- Devils prospect Chase Stillman will be out for multiple weeks after being injured in New Jersey’s prospect tournament, relays Ryan Novozinsky of the Newark Star-Ledger. The 20-year-old was a first-round pick back in 2021 (29th overall) and will be making his professional debut this season after spending last year with OHL Peterborough where he had 48 points in 59 games in 2022-23.
Devils Rumors
Latest On Lindy Ruff
- New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald told the media today, including team reporter Amanda Stein, that the club is “working towards extending” head coach Lindy Ruff “beyond this year.” Ruff, 63, had a season for the ages in 2022-23, and very well could have taken home the second Jack Adams award of his career had Jim Montgomery not led the Boston Bruins to a historic 65 regular-season wins. Ruff’s Devils went 52-22-8 and defeated their arch-rival New York Rangers in the postseason, so it’s easy to see why Fitzgerald would want to keep the veteran coach moving forward.
Snapshots: Clarke, Brown, Blues
With some major departures this offseason of key veteran players, the New Jersey Devils should have some openings in their forward corps for emerging young players to grab in preseason and training camp. According to New Jersey Hockey Now’s James Nichols, one of those young players looking to grab an NHL job is Graeme Clarke, who “expects himself” to make the NHL roster this fall. Although Clarke hasn’t made his NHL debut just yet, it’s easy to see why the 22-year-old forward believes he’ll be on the Devils’ roster by opening night.
Clarke led the Utica Comets in scoring last season in the AHL, potting 25 goals and 58 points in 68 games. It was a legitimate breakout year for a player who registered just 24 points the year before, and cemented his status as a talented prospect who profiles as a potential middle-six scorer in the NHL. It’s highly likely that Clarke would have gotten an NHL call-up last season were he playing for a less talent-rich franchise, but with training camp and the preseason coming it’s likely that Clarke won’t have to wait much longer to get his chance.
Some other notes from across the NHL:
- PHLY Sports’ Charlie O’Connor reports that the Philadelphia Flyers are giving prospect Matt Brown, an invite player to their rookie tournament that begins tonight, a look on the team’s powerplay and a heightened role. O’Connor notes that the Flyers may be “considering offering him an ELC and want a closer look at his offensive ability.” Brown led Boston University in scoring last season with 16 goals and 47 points, and the 24-year-old could end up joining a Flyers prospect pool that already ranks among the league’s best.
- The St. Louis Blues are without a captain thanks to their trade of Ryan O’Reilly to the Toronto Maple Leafs at last year’s deadline, and even though the club hopes to rebound and return to the playoffs they may not do so with a player wearing the “C.” The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford reports in his recent mailbag that the Blues don’t have “imminent plans” to name a captain. (subscription link) Brayden Schenn is a player generally considered a candidate to be the team’s next captain, although Rutherford does note that the organization could opt to give the important leadership role to a younger core player, such as team number-one center Robert Thomas.
New Jersey Devils Sign Max Willman To PTO
Free agent forward Max Willman will attend the New Jersey Devils training camp on a PTO, the team said today.
Willman, 28, had spent the last four seasons in the Philadelphia Flyers organization after going unsigned by the Buffalo Sabres, who selected him in the fifth round of the 2014 NHL Draft. He made his NHL debut in the 2021-22 season and has amassed 50 games in the last two seasons, scoring four goals and adding two assists for six points while playing a limited role. While a strong skater, that hasn’t translated into successful backchecking at the NHL level – he’s been eaten alive in terms of possession in his limited usage, although that’s likely exacerbated by his excessive defensive zone start rate of 66.7% at even strength since making his NHL debut.
He’s posted solid middle-six production in the minors, recording 32 goals, 35 assists and 67 points in 142 games with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms since 2019. He’s found his way into mainstay territory in AHL lineups and can shuffle around all forward positions, making him a valuable farmhand for the Flyers in recent years.
That being said, his chances of landing an NHL role with the Devils out of camp are near zero, so he’ll be battling for either a two-way deal or an AHL contract with their affiliate, the Utica Comets. The Devils’ 42 contracts sit well below the 50-contract limit, and they do have just nine forwards signed and projected to serve in the minors. There’s certainly room for Willman’s services in Utica.
