New Jersey Devils Preparing To Move On From Reilly Walsh
- 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
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
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
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
Latest On The New Jersey Devils
When the New Jersey Devils inked Jesper Bratt to an eight-year, $7.875MM cap-hit deal earlier this week, it may have come in a few dollars less than some expected, given his point production. Similar to Cole Caufield‘s long-term deal in Montreal, some attributed this to New Jersey’s desire to keep a strict salary hierarchy – at least among forwards – under star center Jack Hughes, who’s locked in at $8MM per season.
However, general manager Tom Fitzgerald refuted that notion today in an appearance on The Jeff Marek Show, prioritizing the importance of general market comparables over an internal hierarchy. As New Jersey Hockey Now’s James Nichols says, that likely generates a clearer range for what we could expect the cap hit to be on a pending extension for winger Timo Meier. The Swiss-born forward notched 40 goals for the first time in his career in 2022-23 in 78 games.
Given Meier’s experience (and, therefore, consistency) advantage over his teammate Bratt, $7.875MM per season is likely the floor for any Meier extension, as Nichols says. Previous reports suggested Meier was looking for north of $9MM per season when still a member of the San Jose Sharks, but Nichols surmises that may be the max on his negotiation given the comparable to Minnesota Wild star Kirill Kaprizov, who signed a five-year deal for $9MM per season in 2021.
Anything north of $9MM, which now seems unlikely for Meier, would make him the highest-paid player on the team ahead of defenseman Dougie Hamilton. Meier, while he obviously comes with an esteemed scoring pedigree, didn’t mesh as well as some hoped in New Jersey with 14 points in 21 games down the regular-season stretch.
A $9MM cap hit would also leave New Jersey with about $17.4MM in cap space to fill eight roster spots – seven among forwards and one on defense, potentially replacing (or re-signing) pending UFA Ryan Graves.
Offseason Checklist: New Jersey Devils
The offseason is now fully underway after Vegas took home the Stanley Cup which means that it’s time to examine what each team will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at New Jersey.
It was an interesting season for the Devils. There were calls to fire head coach Lindy Ruff, followed by apologies from those same fans as the team embarked on a 13-game winning streak which propelled them into a battle for the top seed in the Metropolitan Division and had them making one of the biggest splashes of the trade deadline. They made it to the second round before Carolina eliminated them but it was still a season that exceeded the expectations of many. Now, GM Tom Fitzgerald faces a busy summer with over a third of the team needing a new contract for next season even after re-signing Jesper Bratt earlier this week; those situations feature prominently in their checklist as a result.
Goaltending Decisions
New Jersey has a couple of calls to make between the pipes. The first involves Mackenzie Blackwood. Just a few years ago, he was viewed as the goalie of the future for the Devils. Things haven’t gone as well since then, however. Injuries limited him in each of the last two seasons and when he has been in the lineup, he has struggled, posting a 3.30 GAA with a .893 SV% in that stretch. Those are numbers that are certainly below the NHL average. He’s owed a $3.36MM qualifying offer and while they can certainly hope that the 26-year-old will rebound, that’s a pricey gamble to take.
First things first, they need to decide if they’re going to tender that offer. Assuming they don’t, then a decision needs to be made about potentially trying to sign him for less money.
Then, if that doesn’t happen and they cut bait, then a call needs to be made about potentially trying to add an upgrade at the position. Vitek Vanecek had a solid regular season but struggled in the playoffs, paving the way for Akira Schmid to step in. Schmid may very well be the next goalie of the future but he’s still on his entry-level contract; would they be better off having him play more regularly with AHL Utica for one more season? The goalie market generally moves quickly in the summer so these are questions that Fitzgerald will need to answer within the next couple of weeks.
Re-Sign Or Move Meier
One big item was checked off when Bratt signed on Thursday but there is still one remaining restricted free agent of significance to deal with in Timo Meier. Owed a $10MM qualifying offer, the Devils got out in front of that one on Thursday by opting for club-elected salary arbitration. The move gives them a chance to file as low as $8.5MM but isn’t without risk as, in theory, Meier could simply accept the hearing, get what he gets, and head for unrestricted free agency next July.
