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New Jersey, Mercer Still Making Progress On Contract Talks

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The New Jersey Devils are prepping to begin training camp tomorrow without forward Dawson Mercer but the team hopes it won’t be for long. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported earlier that the team continues to discuss a new contract with Mercer but there is still no deal.

Mercer has been one of the most consistent forwards for the Devils over his entry-level deal as evidenced by the fact he has not missed a game since debuting in the 2021-22 NHL season. His first two years saw him score 44 goals and 98 points in 164 contests for New Jersey but his scoring depressed last year with 20 goals and 33 points in 82 games. The dip in scoring last year and his discouraging defensive play during his first three years may be why contract talks have dragged into training camp.

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Devils Sign Andy Welinski To PTO

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The Devils have signed defenseman Andy Welinski to a professional tryout, general manager Tom Fitzgerald announced Monday. The team also confirmed that former Sharks forward Kevin Labanc will be in camp, as initially reported Sunday by Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now.

Welinski, 31, hasn’t seen NHL ice since he was a part of the Ducks organization in the 2020-21 season. The Anaheim 2011 third-round pick has 46 games of NHL experience – all in Orange County – with a goal, five assists, six points, and a -2 rating while averaging 15:46 per game.

The organizational depth defender has been an AHL fixture in recent years. After a PTO with the Blues last year proved unsuccessful, Welinski settled for an AHL contract with the Iowa Wild. He posted 10 points in 27 games with the Minnesota affiliate before being sent to the Panthers organization at the minor-league trade deadline. He went without a point in eight appearances for the Charlotte Checkers.

Welinski looks to earn his first NHL contract in camp with the Devils since inking a two-way pact with the Rangers for 2022-23. The native of Duluth, Minnesota, is still a capable veteran puck-mover at the AHL level and would benefit New Jersey’s affiliate, the Utica Comets, especially early on in the season. They’ll likely be without a regular for the first few weeks of the campaign with Luke Hughes out with a shoulder injury, creating a ripple effect that will have one of the Comets’ top names on the NHL roster as a reserve on opening night.

In parts of nine AHL seasons, Welinski has 42 goals, 110 assists, 152 points, 119 PIMs, and a -17 rating in 319 appearances.

Devils Optimistic About Signing Dawson Mercer Before Camp

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The Devils continue to grind away at contract negotiations with restricted free agent forward Dawson Mercer, and there’s a sense of optimism the two sides will agree on a bridge deal before training camp opens Wednesday, Peter Baugh of The Athletic reports.

Talks seemed to be at a standstill for much of the summer until New Jersey general manager Tom Fitzgerald told James Murphy of Responsible Gambling last month that he’d exchanged proposals with Mercer’s camp and was working toward an agreement. Multiple reports since then indicated a short-term contract was the likeliest outcome. PHR’s Brian La Rose examined possible comparables for Mercer’s pending deal earlier this month, exhausting any long-term options.

The Devils have less than $5MM in projected cap space to get a deal done, per PuckPedia. That number could increase slightly to begin the season if they place defenseman Luke Hughes on long-term injured reserve while rehabbing a shoulder injury. Still, they’d need to clear enough cap space to activate him quickly, as his absence isn’t expected to stretch past early November.

A bridge deal with a sub-$5MM cap hit seems fair to both sides after the season Mercer just had. The 2020 first-round pick’s third NHL season was his worst, posting career lows in assists (13), rating (-26), and shots on goal (134). That came despite a career-high 17:13 ATOI and playing in all 82 games yet again, continuing his career-opening ironman streak.

Yet Mercer, who turns 23 in October, hit 20 goals for the second time and projects as a reliable, versatile top-six utility piece who can play any forward position, even if his overall production this season reflected someone better suited for a third-line role offensively. After hitting 56 points in his sophomore campaign, it’s clear Mercer’s contract year was a bump in the road – one with unfortunate effects on his short-term earnings.

