Introduction

The New Jersey Devils have the biggest offseason in franchise history ahead of them. With the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic, things will be even more interesting given the salary cap will remain the same. The Devils and newly named general manager Tom Fitzgerald will certainly have their work cut out for them.

Entering the offseason, the Devils will have arguably the most assets of any team in the league to work with. New Jersey has nine total draft picks, three of which are first-rounders. A full breakdown of these picks can be seen below. The Devils are also working with roughly $20-plus million in cap space. This number will be one of the highest in the league, especially given the fact the salary cap is remaining the same. 

The Devils do not have a lot to worry about in terms of retaining talent either. The team only has nine pending restricted free agents and seven pending unrestricted free agents. Per the list below, you can see – specifically in terms of unrestricted free agents — there is no one extremely major. I also bolded the players whom the Devils should bring back.

Restricted Free Agents (RFA):	Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA):
Joey Anderson, F	Brandon Baddock, F
Jesper Bratt, F	Kevin Rooney, F
John Hayden, F	Ben Street, F
Nick Merkley, F	Fredrik Claesson, D
Brett Seney, F	Julian Melchiori, D (signed in KHL)
Josh Jacobs, D	Dakota Mermis, D
Mirco Mueller, D	Zane McIntyre, G
Colton White, D
Mackenzie Blackwood, G

This guide will give you a full layout of what to expect, what the Devils need to do, who the Devils need to target, and much more. Following this guide will be individual free agent profiles of players as well as supplemental draft materials once we get closer to that ever so important date. 

The Draft

I have already done extensive research into the draft. Examples being the 30 individual profiles I posted or a couple of articles I wrote depicting how the Devils should approach this year’s NHL Entry Draft. If you missed those, do not worry, as I will provide a brief recap below:

As for how the Devils should approach this draft, I’m offering some simple, yet insightful analysis.

This upcoming draft is well regarded by many as extremely strong and lined with game-changing talent, especially at the forward position. Plus, the Devils have a plethora of defensive prospects in the team’s system and have lacked that elite forward prospect in the past. Therefore, the team must target forwards with at least two of the team’s first three first-round picks. 

The team cannot make the mistake of drafting more than one defenseman or selecting Yaroslav Askarov – Russian goaltending prospect – in the first round. This is because there is simply too much top-end forward talent at the top of the board.

As of right now, the Devils hold picks seven, 18, and 20 in the first round. Note, the 18^th pick is all but set in stone, but if Vancouver pulls off the upset over St. Louis, the third first-round pick can move back between picks 25 and 27. However, for the sake of this article let’s say the Devils’ own picks seven, 18, and 20.

Note, something the Devils can look into doing is trading one of the team’s three first-round picks. By doing so, New Jersey can either acquire an NHL-ready talent to fill one of the many holes in the team’s depth chart (see below) or possibly load up on more draft pick assets. Either would be a wise way to spend one of the team’s later first-round selections.

Below you can find prospects the Devils should go after at each projected pick. The selections follow my recommended method of selecting at least two forwards, possibly one defenseman, and avoiding taking any netminders. The prospects are in order of my preference and my full top-30 list can be found here.

Note, next to each prospect will be the word: “not likely”, “probably”, “likely”, or “very likely”. These adjectives will indicate the chance I think these prospects will be available at this spot.

Draft Targets

7th Pick

• Marco Rossi (not likely)
• Lucas Raymond (probably)
• Cole Perfetti (likely)
• Jaimie Drysdale (not likely)
• Alexander Holtz (very likely)

18th Pick

• Seth Jarvis (not likely)
• Dawson Mercer (probably)
• Noah Gunler (not likely)
• Rodion Amirov (probably)
• Jack Quinn (likely)
• Kaiden Guhle (probably)
• Connor Zary (likely)

20th Pick

• Jack Quinn (not likely)
• Kaiden Guhle (probably)
• Braden Schneider (likely)
• Ryan O’Rourke (very likely)
• Connor Zary (not likely)
• Jacob Perreault (very likely)
• Lukas Reichel (very likely)

Roster Overview

Before diving into free agency, it is necessary to understand what the Devils need, and this can be completed by conducting a roster overview. Below you can see my projected depth chart, with voids, for the upcoming season. Also, at the bottom is depth players that will be fighting in training camp for one of these spots.

Depth Chart

Forwards:

Left Wing:	Center:	Right Wing:
X	Nico Hischier	Kyle Palmieri
Jesper Bratt	Jack Hughes	Nikita Gusev
Jesper Boqvist	Travis Zajac	X
Miles Wood	Pavel Zacha	X

Defense:

Left-Handed Defenseman:	Right-Handed Defenseman:
X	Damon Severson
Will Butcher	P.K. Subban
Ty Smith	X

Goaltending:

	Goalies
Starter	Mackenzie Blackwood
Backup	X

Depth/Possible Fill-Ins:

Position:	Player:
Center	Michael McLeod
Left Wing	Janne Kuokkanen
Right Wing	Nick Merkley
Right Wing	Joey Anderson
Right-Handed Defenseman	Connor Carrick
Goaltender	Cory Schneider
Goaltender	Gilles Senn

The depth chart is pretty self-explanatory. The individuals in the lineup above, barring a trade, are all but locked into a roster spot come December. The list of players below the depth chart are guys that will be in a fierce battle for a spot and may very well be in that lineup. More on that below.