New Jersey Devils Sign Keith Kinkaid
The New Jersey Devils are bringing back a familiar face on a two-way contract for the upcoming season. The Devils formally announced a deal with Keith Kinkaid this morning as he will likely serve as depth to the teams current goaltenders. New Jersey’s Executive Vice President/General Manager Tom Fitzgerald made the announcement that will see Kinkaid take home $775K at the NHL level and $350K at the AHL level.
The undrafted Kinkaid originally signed an ELC with the Devils back in April of 2011 and spent four years shuttling back and forth between the Devils AHL affiliate Albany and the big club in New Jersey. The now 34-year-old posted very respectable numbers in his first full NHL season in 2017-18 when he had a record of 26-10-3 with a .913 save percentage and a 2.77 goals-against average.
Unfortunately for the Farmingville, New York native the wheels came off in his second full season and the Devils dealt him to Columbus in February of 2019. Since then, Kinkaid has had five different NHL stops and hasn’t been a regular NHLer.
Kinkaid has spent a great deal of time in the AHL the past few seasons and last year dressed in 27 games split between the Colorado Eagles and Providence Bruins posting a 12-10-4 record to go along with a 2.92 goals against average and a .911 save percentage.
Kinkaid figures to serve as depth for the Devils and should be a good insurance policy if they run into injury problems in the crease. New Jersey will start the season with Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid as their NHL netminders barring an injury between now and opening night.
Summer Synopsis: New Jersey Devils
Last season was something of a dream for the New Jersey Devils and their fans. Almost immediately after the Devils began play, chants calling for the firing of head coach Lindy Ruff rained down at the Prudential Center. The Devils began the season with two consecutive losses, and after years of rebuilding many fans felt a new coach in charge would be necessary to finally lift the club out of the doldrums of their rebuild.
By the end of the regular season, though, such a change proved unneeded. Ruff guided the Devils to a 52-22-8 record, registering the third-most standings points in the entire NHL. He oversaw breakout performances for numerous young Devils, including face of the franchise Jack Hughes (99 points) captain Nico Hischier (80 points, runner-up for the Selke Trophy), and sophomore Dawson Mercer (27 goals, 56 points).
The Devils now look like an up-and-coming juggernaut franchise, a club loaded with high-end youngsters and valuable veteran talent. Despite it being the first playoff run for many of the Devils’ players, the team even showcased some playoff poise, coming back from a 2-0 series deficit to eliminate their arch-rival New York Rangers in a Game Seven. The time is now for New Jersey to join the ranks of the NHL’s elite, and their offseason reflected such lofty ambitions.
Draft
2-58: F Lenni Hämeenaho, Pori (Liiga)
4-122: F Cam Squires, Cape Breton (QMJHL)
5-154: D Chase Cheslock, Omaha (USHL)
6-164: F Cole Brown, Hamilton (OHL)
6-186: D Daniil Karpovich, D, Yekaterinburg (MHL)
As a result of the Devils’ aggressiveness in acquiring NHL-ready talent this past season (namely with their addition of Timo Meier from the San Jose Sharks) the team was left without a first-round pick for the first time since 2013. That’s not exactly an issue for New Jersey, though, as the team made five first-round selections between the 2020 and 2021 drafts and made the second overall pick at the 2022 draft. The Devils were due for a leaner draft class, though that’s not to say they left this year’s exercise in Nashville empty-handed
Hämeenaho was a shrewd pick late in the second round. For the Devils to be able to compete on a consistent basis with their core locked into expensive deals, they’ll need their front office and development staff to deliver a consistent pipeline of NHL talent available on entry-level contracts. Hämeenaho isn’t regarded as a high-upside dice roll, instead widely considered a safe bet to have a long professional career.
The versatile forward scored an impressive 21 points in full-time duty playing for Ässät in the Finnish Liiga, holding his own against pro players in one of the best leagues outside the NHL. After another season spent overseas in Pori, Hämeenaho could become one of the players outside the 2023 first round who most quickly earns his first NHL game.
In the middle rounds, the Devils took a point-per-game major junior forward in Squires and a toolsy right-shot defensive project in Cheslock, both reasonable picks in those middle rounds. In the sixth round, the Devils reached back into the CHL to grab Brown, who scored 42 points for the Hamilton Bulldogs last season, as well as Karpovich, a rangy Russian blueliner.