Devils Expected To Sign Kevin Labanc To PTO

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The New Jersey Devils are expected to sign longtime San Jose Sharks winger Kevin Labanc to a professional try-out agreement. The deal was first reported by Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now.

Labanc – a native of Brooklyn, New York – has spent the entirety of his eight-year NHL career with the Sharks. He made his NHL debut in 2016, just two years after his sixth-round selection in the 2014 NHL Draft. Labanc was effective out of the gates, recording eight goals and 20 points in 55 rookie games. His scoring climbed over the next two seasons, peaking with a career-high 17 goals and 56 points in the 2018-19 season – the only year that Labanc played in all 82 games. But he’s been on the down-slope ever since, with a pair of 33-point seasons the closest he’s come to matching his career year.

Labanc finally fell out of the lineup last season. He scored just two goals and nine points in 46 appearances, ultimately ceding ice time to the likes of Givani Smith and Daniil Gushchin. That’s a heavy blow to take on an offense as poor as the 2024 Sharks – but Labanc can’t be written off just yet. He’s still managed 225 points across 478 games, and could offer stout third-line scoring for a team in need. New Jersey certainly fits that bill, looking for consistent lineup pieces to surround Erik Haula and Curtis Lazar in the bottom-six. Labanc will step into competition for minutes with wingers like Nathan Bastian, Stefan Noesen, and Paul Cotter when New Jersey opens their training camp on September 18th.

Metropolitan Notes: Filmon, Hurricanes, Sotheran

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Devils prospect Josh Filmon won’t participate in rookie camp and is doubtful for main training camp after being listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury, per the team’s Amanda Stein. The 20-year-old left-winger will report to the AHL’s Utica Comets for his first professional campaign when he’s cleared to play, and Comets bench boss Kevin Dineen said they haven’t yet ruled him out for the start of the regular season.

Filmon, a Winnipeg native, went 166th overall to New Jersey in the sixth round of the 2022 draft. The 6’3″, 170-lb forward has been a premier offensive threat for the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League in his first two post-draft seasons, totaling 67 points (27 G, 40 A) in 64 games with a +16 rating last season.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the Metropolitan Division:

  • The Hurricanes’ home will have a new name this season after the club has reached a 10-year arena naming rights agreement with the multinational technology company Lenovo, the team announced. The arena, known as PNC Arena since 2012, will now be named the Lenovo Center through at least the 2033-34 season. The arena opened for the 1999-00 season, the Hurricanes’ third in Carolina after relocating from Hartford, and was initially named the Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena before becoming the RBC Center in 2002.
  • Flyers defense prospect Carter Sotheran is limited in rookie camp activities while dealing with a flare-up of Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, he told Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports. According to the Mayo Clinic, the condition results in “an extra pathway for signals to travel between the heart’s upper and lower chambers,” which can cause a fast or irregular heartbeat. Sotheran, 19, said he’s been dealing with the condition for the past four years and hopes to play in some of the Flyers’ rookie tournament contests over the weekend or next week. The 2023 fifth-round pick has not yet signed his entry-level contract and will return to the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks for his third season of junior hockey shortly.

Luke Hughes Out Six To Eight Weeks With Shoulder Injury

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Devils defenseman Luke Hughes is expected to miss training camp, preseason, and the start of the regular season after injuring his left shoulder while training earlier this month.

According to an announcement from the team, he’ll miss between six and eight weeks. That puts his season debut for New Jersey sometime during late October or early November.

It’s a tough break for both the Devils and the 21-year-old, who’s a pending restricted free agent entering the final season of his entry-level contract. He’s eligible to sign an extension at any time, and it’ll likely be a costly one after he led New Jersey defenders in scoring last season with 47 points (9 G, 38 A) in 82 games and finished third in Calder Trophy voting, losing out on Rookie of the Year honors to Connor Bedard and finishing well short of Wild counterpart Brock Faber for second place.

