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New Jersey Devils, Timo Meier Agree To Long-Term Extension

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The New Jersey Devils are having a very busy offseason. The team has already traded away Damon Severson, Mackenzie Blackwood, Yegor Sharangovich, and Reilly Walsh, while bringing in Tyler Toffoli and Shane Bowers.

Now, with just a few days before he hit restricted free agency,  Timo Meier has signed a massive extension.

The eight-year deal carries an average annual value of $8.8MM, making Meier the highest-paid forward on New Jersey. The full breakdown is as follows:

  • 2023-24: $12.0MM
  • 2024-25: $11.1MM
  • 2025-26: $10.75MM
  • 2026-27: $7.75MM
  • 2027-28: $7.2MM
  • 2028-29: $7.2MM
  • 2029-30: $7.2MM
  • 2030-31: $7.2MM

General manager Tom Fitzgerald released a statement on the deal:

We were excited to acquire Timo at the deadline, but it’s an even greater feeling knowing that he’ll be here for the next eight seasons. Timo’s unique blend of style of play, goal-scoring ability, and physical presence will prove valuable for us.

In talking with him, Timo realized, and I always believed, that this is the right place for him as a player and a person. We’ve locked up another piece of our young core that is looking to take that next step together for greater success.

Meier, who arrived in New Jersey at the deadline and scored 14 points in 21 games down the stretch, seems to be a perfect fit for the upstart Devils. The club wants to take another step toward Stanley Cup contention next season, has the cap space to retain him, and the support to keep him at the 40-goal mark he set this year.

Given that Meier is still just 26 years old, an eight-year extension also doesn’t pose all that much risk. Sure, he will likely start to decline before it expires, but the salary cap is also set to start increasing next summer. Getting him locked in now could mean Meier turns into a relative bargain down the road.

Of course, it was never going to be cheap. Meier’s last contract was structured so that a qualifying offer this summer would be worth $10MM, giving him a ton of leverage in extension talks. Seventy-five goals over the past two seasons also help.

With Jack Hughes already locked up at $8MM (a deal that looks like it might turn into one of the biggest steals in the NHL), Jesper Bratt recently extended through 2030-31, and captain Nico Hischier still signed through 2026-27, there is a real chance for the New Jersey forward group to pull off some special things in the next few years.

Meier’s powerful mix of skill and size should only complement that group, especially after adding another consistent middle-six winger in Toffoli, that can boost secondary scoring without requiring top-line minutes.

A long-term extension has always made sense—now Meier and the Devils need to take that difficult next step.

Devils Unlikely To Sign Miles Wood

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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that the New Jersey Devils have granted Miles Wood permission to speak with other teams around the league about trading for his rights prior to July 1st. This likely signals the end for Wood in New Jersey as he will be an unrestricted free agent in a few days, and it doesn’t appear as though the Devils see him in their future.

New Jersey drafted Wood in the fourth round of the 2013 NHL entry draft and after a season in the NCAA and a cup of coffee in the AHL, Wood found himself as a regular in the Devils lineup. Expectations were high for the Buffalo native after he finished his second full season in the NHL with 19 goals and 13 assists.

It looked as though Wood was well on his way to becoming a solid middle-six forward who could contribute 20 goals a season. However, Wood was never able to duplicate those offensive numbers failing to reach the 30-point mark in each of the next five seasons. He also struggled to elevate his linemates and was frequently guilty of turning the puck over at inopportune times.

Last year Wood posted 13 goals and 14 assists in 76 games and did a much better job driving play and was much more engaged physically, however, he continued to turn the puck over regularly.

Wood will generate some interest on the open market, but it would be surprising to see a team give up an asset to acquire his rights given that free agency is just a few days away and there are plenty of available options that can offer a similar skill set to him. That being said, the market for free agents is weak and teams looking for bottom-six help could do worse than Wood.

New Jersey Devils Acquire Tyler Toffoli

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The New Jersey Devils have acquired forward Tyler Toffoli from the Calgary Flames, with the signing rights to RFA Yegor Sharangovich and a 2023 third-round pick (80th overall) headed to Alberta in return.

This move comes just after Toffoli made it clear to the Flames that he would not be signing a contract extension to remain in Calgary. The 31-year-old two-time Stanley Cup champion is playing out a $4.25MM AAV contract that will expire at the end of next season. By acquiring Toffoli, the Devils add the Flames’ leading scorer and a player who has crossed the 20-goal plateau seven times.