Trade Acquisitions
F Tyler Toffoli (from Calgary)
D Colin Miller (from Dallas)
F Shane Bowers (from Boston)
The big-name addition here is that of Toffoli, acquired from the Calgary Flames for the reasonable price of a third-round pick and Yegor Sharangovich. Toffoli, 31, has one year left on his deal at an affordable $4.25MM cap hit and should be an instant impact player for the Devils.
A 2014 Stanley Cup champion, Toffoli not only offers strong offensive production to the Devils (34 goals, 73 points last season) he also has a wealth of playoff experience to draw on to help guide this young Devils team.
Although Toffoli’s lackluster skating may make it difficult for him to keep up in the Devils’ high-flying offensive attack, he remains one of the league’s more lethal finishers and smarter offensive creators. He’s likely to land on a scoring line centered by either Hughes or Hischier, and if that ends up happening he stands a strong chance to repeat last season’s career-best performance.
Miller is a lower-profile addition but a solid one nonetheless by Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald. Miller was the Dallas Stars’ number-five defenseman last season, averaging 16:46 TOI per game. He didn’t factor into the mix on special teams as he’s done at times earlier in his career, and this average ice time was Miller’s lowest since his first two seasons in the NHL. That being said, even though Miller isn’t the same defenseman anymore that scored 41 points as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights, he can still capably endure regular NHL minutes and he’ll provide depth to the right side of the Devils’ blueline.
While the Devils are undoubtedly hoping that 2022 second overall pick Šimon Nemec will make a push for a spot in Ruff’s opening-night lineup, their addition of Miller means Nemec will have to outplay an experienced NHL blueliner in order to win a job.
Key UFA Signings
F Tomáš Nosek (one year, $1MM)
D Cal Foote (one year, $800k)*
F Chris Tierney (one year, $775k)*
F Justin Dowling (two years, $1.55MM)*
G Erik Källgren (one year, $775k)*
F Kyle Criscuolo (one year, $775k)*
*-denotes two-way contract
The Devils spent most of their available cap space this summer on re-signing their star restricted free agents as well as adding more expensive players via trade. This thinned out Fitzgerald’s wallet when it came time to shop for UFAs, and the result is a collection of Devils signings meant to bolster the organization’s depth rather than radically alter their competitive chances.
As the headline signing of this batch of UFA additions, Nosek might not drive up ticket sales, but he will help contribute to winning hockey. He centered the fourth line of a record-setting Boston Bruins team, and plays a reliable, consistent two-way game. He was a regular face on the NHL’s best short-handed unit for the Bruins, and scored a career-high 18 points in 66 games.
Perhaps most impressively, the team employing Nosek as a full-time player has never missed the playoffs so far in his professional career, even dating back to Nosek’s days in the Czech league.
He has 52 NHL postseason contests on his resume, including a run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2018 and a stellar Calder Cup championship run in 2017.
Despite his relatively modest box score number, Nosek is a highly respectable player and someone who can easily provide surplus value on a $1MM one-year investment. With Nosek added to a center corps that already boasts Hughes, Hischier, Erik Haula, and Michael McLeod, one could argue that the Devils have the most talented and deepest set of centers in the entire NHL.
Beyond Nosek, the rest of the signings are more meant to improve the Devils’ overall depth than directly impact the NHL roster. Foote is a former top prospect who will compete with Kevin Bahl for the third-pairing left-shot defensive job, Tierney is an experienced pivot who will look to claim a regular bottom-six role at training camp, and Källgren is a well-traveled netminder who is likely to split time with Nico Daws in the AHL.
Key RFA Re-Signings
F Timo Meier (eight years, $70.4MM)
F Jesper Bratt (eight years, $63MM)
D Kevin Bahl (two years, $4.1MM)
The extensions of Meier and Bratt are the two most significant moves the Devils made this past summer. Meier, 26, came at an expensive price tag ($8.8MM AAV) but is one of the more coveted talents in the NHL. The Swiss international is a skilled power forward who got off to a relatively slow start in New Jersey but nonetheless finished with 66 points last season.