The fourth overall pick in the 2021 draft, Hughes is well on his way to joining his brother Jack as a core piece in the Garden State for years to come. The New Hampshire native has some work to do defensively before he’s a proper top-pairing option, finishing third-worst on the team with a -25 rating, but his 55% shot attempt share and 52.3 expected goals share at even strength were decent in sheltered offensive usage. Before turning pro with the Devils to close the 2022-23 campaign, Hughes’ 48 points in 39 games from the University of Michigan blue line helped them to a second straight Big 10 championship.

The left-shot defender is slated for second-pairing duties when healthy, allowing a more stay-at-home partner to complement a healthy Dougie Hamilton on the team’s top pairing. That spot will be up for grabs in training camp now, though, at least for the first few weeks of the campaign. New head coach Sheldon Keefe has plenty of options, but the most likely is a shutdown duo of free agent additions, Brenden Dillon and Brett Pesce, backing up Hamilton and his partner.

If Hughes doesn’t miss enough time to be eligible for long-term injured reserve, that could create complications for a Devils team that will likely be capped out after coming to an agreement with RFA forward Dawson Mercer. Putting Hughes on standard IR compared to LTIR could result in New Jersey not carrying an extra defenseman until he returns to health. His injury should provide plenty of opportunity early on for Johnathan Kovacevic, who was projected to start the year as the Devils’ No. 7 defender after being acquired from the Canadiens in June.

Poll: Which Non-Playoff Team From The East Will Return In 2024-25?

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The 2024 Stanley Cup playoff picture in the Eastern Conference was similar to 2023 aside from a few changes to the seeding of the eight teams. The only team switch was the Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils with the former making it in as the final wild-card team in the Conference on the last day of the regular season. The 2024-25 season will bring similar hypotheticals as any new season in which teams will ultimately find themselves in the group of 16.

New Jersey may be the early favorite to return to the playoffs after an impressive summer. The team added a salary-retained Jacob Markstrom in an early-summer swap with the Calgary Flames while handing out big-ticket contracts to Brett Pesce and Brenden Dillon. That trio should help the team dramatically improve upon their 3.43 GA/G (28th) from last season with the offense still as staunch as ever. The only concern that may carry over from last season is the organization’s recurring injury concerns. Only four players are returning from last year that played in 75+ games and New Jersey will need to keep a much healthier lineup if they want another shot at the Stanley Cup.

There has been an informal race throughout the last several years as to which of the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, or Ottawa Senators will return to the playoffs the quickest in the Atlantic Division. Detroit came close last year by tying in points with the Capitals on the final day of the regular season but ultimately losing on the tiebreaker of ’Regulation Wins’. The Sabres made a point to strengthen their bottom six this summer while the Red Wings largely added around the edges. Ottawa made the biggest splash by bringing in goaltender Linus Ullmark in a trade with the Boston Bruins and should have center Joshua Norris around for much of the season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins will be another team to look out for as they’ve missed each of the last two postseasons by a combined four points. None of the other teams in the Eastern Conference have the benefit of deploying Sidney Crosby making Pittsburgh an immediate threat to qualify for the postseason. The Metropolitan Division is arguably the toughest in the NHL but the Penguins could capitalize should other divisional opponents get off to slow starts.

Other teams in the Eastern Conference could make a surprise run to the postseason but the abovementioned group serves as the favorite candidates at this point. Which one of these teams do you think has the best chance of returning in 2025?

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Possible Comparables For Dawson Mercer’s Contract

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One of the more prominent remaining free agents is Devils forward Dawson Mercer.  While he’s coming off a down season, he has had enough success over his first three NHL seasons that New Jersey would likely want to work out a long-term deal with them.  Whether they can afford to, however, might be a different story.

The 22-year-old had the lowest output of his career last season but still managed 20 goals and 13 assists while playing all 82 games for the third straight year.  But with a 42-point effort in his rookie season and a 56-point showing in his sophomore campaign, there’s enough of a track record for a long-term deal to potentially make sense.

