the short-term commitment he’s expected to command. That makes all of Philadelphia, Edmonton, and San Jose logical fits. The Flyers arguably have the largest need for him. While they have Samuel Ersson and Ivan Fedotov under contract through next season, they were both fringe NHL options at best in 2024-25. Ersson was arguably the worst starter in the league, logging a .883 SV% behind a relatively competent Flyers defense that kept his GAA down to 3.14. While he’s recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons and may still have upside as a backup or 1B option, it’s hard to imagine the Flyers making any reasonable progress in their rebuild if he starts 40-plus games again in 2025-26 based on his underwhelming two years as a starter. Fedotov, while expensive at over $3MM against the cap, could be a candidate for waivers or a loan back to Russia after struggling to the tune of a .880 SV% and -13.6 GSAx in only 26 showings this year.
The Oilers’ need for a goaltending upgrade after Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard combined for a .888 SV% in the playoffs and a .897 mark in the regular season has become painfully apparent. If they’re unwilling or unable to leverage Skinner’s value how they see fit in a trade for a bona fide starting option – a highly unlikely outcome – they’ll likely look to land a modest return for the cost-effective Pickard while acquiring an option with a more recent consistent track record to take pressure off Skinner to be the clear-cut No. 1. They could find that in Allen. At his projected cap hit, they’d still be devoting just $6.1MM to their goaltending tandem, and seeing if Skinner can produce better numbers in a more limited workload will be valuable in helping them determine how aggressively to pursue extension talks for the 2026 UFA.
With Alexandar Georgiev out of the picture, one of the Sharks’ top offseason needs is a veteran goaltender to pair with top prospect Yaroslav Askarov as he graduates to a full-time NHL role for 2025-26. Allen would be the best available stopgap option as Askarov shifts from what will likely be a 40-game workload out of the gate to a 60-game one in a few years’ time. Swapping Allen’s play for Georgiev’s subpar .875 SV% and 3.88 GAA last season is likely enough on its own to vault the Sharks’ record back toward the 70-point range after averaging 53 standings points over the last three seasons amid the darkest years of their rebuild.
Predators Acquire Erik Haula From Devils
The New Jersey Devils have traded winger Erik Haula to the Nashville Predators in exchange for defense prospect Jeremy Hanzel and a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
In largely a surprise move, Nashville will take the stride to become just a bit older – and shore up their center depth in the process. They’ll do it with a familiar name, returning Haula to Tennessee four years after he spent the shortened 2020-21 season with the club. They were one of many clubs he stopped at for a year-or-less as part of a three-year journey across the NHL. That wandering came to an end when Haula was traded from the Boston Bruins to the Devils in exchange for Pavel Zacha in July 2022.
Haula was coming off a great year in the 2021-22 campaign, when he scored 44 points in 78 games. He continued to look sharp in his first year with the Devils, netting 41 points in 80 games while operating down the team’s lineup. His depth scoring was exactly what New Jersey needed behind Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, though Haula fell to just one point in five games of the Devils’ run to the second-round.
His slide in scoring continued through the last two seasons. He scored 16 goals and 35 points in 76 games last season, then dropped to 11 goals and 21 points in 69 games this year. He was hindered by day-to-day injuries in 2023-24, and an ankle sprain earlier this year.
Haula has fallen firmly into the rut of depth scorer late in his career. He was once a hot shooter for the Vegas Golden Knights, and managed a career-season in the club’s inaugural season. Haula scored 29 goals and 55 points that year, but again slid to just nine points in 20 postseason games. Throughout his career, he’s tallied up 153 goals and 337 points in 759 games. He’s also averaged an 11.5 shooting percentage. Nashville has had a knack for adding shooters to their lineup in recent years, and will find another for a cheap price in this move.
On the other side, the 22-year-old Hanzel will make yet another move before even playing in his first NHL game. The Predators previously acquired Hanzel alongside a 2025 third-round pick in the 2024 move that sent Yakov Trenin and Graham Sward to the Colorado Avalanche. Hanzel played in his first pro season in the Predators’ organization this year. Much of it was spent in the ECHL, where he totaled 22 points and a minus-24 through 61 games. Hanzel spent the four seasons prior playing with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, where he carved out a top-pair role and supported a 2023 championship run despite never scoring at-or-above point-per-game pace. He is a stocky, physical defender who is still adjusting in his ability to use size and strength against pro opponents. As those traits come along, Hanzel’s standing in the New Jersey pipeline could improve.
Devils Sign Juho Lammikko
The Devils signed center Juho Lammikko to a one-way deal worth $800K, PuckPedia reports. He’ll look to win out a roster spot in training camp and avoid waivers and a subsequent assignment to AHL Utica, although the one-way deal stipulates that it won’t affect him financially if it happens.
Lammikko, 29, has three years and 159 games of NHL experience. The left-shot pivot was a third-round pick of the Panthers back in 2014 and made his NHL debut four years later. He made 40 appearances for the Cats in the 2018-19 season, registering six assists and a minus-seven rating, before returning to Europe when his entry-level contract expired. However, Florida retained his signing rights with a qualifying offer, so when he decided he was ready to return stateside after a year and a half abroad in Finland and Russia, he returned to the Panthers for the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season.