He’s scored 75 goals across the past two campaigns, and even though his playoff production was poor (four points in 12 games) he showed he could still make an impact for New Jersey through his physicality and aggressiveness. He’ll be an integral part of the Devils’ offensive attack for years to come.
As for Bratt, he’s coming across a second consecutive 73-point campaign. His playoff production (six points in 12 games) leaves some worry that his slender frame and more perimeter-focused game might not be as effective in the playoffs, though his star status in the regular season is undeniable. Bratt is a genuine offensive creator and at a sub-$8MM cap hit he has the potential to provide the Devils with serious surplus value for their eight-year investment.
Bahl, 23, signed a notably smaller contract than the other two, reflective of his status as more of a complementary NHL player rather than a play-driving star. He’s a big, physical defenseman who saw a more regular NHL role with the Devils as the season wore on. He’s arguably the Devils’ most fearsome defenseman when it comes to physicality, and this contract should allow him to continue establishing himself as an NHL regular in New Jersey.
Key Departures
F Yegor Sharangovich (traded to Calgary)
F Tomáš Tatar (remains a free agent)
F Miles Wood (six years, $15MM, Colorado)
D Ryan Graves (six years, $27MM, Pittsburgh)
D Damon Severson (sign-and-trade to Columbus)
D Reilly Walsh (traded to Boston)
G Mackenzie Blackwood (traded to San Jose)
The Devils lost quite a bit of veteran talent this offseason, starting with a pair of minutes-eating veteran blueliners in Severson and Graves. While the Devils are hopeful that the integration of star young defensemen such as Luke Hughes and Nemec will make up for these subtractions, losing Graves’ steady top-four minutes and Severson’s offensive production will likely hurt in the immediate term.
Up front, the biggest Devils’ loss is of Tatar, who the team replaced with the addition of Toffoli. Tatar was a capable regular-season scorer in New Jersey, and helped the team achieve the goal of exiting their rebuilding phase by reaching the playoffs. His contributions to that achievement should be lauded.
But Tatar’s longstanding issues in the playoffs (he has just 13 points in 52 career postseason contests) reintroduced themselves in the Devils’ postseason trip, likely paving the way for his exit from New Jersey.
Now that the Devils are primarily fixated on playoff success, Tatar’s unique case as a regular season contributor but playoff no-show was something team management likely could no longer accept.
So they went out and acquired a proven Stanley Cup champion and playoff contributor, leaving Tatar to potentially sign with a team in a similar position to where New Jersey was two years ago, willing to accept production exclusively in the regular season in an effort to end an extended playoff drought.
In Wood, the Devils have lost an energetic bottom-six forward and a valuable veteran leader. He’s someone the Devils would have likely preferred to keep, but the tighter cap constraints the team has been working with made it impossible for them to compete with the lucrative offer he received from the Avalanche.
In net, the Devils lost Blackwood via a trade with the Sharks, giving the goalie a fresh start in San Jose. The Devils may have still believed in the upside Blackwood at times flashed in New Jersey, but with the emergence of Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid it became clear that if Blackwood was going to break out at the NHL level, it likely wouldn’t be with the Devils.
Salary Cap Outlook
There’s no mistaking it, the days of the Devils being able to freely target players for future contending teams are over. The Devils have now made significant investments in a core of young players, and any surplus cap space the team still has will likely be eaten up by future extensions for Mercer, Hughes, and Nemec.
New Jersey’s cap situation does have its benefits, though, as Hughes and Hischier are likely to provide an immense amount of surplus value on their current contracts, especially as the cap goes up. Hughes’ $8MM AAV cap hit was recently matched by the Ottawa Senators’ signing of Jake Sanderson, a promising player but one with just 77 games of NHL experience. Had the Devils waited to extend Hughes, the team wouldn’t be able to lock him into a long-term deal for cheaper than $10MM AAV, at minimum.
When one considers contracts and play at both ends of the ice, Hischier’s $7.25MM cap hit through 2026-27 makes him one of the most valuable assets in hockey. He could end up a multi-time Selke Trophy winner now that Patrice Bergeron is retired, and has scored near a point-per-game rate over the past two seasons. So while the Devils are facing some tight years ahead regarding their salary cap situation, these two franchise pillars are locked into exceptionally team-friendly contracts, contracts that will only grow in surplus value as the cap rises.