Looking at some potential comparables, one of their division rivals has a couple of them in Joel Farabee and Travis Konecny (his current deal, not the extension he just signed).  Both were post-entry-level pacts, checking in at $5MM and $5.5MM respectively.  Mercer’s numbers are better than Farabee’s so it’s likely to come in above that while Mercer’s best year was better than Konecny’s at that point.  If we use cap percentages (to reflect the increase in the salary cap at that time), the range of the two deals moves to between $5.333MM and $5.94MM.

Other possible comparable players in that range are Florida’s Anton Lundell ($5MM signed this year) and Nick Schmaltz ($5.875MM).  Notably, none of those contracts were for the maximum eight years either; three were six-year agreements while Schmaltz was the exception at seven seasons.  At this point, something in the high-$5MM area might be the right fit on a six-year deal for Mercer, one that would buy out two years of UFA eligibility.  Going longer (adding on more UFA years) would only push that price tag higher.

But even affording the six-year contract would appear to be a challenge at first glance.  At the moment, the team projects to have $4.976MM in cap space for the upcoming season, per PuckPedia, with a projected 22-player roster.  They could increase that wiggle room by not carrying a full-sized roster but that leaves them vulnerable to injuries.

It’s also worth mentioning that they have more than $5MM in potential performance bonuses for Simon Nemec and Luke Hughes so they may want to leave themselves some wiggle room to absorb some of those – if earned – on the 2024-25 cap instead of rolling them over to their 2025-26 cap.  Additionally, they will almost certainly want to leave themselves some room for in-season movement.

Put it all together and a long-term contract simply isn’t doable, not without moving someone of consequence off their current roster.  And while something like that isn’t impossible, a lot of teams are now tight to the cap ceiling so it’s not as easy as it was six weeks ago to move money; let’s face it, it wasn’t all that easy then either.

That squarely pushes the contract needle in the bridge direction for Mercer.  A two-year agreement would only cover one arbitration-eligible season but should check in around the $3.5MM per season mark, one that would leave GM Tom Fitzgerald at least $1MM in flexibility heading into the fall.  That’s not a lot – especially if there’s an early injury – but that would still have them in reasonable shape.  With him being four years away from UFA eligibility, something in the three-to-five-year range would be a bit riskier so it’s less likely to be one of those lengths.

While it might sound simple enough in theory, this is the type of contractual situation that can drag out.  If Mercer’s camp wants to hold out for the possibility of a long-term agreement, they’ll need to wait to see if something happens in terms of roster movement over the next six weeks or so.  And if both sides are resigned to a short-term agreement, Mercer could simply opt to wait until closer to camp to see if there’s an injury that gives him a bit more leverage and perhaps gives him a chance at a bit more money.  Neither of those scenarios are any reason for concern, that’s just sometimes how things play out with players coming off entry-level deals if they’re not signed at this point.

Despite the down year, Mercer is quite likely to be viewed as a key piece of New Jersey’s plans for the foreseeable future.  But with how their roster looks, it seems unlikely that they’ll be able to give him the type of contract commensurate with a core player.  Barring a change, that contract will have to come after they get through a bridge deal first.

East Notes: Kapanen, Kolosov, Mercer

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Canadiens center prospect Oliver Kapanen signed a two-year deal with Swedish Hockey League club Timrå IK back in May. He’s already made quite an impression on his new head coach, longtime NHLer Olli Jokinen, who showered the 21-year-old with praise in a recent interview with Marco D’Amico of Responsible Gambling.

In fact, Jokinen’s been so pleased with Kapanen’s play during the SHL preseason that he’s concerned about him spending more time than expected in Montreal next month when he heads to North America for training camp. “He’s been too good for our league so far this preseason, playing like a dominant force in every single game,” Jokinen said. “He’s been great offensively, scoring some goals, but also defensively and in the faceoff circle, which will be his biggest advantage going into Montreal.”