The filing sets a firmer timeline for signing him. Arbitration hearings are held between July 20th and August 4th with awards typically coming a couple of days after the hearing if no agreement is reached by then. Instead of allowing for the potential for a later agreement, the filing locks in his contract timing by the first week of August. Fitzgerald indicated yesterday that Meier has a desire to sign a max-term deal and they’ll have basically a month and a half to get one done, less if he winds up going early on the hearing schedule.
How much might that deal cost? Certainly more than Bratt’s $7.875MM. He scored 40 goals this season after putting up 35 the year before and scoring prowess certainly matters in these talks. He’s a power forward and those players tend to wind up with contracts that seem above market value relative strictly to their production. The track record isn’t there for a deal that’s at or past the $10MM mark – few wingers have reached that threshold – but it would be surprising to see him lock in for anything below $9MM per year.
New Jersey will need to come to the table with an offer that’s good enough to make Meier forego the right to arbitration where he could legitimately wind up with an award close to $9MM on its own for one season. In a contract market that’s expected to start inflating once again if the Upper Limit starts to go up quicker than it has in recent years, the price tag will only go higher if he makes it to unrestricted free agency. There’s room to make it work on the books but he will quite likely become their highest-paid player in the process, surpassing Dougie Hamilton’s $9MM AAV.
Mercer Extension Talks
Dawson Mercer has certainly had a nice start to his NHL career, quickly earning a spot in the top-six. His sophomore year was a strong one, notching 27 goals and 29 assists while playing all 82 games for the second straight year. Going back to that idea of a bigger cap increase in 2024-25, it stands to reason that it would be in New Jersey’s best interest to try to get him locked up now.
Mercer will have four seasons of RFA eligibility remaining when his contract expires in 2024 so the two viable options are either a short-term bridge deal or a long-term one that buys some extra years of team control. Once in a while, a team will do an early bridge extension but that doesn’t feel like the type of move that makes a lot of sense for the Devils right now so let’s look at the longer-term options.
With a max-term agreement, the AAV is probably going to come in higher than his current value now with both sides forecasting an improvement in his production. That, coupled with the expectation of a higher cap, could push the AAV well past the $6MM mark. The other option is a six-year contract that provides some extra club control but would set him up for another long-term contract entering his age-30 campaign. The price tag would be a bit lower as a result, potentially in the mid-$5.5MM area and could be a reasonable compromise considering the big tickets they already have on the books (plus potentially another to come with Meier).
The Devils historically have tried to sign some of their core young players to early extensions. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Fitzgerald continue that trend with Mercer in the coming months.
Re-Sign Or Replace Haula
When the Devils moved out Pavel Zacha last summer, they picked up Erik Haula in a swap of players that both teams felt the newcomers would fit in better than they were on their old squad. Zacha certainly did, eventually signing a long-term extension with Boston. Haula also fared well, notching at least 40 points for the second straight year and only the third time in his 10-year career. He’s set to hit the open market this summer and while he isn’t a high-end producer, he’s still one of the better options available in what is a fairly thin class.
At a minimum, the 32-year-old is in for a nice raise on the $2.375MM AAV he had this past season. Haula should be in line to land a contract of at least three years if not four (which would be the longest of his career). With Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier entrenched as the top two middlemen for the long haul, Haula’s role is pretty much set as a third-line center with the Devils. Is that a role they want to lock in for that long at a price tag that’s going to check in somewhere around the $3.5MM mark? Haula has made it clear that he wants to stay in New Jersey but as the roster becomes more top-heavy in terms of salaries, it becomes harder to fit a mid-tier player on the books.