While the Flames as a team had an extremely disappointing season, Toffoli had one of the finest years of his career in 2022-23. Not only did he score 34 goals and 73 points, each career-high marks, he also captained Team Canada to victory at the 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championships.

The acquisition of Toffoli signals a shift in focus for New Jersey that was all but confirmed when the team reached the playoffs and eliminated their arch-rival New York Rangers in the first round.

The long rebuild is over for the Devils, and the focus for GM Tom Fitzgerald is no longer on building for the future, it’s about assembling a Stanley Cup contender ready as soon as next season.

In adding Toffoli, the Devils’ hopes of going on a long playoff run have certainly increased. Toffoli’s been on quite a few of those, and he has triple the career playoff points of Tomas Tatar, the player he’s most directly replacing in New Jersey’s forward lineup. He may not be a long-term acquisition at 31 years old, but he’s an exceptional finisher and is easily improves the team’s group of forwards.

Seeing as Ondrej Palat, Dawson Mercer, Jesper Bratt, and Timo Meier are likely at this point in time to occupy the spots on the wing next to New Jersey’s two franchise centers, Toffoli could end up in a third-line role for the Devils. That would give the Devils an embarrassment of riches up front, potentially giving them three forward lines capable of creating offense at an impressive rate. At the very least, Toffoli’s addition gives head coach Lindy Ruff another talented scoring forward to plug into his lineup.

Sharangovich was unlikely to have a long-term future in New Jersey, given the whole host of young players that still need to sign contract extensions. Players such as Meier and in the future, Luke Hughes are likely to eat up quite a bit of the Devils’ future cap space, so with RFA negotiations set to take place this summer, it seems other players supplanted Sharangovich in New Jersey’s long-term plans.

For Calgary, losing Toffoli is undoubtedly disappointing but they do have an interesting player headed their way in Sharangovich. As he turned 25 earlier this month, he fits new GM Craig Conroy’s goal of getting younger and faster this offseason. He got a little lost in a crowded Devils forward group last year and scored a career-low 13 goals and 30 points, but in the prior two years when he had a larger role he scored at a 25-goal, 48-point pace.

If Sharangovich gets a chance to play with forward Jonathan Huberdeau, for example, he could take an even larger step forward offensively. He’s also decently versatile, with experience playing all three forward positions. Seeing as Toffoli is a widely respected player with an affordable cap hit, the Flames likely had no shortage of offers for his services.

Their acquisition of Sharangovich suggests they feel he can become an even greater player under their new head coach Ryan Huska. While it undoubtedly hurts to lose Toffoli, Sharangovich could be a player who lifts Flames fans out of their seats for years to come.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

San Jose Sharks Expected To Acquire Mackenzie Blackwood

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The San Jose Sharks have reportedly acquired goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood from the New Jersey Devils, per Kevin Weekes of ESPN. The Sharks are sending a sixth-round pick in an undisclosed year to the Devils for the netminder, which checks an item off the Devils’ long offseason checklist.

Once a highly-regarded up-and-comer, things have gone spectacularly off the rails for Blackwood in recent seasons, mainly due to injury troubles. Selected 42nd overall in 2015, Blackwood posted a 22-14-8 record in 43 starts during his rookie season in 2019-20 and finished sixth in Calder Trophy voting. He’s started just 79 games in the three seasons since then, achieving just a .897 save percentage and a 33-33-10 record. For a team looking to contend for the Cup next season, it’s simply not good enough – especially for the $3.36MM qualifying offer he was due as a pending restricted free agent.

The Sharks, who are in desperate need of a netminder, get their fix with another reclamation project. They’ll have no issue accommodating whatever they’ll end up signing Blackwood to, entering the offseason with over $14MM in projected cap space (CapFriendly).

For now, he’ll form a tandem in the Bay Area with Kaapo Kahkonen, who’s under contract at a $2.75MM cap hit in 2023-24 and posted similarly poor numbers this past season. Both are 26 years old, and the Sharks will need to work with both closely to restore their career trajectories.

Blackwood’s still a netminder with plenty of NHL experience, though, and a sixth-round pick is certainly worth the gamble on the netminder. With his play sharply declining, though, there didn’t seem to be a ton of interest on the trade market, so New Jersey had to settle.