Kapanen may have inked a multi-year commitment with Timrå, but he also signed his entry-level contract with the Canadiens shortly thereafter. While technically eligible for assignment to the AHL’s Laval Rocket, there’s a European Assignment Clause in his ELC that will allow him to return to Timrå if cut from Montreal’s NHL roster, Jokinen said.

It would be a surprise to see Kapanen unseat another Canadiens youngster like Joshua Roy to win a roster spot, but the Finnish national is certainly trending in the right direction after recording 34 points in 51 games last season with Liiga’s KalPa. If he does play this season in Timrå, he’ll likely be their leader in ice time among forwards as “a first-line center with power play and penalty kill time,” said Jokinen.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

  • The Flyers are now operating under the assumption that goaltending prospect Alexei Kolosov won’t be reporting to training camp, Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff reports. He also adds that general manager Daniel Brière remains unwilling to loan the 22-year-old back to Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League, where he’s played for most of the past four seasons. Kolosov, a third-round pick of the Flyers in 2021, has two years left on his entry-level contract with Philadelphia. He’s been in dispute with the club about where to play this season since at least May, when reports emerged he had trouble adjusting to the North American environment after ending the 2023-24 campaign with a pair of appearances for Philly’s AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
  • Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on Friday’s “32 Thoughts” podcast that he’s confident the Devils’ pending agreement with RFA forward Dawson Mercer will be a short-term one. With just under $5MM in projected cap space (PuckPedia), he doesn’t think the Devils would be able to fit a long-term deal with Mercer under the cap this season without a significant preseason corresponding transaction. Mercer remains unsigned with less than two weeks to go until training camp, but general manager Tom Fitzgerald said last month that a resolution wasn’t too far off.

Devils Sign Jakub Zboril, Michael Hutchinson To PTOs

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The Devils have officially signed defenseman Jakub Zboril and goaltender Michael Hutchinson to professional tryout agreements, the team announced today in a pair of press releases.

Zboril, the No. 13 overall pick by the Bruins in 2015, didn’t see any NHL action last season for the first time since 2019-20. He was waived following training camp and assigned to the AHL’s Providence Bruins, where he was limited to nine points and a -5 rating in 31 games before his nine-year tenure in the Boston organization ended in March.

After being shipped to the Blue Jackets in the trade deadline deal that saw Andrew Peeke head to the Bruins, Zboril posted four assists and a -2 rating in 15 games to end the season with Columbus’ AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters. He wasn’t brought back after reaching unrestricted free agency this summer following the conclusion of the two-year, $2.28MM extension he signed to stay in Boston in 2022.

Now 27, Zboril has topped out as a top-four AHL defender or a fringe No. 7 option on an NHL roster. He has one goal, 15 assists, 16 points, and an even rating in 76 career appearances in parts of four seasons with the Bruins, averaging 15:38 per game. The 6’0″, 194-lb defender does play an effective physical game, but he hasn’t been a notable offensive option in the pros, even at the AHL level.

Hutchinson, 34, will provide veteran insurance between the pipes during camp to complement a trio of young, NHL-contracted depth netminders who will be jockeying for AHL and ECHL starts. He hasn’t been a full-time NHL option since the mid-2010s, but he has still made at least one appearance per year in a depth role for various teams.

He spent last season with the Red Wings, mostly with their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. But he did make one NHL start, ironically against the Devils, posting a .917 SV% in a loss on Dec. 23, 2023. He’s struggled in AHL action over the past few years, posting sub-.900 save percentages for three seasons in a row.

Neither player will compete earnestly for a spot on the Devils’ opening night roster. Instead, they’ll look to convert strong camp performances into two-way deals and land with New Jersey’s AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets, for 2024-25 after likely passing through waivers unclaimed.

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