Internally, after a season that saw him score just four goals, Michael McLeod isn’t quite ready yet to step into Haula’s spot on the depth chart so they’d likely have to turn outside the roster to fill that spot, preferably on a short-term agreement. That’s easier said than done in this free agent class. Sometimes, it’s better to go with the devil you know and that could be the case here for Fitzgerald. Accordingly, expect talks to pick up in the coming days on this front to try to keep Haula from hitting the open market.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Devils Could Trade Yegor Sharangovich
- On today’s episode of Sportsnet’s 32 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman dumped some cold water on the rumors of a Kevin Hayes trade between the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets. After the two teams were involved in a three-way deal that saw Ivan Provorov head from the Flyers to the Jackets, reports said the move didn’t eliminate the possibility of the long-rumored Hayes deal coming to fruition. However, the Blue Jackets now have under $6MM in projected cap space for 2023-24 (CapFriendly) after getting defender Damon Severson from the New Jersey Devils in a sign-and-trade, which would force the Flyers to retain a high amount of Hayes’ $7.14MM cap hit through 2025-26. While Columbus remains in desperate need of centers, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen now has seven defensemen on the roster that cost more than $2MM against the cap, including a combined $6.75MM wrapped up in Erik Gudbranson and Andrew Peeke, who both had very disappointing campaigns last season.
- Another name mentioned by Friedman was that of New Jersey Devils forward Yegor Sharangovich, who Friedman believes could hit the trade market this offseason. The 25-year-old Belarusian is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights after completing a two-year, $4MM contract signed in August of 2021 and has registered at least 30 points in all three of his NHL campaigns. He is a decent depth scorer, but he’s not of much value defensively and posted the lowest point-per-game output of his NHL career (0.40) last season. He was a healthy scratch for most of New Jersey’s playoff run, appearing in three out of 12 games.
Latest On Timo Meier, Mackenzie Blackwood
The New Jersey Devils got their first key piece of offseason business done yesterday, signing Jesper Bratt to an eight-year, $63MM extension. It’s a team-friendly $7.875MM cap hit (in the short-term, at least), which leaves the team still with upwards of $25MM of space this offseason, per CapFriendly. A good chunk of that will end up going to the team’s other star RFA, Timo Meier, who general manager Tom Fitzgerald said today wants to stay with the Devils long-term. While the Devils did file for team-elected salary arbitration yesterday, it’s a safety net more than anything else – Fitzgerald has requested Meier’s agent to hammer out the framework of a max-term, eight-year extension.
Now with seven NHL seasons and nearly 500 games under his belt, the 26-year-old Swiss winger is coming off a four-year, $6MM average annual value deal signed with the San Jose Sharks in 2019. He’s scored 35 and 40 goals in the last two seasons, and he’ll look to get paid like one of the premier goal-scorers in the league on a long-term deal.
While the Devils would prefer to keep a salary hierarchy among forwards under Jack Hughes‘ $8MM cap hit, that’s not likely on a long-term deal with Meier. While he won’t earn the eight figures due to him on a one-year qualifying offer, his cap hit across eight years could creep into the high $8MM range.
Another player the Devils have on their offseason list is netminder Mackenzie Blackwood, on whom Fitzgerald says the team will explore all options. Another restricted free agent, Fitzgerald wasn’t sure the team will opt to qualify him, negotiate a contract lower than his $3.36MM qualifying offer, or cut ties with the 26-year-old altogether and trade him.
After another injury-plagued season which saw him post a .893 save percentage in 22 games, he’s decidedly slipped to third on the team’s goalie depth chart behind Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid. A trade seems like the most pragmatic scenario here, likely for a draft pick. The team has a well-stocked prospect pool in the crease with names like Nico Daws and others.
It’s been an unfortunate turn of the tide for Blackwood, who a few seasons ago seemed the organization’s goalie of the future – especially in 2019-20 when he posted a .915 mark in 47 games behind a rather weak squad.
Devils Expected To File For Arbitration With Timo Meier
The New Jersey Devils have been busy today, fresh off signing Jesper Bratt to an eight-year extension Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that the club will likely take forward Timo Meier to team elected arbitration. This doesn’t prevent either side from continuing to negotiate a long-term deal, but it does give the Devils some leverage as they head into conversations with the 26-year-old. The team elected arbitration could result in a salary that is 85% of Meier’s 2022-23 salary which came in at $10MM.
Meier came over to the Devils in late February after a blockbuster trade with the San Jose Sharks. He took some time to settle in with New Jersey and put up nine goals and five assists in 21 games with the Devils to finish out the regular season. He would ultimately finish his season with 40 goals and 26 assists in 78 games split between the two teams. In the playoffs Meier struggled mightily posting just two goals and two assists in 11 games and was largely a non-factor in the team’s series win over the New York Rangers going pointless in seven games and suffering a huge hit from Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba. Meier was much stronger in the team’s second round series against Carolina putting up four points in four games.