While Lammikko managed a full-time roster spot, something he never held during his first stint in the Panthers organization, his production and role were identical to his rookie campaign. He scored his first four NHL goals but added only one assist for five points in 44 games, posting a minus-eight rating and averaging 10:50 per game. While he didn’t generate any meaningful offense in Florida, he did have some solid possession impacts at even strength, considering he was deployed as a defensive specialist.
After Lammikko re-signed with Florida on a league-minimum, one-way contract for the 2021-22 season, he failed to win a regular spot in the lineup in training camp. As a result, was traded to the Canucks along with Noah Juulsen in exchange for former top defense prospect Olli Juolevi at the beginning of the regular season. It was in British Columbia that Lammikko showed more legitimate upside as a bottom-six checking center. He upped his offensive production with a 7-8–15 scoring line in 75 games, a slight per-game increase even with the increased workload, and saw his ice time jump to the 12-minute range per game. The Finnish pivot also won 51.0% of his faceoffs after finishing at 42.8% and 44.9% in his two prior seasons with Florida. He also finished fourth among Vancouver forwards with 93 hits.
Nonetheless, that wasn’t enough for the Canucks to issue Lammikko a qualifying offer following his career-best campaign. After not pursuing or receiving NHL offers, Lammikko returned to Europe with the ZSC Lions of the Swiss National League. He’s been with ZSC ever since, bringing him some much-desired stability and allowing him to re-emerge as an offensive threat. He potted a 48-64–112 scoring line and a +60 rating in 144 games across the last three years, yielding back-to-back NL championships – he even scored the title-clinching goal in ZSC’s 2024 win. Lammikko is also 11th in NL scoring over the last three seasons.
He’ll now head to Jersey in an attempt to win out a bottom-six spot next year. It’s exceedingly rare for a player to make a jump to the NHL after his first two stints didn’t pan out, but he’s nonetheless hoping the third time is the charm. Bottom-six depth was an easily identifiable area of need for the Devils entering the summer, who have more than a few pending unrestricted free agents at the position and need insurance options in case candidates for internal promotion like Nolan Foote and Nathan Legare don’t work out.
Free Agent Focus: New Jersey Devils
Free agency is now under a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players 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
D Luke Hughes – Hughes is one of the top pending restricted free agents in the NHL, and the expectation is that the organization will do everything it can to lock up the defender before he reaches free agency. However, with just a projected $12MM in cap space, Hughes is expected to command a significant portion of that figure. In 71 games on the year, the 21-year-old essentially mirrored his rookie season production with seven goals and 44 points. New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald recently discussed the team’s urgency to resign Hughes, stating, “We’re just trying to figure out what’s best for Luke and for us and how do we make our team better with the funds that we have available… Both parties are in agreement… We’re going to get this done.” Now, the key questions are when the deal will be finalized and what the annual price tag will look like.
F Cody Glass – After bouncing around the league the last several years, Glass is hoping to have found a home in New Jersey. After being acquired from division rival Penguins in a trade deadline move, Glass contributed seven points in 14 regular-season games for the Devils. However, he provided zero points in five playoff games. At just 25 years old, Glass brings a pedigree the Devils may be eager to develop further, especially given the affordable price tag he’s expected to carry. In 253 games, Glass has posted 35 goals and 93 points.
Other RFAs: F Nolan Foote, D Santeri Hatakka, G Isaac Poulter
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
D Brian Dumoulin – A veteran of over 700 NHL games, Dumoulin brought a steady, reliable presence to the Devils’ blue line following his arrival at the trade deadline. The two-time Stanley Cup champion may be past his prime, but Dumoulin can still provide a team with veteran leadership in a second- or third-pairing role. That said, ’Dumo’ has plenty of mileage on his body — he surpassed the 1,000 blocked shots mark this past season — which could make a team with limited cap space hesitant to offer a multi-year deal to an aging blueliner.
G Jake Allen – While the optics of a 13-16-1 record don’t look great for Allen, they don’t tell the whole story of his season. Serving as the backup to starter Jacob Markstrom, Allen posted a respectable .906 save percentage, slightly better than Markstrom’s .900 mark. Allen recorded four shutouts on the season and posted a 2.66 goals-against average, reinforcing his value as one of the league’s more dependable backup goaltenders. However, with Allen turning 35 next season and Nico Daws waiting in the wings, his services may no longer be needed in New Jersey. While Allen recently noted his preference would be to stay in New Jersey, he will command quite a bit of interest on the open market.
F Curtis Lazar – With five forwards set to earn $6 million or more next season, the Devils will need to find low-cost options to fill out their bottom six. That’s where a reunion with someone like Lazar may make sense for the team. Lazar had a tough season in 2024-25, posting just five points in 48 games. However, he’s just one year removed from a career-best 25 points and a plus-10 rating in his first season with New Jersey. His expiring contract carried a modest $1 million cap hit, and that number is likely to stay in the same range. If the Devils are looking for a low-cost, veteran presence, bringing Lazar or Nathan Bastian back into the fold could work well.