Boston, New Jersey Complete Minor Trade

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The Boston Bruins announced that they have made their second trade of the day as they have sent forward Shane Bowers to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for defenseman Reilly Walsh. The news comes on the heels of the Taylor Hall trade that the Bruins completed earlier this afternoon. Boston has a great deal of salary cap maneuvering to complete as they hope to retain much of the core that won the President’s Trophy this season.

The trade sees the swap of a couple of 2017 draft picks who have both played just one game in the NHL in their respective careers. Bowers was a late first-round pick by the Ottawa Senators and was dealt a few months later as part of the ill-fated Matt Duchene three-team trade that also saw Kyle Turris go to Nashville, and Bowers end up with the Colorado Avalanche. Bowers spent five seasons in the AHL with the Colorado Eagles before he was traded to Boston this past February for Keith Kincaid. He’s never been regarded as much of an offensive player as his career high in the AHL came in 2018-19 when he put up 27 points in 48 games. He was always a stretch to be selected in the first round and at 23 years old it appears he will likely be a career minor leaguer barring a turnaround in his play. This past year in 57 games split between the Eagles and Providence Bowers put up just 21 points.

Walsh on the other hand was a third-round selection by the Devils and has spent his entire professional career in their organization. He’s been a very solid offensive defenseman in the AHL putting up 23 goals and 76 assists in 174 career games. Walsh could potentially compete for a spot as the Bruins seventh defender depending on how their salary cap maneuvering plays out, but at this point it looks like an AHL shuffling of the furniture for both teams.

One must wonder what Bruins general manager has in store for his group. With his second trade of the day, it appears that he is setting up for something. Boston has several key free agents to sign and limited cap space to do it. Bowers was going to be eligible for arbitration but it’s unlikely he would have received much of an award given how little he has contributed at the NHL level. Reilly is also an RFA on July 1st so Boston will need to sign him to a new contract.

New Jersey Devils Extend Erik Haula

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The New Jersey Devils have agreed to a three-year contract extension with center Erik Haula, the team announced Friday. The contract carries an average annual value of $3.15MM, paid out as follows:

2023-24: $2.9MM salary + $1MM signing bonus, full no-trade clause
2024-25: $2.15MM salary + $1MM signing bonus, full no-trade clause
2025-26: $2.4MM salary, six team no-trade list

PuckPedia reported the details of Haula’s signing bonuses and trade protection.

Haula, 32, was one of three Devils depth forwards destined for unrestricted free agency on July 1. He could be the only one returning out of himself, Miles Wood, and Tomas Tatar, as the Devils would like to keep some salary cap space open heading into the free-agent market.

The Finnish forward has bounced around quite a bit in the past few seasons. He hadn’t played for the same team in back-to-back seasons since his stint with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017-18 and 2018-19, a trend that will end next year.

He’s revived his career significantly in the past two seasons with the Devils and Boston Bruins, recording back-to-back 40-point campaigns after notching just nine goals and 21 points in 51 games with the Nashville Predators in 2020-21. Haula was a force in the faceoff circle for the Devils last year, winning 54.2% of his draws, and recorded his highest average time on ice (16:38) since his first season in Vegas.

Haula finished the 2022-23 campaign with 14 goals, 27 assists, and 41 points in 80 games, finishing seventh on the team in all those categories. He added four goals in 12 playoff games for the Devils, which was second on the team behind Jack Hughes, and played over 17 minutes per game.

Retaining Haula puts the Devils in quite a position of strength down the middle. A three-year extension could get hairy near the end, given he’ll be turning 35 in the deal’s final season, but he remains a high-end third-line center.

Behind Hughes and Nico Hischier, the team’s center depth in the Metropolitan Division is rivaled by perhaps the New York Rangers, with Filip Chytil as their third-line center – although most would rather have Hughes and Hischier over Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck on their top two lines.

Haula just completed the final season of a two-year contract signed with Boston in 2021 that paid him $2.375MM per season.

ESPN’s Kevin Weekes was the first to report the two sides were nearing an extension. NJ.com’s Ryan Novozinsky was the first to report the contract’s value.

New Jersey Devils Preparing To Move On From Reilly Walsh

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  • New Jersey Devils restricted free agent defenseman Reilly Walsh is set to lose his waiver-exempt status next season after three strong campaigns in the minors. In an interview with NJ.com’s Ryan Novozinsky, Devils assistant general manager Dan MacKinnon revealed the team is preparing to lose Walsh, either via trade early in the season or a possible waiver claim. A third-round pick of the team in 2017, Walsh has recorded back-to-back 40-plus point seasons with the AHL’s Utica Comets and notched an assist in his lone NHL appearance in 2021-22. With a logjam of elite defense prospects in the Devils organization that includes Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec, though, there isn’t a clear path to sustained NHL time for Walsh.