The Devils decision to file for arbitration isn’t all that surprising given that they are largely negotiating from a position of weakness as Meier holds the hammer in their contract discussion sitting just a year away from unrestricted free agency. He could simply just go to arbitration and walk away next summer.
As mentioned earlier, with the team elected arbitration Meier could see his salary reduced by as much as 15% depending on how the arbitration process plays out. While that won’t do much on a long-term contract, it could lead to an acceleration in the contract discussions with Meier’s camp which would allow New Jersey some clarity as they head into the draft and free agency in the upcoming weeks. The Devils have a busy summer ahead as they try to build on their first series win in over a decade.
New Jersey Devils Extend Jesper Bratt
The New Jersey Devils and pending restricted free agent winger Jesper Bratt have agreed to terms on a massive eight-year deal worth $7.875MM per season, the team announced Thursday afternoon. The contract, which will see Bratt stay in New Jersey until 2031 and carries a total value of $63MM, breaks down as follows:
2023-24: $10MM salary
2024-25: $9MM salary
2025-26: $9MM salary
2026-27: $8MM salary
2027-28: $7.2MM salary
2028-29: $7.2MM salary
2029-30: $6.6MM salary
2030-31: $6MM salary
ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski also reports the contract carries some form of trade protection. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports half of the above breakdown is paid out in signing bonuses.
The deal opens up what will be a pivotal offseason in New Jersey. After winning their first playoff series in 11 years, the Devils ended their season without extensions for both Bratt and trade deadline acquisition Timo Meier, who were both RFAs eligible for arbitration. With many more players to re-sign, especially at the bottom of their forward lineup, CapFriendly projects the Devils still have $26.4MM in cap space for next season.
General manager Tom Fitzgerald offered a statement on the monumental deal for both Bratt and the team:
It was always a priority to keep Jesper Bratt here long term and both parties are thrilled that a deal was completed. I value and commend the commitment Jesper made to this organization. We believe that he is a special player and a key member of our core group of talent who will contribute towards the team’s long-term success, and organizational goal of bringing the Stanley Cup back to New Jersey.
Most didn’t expect negotiations between Bratt and the Devils to be smooth sailing. Last offseason, Bratt was also an RFA and nearly required an arbitration hearing to get a new deal signed. The two parties eventually settled on a one-year, $5.45MM deal days before the hearing.
That being said, a deal of this magnitude has been a long time coming. The Devils reportedly started negotiations with Bratt as far back as last November, and after a second consecutive 70-point campaign from the Swedish winger in 2022-23, the team was comfortable committing the maximum term.
Bratt’s deal carries the same average annual value and just one less year of term than Los Angeles Kings winger Kevin Fiala, who signed an extension after being traded from the Minnesota Wild last June. Fiala had recorded 85 points in 82 games that season after a pair of seasons that came in close to the point-per-game mark.
Given Bratt’s similar scoring pace over the past pair of seasons, it’s hard to argue the deal is above market value. He’ll be in his early 30s when the deal expires, so the past few seasons shouldn’t age poorly if he continues his progression.
Bratt drew some ire from Devils fans after a disappointing playoff performance, registering a single goal and just six points in 12 games. He’s posted numbers reflective of a true top-line winger over the past two campaigns, though, and it should be a fair bet that the 5-foot-10 Swede can maintain that level of production. Advanced offensive metrics have been kind to him since his breakout 26-goal, 73-point campaign in 2021-22.
The Devils have already gotten way more value than initially expected out of Bratt, who fell to the sixth round of the 2016 NHL Draft. He was in the NHL just two seasons after his draft year, scoring 35 points in 74 games during his rookie season in 2017-18. In 389 games as a Devil overall, Bratt’s totaled 102 goals and 174 assists for 276 points.
He’s now the team’s third-highest-paid player and second-highest-paid forward. His cap hit comes in at $625,000 more than that of captain Nico Hischier, who’s locked in at a $7.25MM price tag through 2026-27. Only Jack Hughes ($8MM) and Dougie Hamilton ($9MM) make more per season on the team.
Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic was the first to report the deal.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.