Key Questions
Will the Devils get Stanley Cup-caliber goaltending?: Looking up and down their roster, one could definitely make the argument that the Devils have the strongest set of 18 starting skaters in the entire NHL. The flip side of that, though, is that one could also argue that the Devils have the weakest goaltending of any of the Eastern Conference’s playoff contenders.
A year ago, the Devils believed they were just league-average goaltending away from making the postseason, despite missing by a fair margin in 2021-22. They were right, as Vanecek’s mostly average play (great at times, poor at others) powered them to an elite season. But in the playoffs, Vanecek fell apart, and the team’s season was saved by Schmid, a rookie. That tandem is likely going to be good enough for the Devils to have another elite season. But will it be enough for the team to make a run deep into the spring and early summer?
Will the Devils’ veteran departures cost the team, or will young players step up and fill those vacated roles?: As mentioned, the Devils lost quite a bit of veteran talent this summer. In order to keep the franchise from taking a step backward in the standings, young players will need to step up and prove they can handle less sheltered roles at the NHL level. Hughes (Luke), Bahl, and Nemec will need to help compensate for the losses of Graves and Severson.
Fitzgerald recently called Alexander Holtz a future “pillar” of the franchise, the departures of Tatar and Wood give him the opportunity to prove it. They were and are each highly regarded prospects, but will they be able to translate their success at other levels of hockey to the world’s best league?
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Latest On Jesper Bratt
- New Jersey Devils winger Jesper Bratt had put off settling down and signing a long-term contract extension until this past summer, and that patience paid off as his back-to-back 73-point seasons earned him a $7.875MM AAV deal that stretches through the 2030-31 season. Despite now earning that guaranteed financial security, Bratt explained to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek on the 32 Thoughts podcast that the removal of the pressure of playing on a one-year deal won’t impact his preparation or motivation for the seasons to come. Bratt said “Now that the eight-year deal has come around, I know what it means,” adding that “work that has to be put in every day” so that he can live up to the lofty price tag. The Devils have grand designs for their era of contention led by Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, and if the team ends up achieving those lofty goals next season it’s highly likely Bratt will be a major reason why.
Scott Gomez Joins BCHL's Surrey Eagles
- Former New Jersey Devils forward Scott Gomez has found a new post-hockey home with the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles, the junior A club with which he posted 124 points in just 56 games with during the 1996-97 season. Gomez, a Calder Trophy winner and two-time Stanley Cup champion with New Jersey, will be an assistant coach next season. Gomez has not worked behind a bench in nearly five years, last serving as an assistant coach with the New York Islanders from 2017 to 2019.
Jonathan Bernier Announces Retirement
Veteran netminder Jonathan Bernier announced his retirement today via an Instagram post. He had not played since early into the 2021-22 campaign with the New Jersey Devils due to a hip injury, which kept him out for the remainder of that year and the entire 2022-23 season.
Drafted by the Los Angeles Kings with the 11th overall pick in 2006, Bernier never became the elite full-fledged starter they projected, but he did become a dependable backup or even tandem option during his peak seasons. Some of it was pure circumstance, though – he was stuck behind Jonathan Quick on the Kings’ list of goalie prospects and only got his first true shot at shouldering starting responsibility outside of the organization on a weak Toronto Maple Leafs team.
Bernier would go on to play 14 seasons and over 400 NHL games for the Kings, Maple Leafs, Devils, Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche, and Detroit Red Wings. He finishes with a 165-163-40 record in 363 starts, a .912 save percentage, a 2.78 goals-against average, and 18 shutouts. His peak actually came in his first season as a starter, not earning any Vezina consideration in 2013-14 despite putting up a 26-19-7 record and .922 save percentage in 55 games on a Toronto squad that struggled defensively. His numbers trailed after that, however, and he never got a shot as a full-time starter anywhere else other than his three seasons in Toronto.
Injuries certainly aren’t how anyone wants to end their career, especially when Bernier had signed on for two years in New Jersey to aid in their return to playoff contention. Unfortunately, he played just ten games there before the long-term hip injury eventually ended his time in the NHL.