Other UFAs: F Justin Dowling, F Daniel Sprong, F Nathan Bastian, F Maxwell Willman, F Samuel Laberge, F Marc McLaughlin (UFA-Group6), D Dennis Cholowski, D Tory Dello
Projected Cap Space
The Devils don’t have much wiggle room this offseason. According to PuckPedia, the team has just over $12 million available for free agency, and if a deal with Hughes gets done, that amount will be significantly reduced. Unless Fitzgerald and the front office trade away one of their current high-paid players, they’ll have to get creative to fill out the depth on the squad. They may also lean toward giving more opportunities to promising young players, like the aforementioned Daws, who won’t take up much cap space.
Devils Notes: Allen, Trades, Hischier
New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald laid out many of the team’s off-season priorities to NHL.com’s Mike Morreale. He emphasized that re-signing defenseman Luke Hughes was a top priority, but then went on to add that the Devils will also make an effort to bring back backup goaltender Jake Allen. Fitzgerald said that Allen was one of the better goaltenders on the market, and that Allen’s camp has expressed a desire to stay in New Jersey.
Allen, 34, is coming off a two-year, $7.7MM contract signed with New Jersey in 2023. He was certainly a stout backup on that deal, landing a .904 save percentage and 19-22-2 record across 44 games. The bulk of those appearances – 31 to be exact – came behind Jacob Markstrom this season. Allen posted a 13-16-1 record and .908 save percentage on the year, but came up big for the Devils one more than one occasion. He’s a one-time Stanley Cup champion, and could be had for a cheap price on a deal that may carry him to retirement.
Other notes surrounding the Devils:
- The Devils are entering the summer with just $12MM in available cap space, and could reason to spend nearly two-thirds of that on extending Hughes. That puts the team in a challenging spot when it comes to re-signing someone like Allen or Cody Glass. Fitzgerald shared he’s aware of the bind, and knows that the team will need to use strategic spending and trades to improve up the roster. The Devils don’t wield a first-round pick this year, but do have two second-round picks, and a well-built prospect pool. Trimming from either surplus could go far in landing New Jersey a stout addition, or helping them clear the cap space to make more moves.
- Fitzgerald closed by shedding light on Devils captain Nico Hischier, who suffered a lower-body injury while at the World Championship. The GM said that Hischier’s removal from the tournament was precautionary, and that Hischier is back to training per usual. That’s great news for the 26-year-old, who posted 69 points in 75 games on the season. He also scored a career-high 35 goals, trumping his previous high of 31 goals from 2022-23. With good health, Hischier will be headed straight back to a starring role next season.
Re-Signing Luke Hughes Top Priority For Devils Off-Season
New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald sat down with NHL.com’s Mike Morreale to go over the team’s priorities for the off-season. Top of conversation was star defenseman Luke Hughes, who is currently set to become a restricted free-agent on July 1st. Fitzgerald emphasized that re-signing Hughes before that deadline is a top priority, and that the two parties have already engaged in conversations around a new deal.
The GM pointed out the team’s minimal salary cap space – just over $12MM with nine pending free agents – but he ensured that Hughes would get the priority signing. Fitzgerald told Morreale:
We’re just trying to figure out what’s best for Luke and for us and how do we make our team better with the funds that we have available… Both parties are in agreement… We’re going to get this done.
Fitzgerald’s emphasis sheds some assurance on the biggest storyline shadowing the Devils’ off-season. Hughes took on a major role in the Devils’ blue-line this season, playing opposite of 10-year NHL veteran Brett Pesce and averaging 21 minutes of ice time a game. He handled the role well, recording 37 assists, 44 points, and a minus-nine through 71 games. That mark put him on pace for 42 assists and 50 points across a full 82 games, though injuries at the start of the season forced him out of 10 appearances. Still, Hughes – still just two years into his career – was able to become the first Devils’ defenseman to record consecutive 30-assist seasons since Brian Rafalski between 2005 and 2007.
It was a fantastic follow-up to Hughes’ already-strong rookie performance. He improved across the board, and even grew his plus-minus from a minus-25 to a minus-nine. He still has layers to add to his game and a clear need for more strength in the defensive zone – but all signs point towards the Devils having a star on their hands. His career 0.60 point-per-game scoring pace is the sixth-highest from a U22 defenseman since 2000 – ranked behind Cale Makar (0.88), Lane Hutson (0.81), Quinn Hughes (0.75), Erik Karlsson (0.69), and Dion Phaneuf (0.61).
It seems Fitzgerald is ready to reward Hughes’ promising upside this summer. He is projected to sign a long-term deal with a price tag north of $9MM by CapWages. That mark would eat up two-thirds of New Jersey’s available budget for the summer, and make it harder to re-sign even two of their nine free agents. Notable names like Cody Glass, and Jake Allen are each on expired contracts. Finding the space to bring them back could push New Jersey back to the trade market as the league heats up ahead of July 1st.