Connor Hellebuyck, New Jersey Devils Have Mutual Interest

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Mark down the New Jersey Devils as a major player in the Connor Hellebuyck trade sweepstakes, says Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic. The 30-year-old Vezina-caliber netminder is on the trade block after informing the Winnipeg Jets he won’t sign an extension, and LeBrun says there’s mutual interest between the netminder and the Devils in a long-term agreement. Hellebuyck has gone on a remarkable run since becoming Winnipeg’s starter, leading in the league in either games played or saves made for six straight seasons. The workhorse netminder would be a massive, immediate upgrade on Vitek Vanecek, who did have a solid 2022-23 campaign but can struggle heavily with consistency. LeBrun adds, though, that New Jersey likely won’t pursue a sign-and-trade if Hellebuyck is demanding around $9.5MM on an extension, as previously reported.

Potential Destinations For Yegor Sharangovich

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The trade market this season should be unusually hot, with most teams needing to make lateral money-in, money-out moves if they want to improve their teams (as well as a middling free-agent class). One player on the block is New Jersey Devils forward and pending RFA Yegor Sharangovich, somewhat of a cap casualty after a disappointing 2022-23 campaign. Today, New Jersey Hockey Now’s James Nichols named the Colorado Avalanche, Nashville Predators, San Jose Sharks, Seattle Kraken, and Washington Capitals as reasonable trade destinations for the Belarusian forward.

Travis Green Reportedly Joining New Jersey Devils Coaching Staff

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Former Vancouver Canucks head coach Travis Green is reportedly set to join the New Jersey Devils coaching staff under head coach Lindy Ruff, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. He’ll fill the role vacated by Andrew Brunette, who was hired by Barry Trotz and the Nashville Predators to be their next head coach.

Per Friedman, Green chose New Jersey over a few other options, such as joining the coaching staff of either the Calgary Flames or Toronto Maple Leafs. With the Devils, Green will get the opportunity to coach a team bursting at the seams with young talent and high-end players.

The Devils took a major step forward this past season, defeating their arch-rival New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs and cementing themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the Metropolitan Division.

Their future looks bright, and it’s a future Green will now get to be a part of. Joining Ruff’s bench seems a wise choice for a coach likely looking to earn another chance to be an NHL bench boss.

The Devils look like a team that could soon contend for a Stanley Cup, and with one assistant already plucked from Ruff’s staff to be a head coach elsewhere it would be no surprise to see a future where teams come calling with interest in hiring Green.

In Brunette’s vacated role Green will be responsible for running the Devils power play. The Devils ranked 13th in the NHL with a 21.9% power play percentage, and Green will hope to improve that number next season.

There’s surely an opportunity for growth on a power play unit that boasts one of the league’s best offensive defensemen, Dougie Hamilton, alongside star forwards such as Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. Green also has to be excited at the prospect of having Timo Meier, who the Devils acquired from the San Jose Sharks in a mid-season trade.

Vancouver’s power play ranked fourth in the NHL in 2019-20 under Green, and also managed a top-10 finish in 2017-18. But in both 2018-19 and 2020-21, Vancouver’s man advantage was outside the NHL’s top 20 and as head coach of the Utica Comets Green’s power play was never among the AHL’s best.

The most significant determinant of a power play unit’s success is personnel, of course, but Devils fans must nonetheless be excited by some of the high power play rankings on Green’s resume.

Green, 52, played nearly 1,000 games in his NHL playing career and was a head coach in Vancouver for nearly five seasons. While he dealt with some significant challenges and his tenure ultimately ended in disappointment, he did have his moments behind the bench for the Canucks.

He led them on a surprising playoff run in the Edmonton bubble in 2019-20, with his team nearly knocking off the Vegas Golden Knights to reach the Western Conference Final.

Now he’ll get his second chance to coach in the NHL, and it’s with an entirely new team.

He does have one notable connection to the Devils organization: their current AHL affiliate is the Comets, the team Green coached for four seasons and led to the Calder Cup Final in 2015 back when it was the affiliate of the Canucks. Now, the former Utica bench boss will get to coach a host of former Comets players in New Jersey.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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