After his stint in Toronto ended on a steep decline in 2016, Bernier went on to become a high-end backup option over the next five seasons – one spent in Anaheim, one spent in Colorado, and three spent in Detroit before joining the Devils. It was a long professional journey for Bernier, who first tasted NHL action with four starts as a 19-year-old with the Kings in 2007-08.
PHR wishes Bernier the best in retirement and any future endeavors.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Update On This Year’s August 15 Free Agents
Most NHL free agent business is dealt with in the early summer months. There is one important date later each year, however. August 15 marks the date when NHL teams lose their exclusive signing rights to most college-drafted players if they’ve graduated (or completed without graduating) college and are not yet signed to an entry-level contract.
Earlier this month, we published a list of players slated to hit the UFA market yesterday if not signed to an ELC within the coming days. However, the guidelines the NHL uses to determine a college graduate are some of the most complex sets of rules relating to contractual obligations in pro sports. That means it’s often impossible to glean a full list of players whose rights have expired (or not expired) until after the August 15 deadline has passed.
This year was no different, as CapFriendly issued multiple updates today on their X account regarding the list of August 15 free agents they’d made public earlier in the month. Three players who were slated to expire actually remained on their team’s reserve list: Calgary Flames 2018 fourth-round pick F Demetrios Koumontzis, Ottawa Senators 2018 seventh-round pick F Jakov Novak, and Senators 2018 second-round pick D Jonny Tychonick.
On the flip side, 12 players they expected to remain on teams’ reserve lists hit the free-agent market yesterday. With that in mind, we have a revised, accurate list of players who became unrestricted free agents yesterday. Asterisked players were not originally expected to come off their team’s reserve list.
Anaheim Ducks
*F Trevor Janicke (2019 fifth round, 132nd overall)
Arizona Coyotes
F John Farinacci (2019 third round, 76th overall)
*F Anthony Romano (2019 sixth round, 176th overall)
Boston Bruins
*D Dustyn McFaul (2018 sixth round, 181st overall)
Calgary Flames
*F Joshua Nodler (2019 fifth round, 150th overall)
Carolina Hurricanes
F Kevin Wall (2019 sixth round, 181st overall)
Chicago Blackhawks
F Jake Wise (2018 third round, 69th overall)
Colorado Avalanche
*F Matt Stienburg (2019 third round, 63rd overall)
Columbus Blue Jackets
D Robbie Stucker (2017 seventh round, 210th overall)
Detroit Red Wings
F Robert Mastrosimone (2019 second round, 54th overall)
*F Ethan Phillips (2019 fourth round, 97th overall)
Edmonton Oilers
F Skyler Brind’Amour (2017 sixth round, 177th overall)
Minnesota Wild
*D Marshall Warren (2019 sixth round, 166th overall)
New Jersey Devils
*D Case McCarthy (2019 fourth round, 118th overall)
*F Patrick Moynihan (2019 sixth round, 158th overall)
New York Islanders
D Christian Krygier (2018 seventh round, 196th overall)
F Jacob Pivonka (2018 fourth round, 103rd overall)
New York Rangers
*F Eric Ciccolini (2019 seventh round, 205th overall)
*F Riley Hughes (2018 seventh round, 216th overall)
Ottawa Senators
*F Luke Loheit (2018 seventh round, 194th overall)
Philadelphia Flyers
F Jay O’Brien (2018 first round, 19th overall)
San Jose Sharks
D Arvid Henrikson (2016 seventh round, 187th overall) Originally drafted by the Montreal Canadiens
Toronto Maple Leafs
D Ryan O’Connell (2017 seventh round, 203rd overall)
Winnipeg Jets
G Jared Moe (2018 sixth round, 184th overall)
Of the list above, Krygier and Pivonka are remaining in the Islanders organization on confirmed AHL contracts for 2023-24, although they remain eligible to sign with another NHL team should one come calling. All others are either returning to school for 2023-24, have contracts signed in other leagues, or are not signed for next season.
Notably, this is the official confirmation that the Flyers’ exclusive signing rights of O’Brien have lapsed. As compensation for not signing a first-round pick to their entry-level contract, the Flyers will receive a compensatory second-round pick from the league in the 2024 NHL Draft.