Some other notes regarding the depth chart: Pavel Zacha can play left wing, Jack Hughes played some left-wing last year, but probably shouldn’t again this year.

The Needs

After review of the depth chart, it becomes apparent the Devils have their work cut out for them. Several positions need to be addressed and, unfortunately, the draft will not fill any right away. Thus, the team needs to focus on free agency and possibly a trade or two. 

The holes are as followed:

• Top-six left wing
• Two bottom-six right wings
• Top-four, left-handed defenseman 
• Bottom-pairing, right-handed defenseman
• Backup goaltender

Now, an argument can be made about a couple of these positions. First off, the right-wing depth does not particularly need to be addressed via free agency. This, if the Devils award the spot(s) to Nick Merkley or Joey Anderson out of camp.

Additionally, although it would be a terrible mistake, the Devils can holistically re-sign Mirco Mueller and slot him on the left side on defense or run out Connor Carrick in the bottom-pair on the right-side. I strongly believe the team should avoid doing this, as neither are top six NHL defenseman. This claim is confirmed by the two charts below.

Goaltending-wise you can make the case for Cory Schneider serving that role, but Schneider has shown again, and again he is no longer a viable NHL-option. Even if it is just in a backup role. Additionally, Gilles Senn will need another year of seasoning in the AHL. So, he is not quite ready to serve that backup role either.

Free Agency

As was mentioned previously, the draft will not be able to plug these voids right away. Thus, the Devils will need to turn to free agency. Below is my top-20 best unrestricted free agents available in this free agency class.

Top-20 Unrestricted Free Agents

Player	Position	Team	Age	Expiring Salary	Statistics
Alex Pietrangelo	RHD	STL	30	$7,500,000	16G, 36A, 52 PTS
Taylor Hall	LW	ARZ	28	$3,000,000	16G, 36A, 52 PTS
Torey Krug	LHD	BOS	29	$5,000,000	9G, 40A, 49 PTS
Tyson Barrie	RHD	TOR	29	$3,000,000	5G, 34A, 39 PTS
Braden Holtby	G	WSH	30	$5,000,000	3.11 GAA & .897 SV%
Evgenii Dadonov	RW	FLA	31	$4,000,000	25G, 22 A, 47 PTS
Robin Lehner	G	VGK	29	$1,400,000	2.72 GAA & .918 SV%
Mike Hoffman	LW	FLA	30	$5,650,000	29G, 30A, 59 PTS
Tyler Toffoli	RW	VAN	28	$4,800,000	24G, 20A, 44PTS
Jacob Markstrom	G	VAN	30	$4,000,000	2.80 GAA & .911 SV%
TJ Brodie	LHD	CGY	30	$4,500,000	4G, 15A, 19 PTS
Sami Vatanen	RHD	CAR	29	$2,500,000	5G, 18A, 23 PTS
Mikael Granlund	C	NSH	28	$6,500,000	17G, 13A, 30 PTS
Erik Haula	C/LW	CAR	29	$2,750,000	12G, 12A, 24 PTS
Brenden Dillon	LHD	WSH	29	$1,950,000	1G, 13A, 14 PTS
Justin Schultz	RHD	PIT	29	$5,500,000	3G, 9A, 12 PTS
Erik Gustafsson	LHD	CGY	28	$1,400,000	6G, 23A, 29 PTS
Kevin Shattenkirk	RHD	TBL	31	$1,750,000	8G, 26A, 34 PTS
Corey Crawford	G	CHI	35	$5,000,000	2.45 GAA & .918 SV%

Who to Target?

Using the needs pointed out above, the following players, specific positionally, are who the Devils should target:

Forwards:

Left Wing:	Right Wing:
Taylor Hall	Tyler Toffoli
Mike Hoffman	Michael Frolik
Evgenii Dadonov	Jesper Fast
Matt Nieto	Valeri Nichushkin
Josh Leivo

Defenseman:

Left-Handed Defenseman:	Right-Handed Defenseman:
Torey Krug	Radko Gudas
TJ Brodie	Mark Pysyk
Brendan Dillon	Trevor Van Reimsdyk
Derek Forbot	Kevin Shattenkrik
Jon Merrill	Jan Rutta

Goalies:

Corey Crawford

Jacob Markstrom

Thomas Greiss

Cameron Talbot

Anton Khudobin

Laurent Brossoit

Of course, several other free agents will be finding new homes come this offseason. However, the ones listed above are the individuals – whether it be due to age, statistics, or analytics – that the Devils should put at the forefront of their list in filling the holes pointed out above. 

Further analysis of each player will be available in the coming months. Be on the lookout for individual profiles breaking down each player greater in-depth. 

General Manager James

This is the “fun part” of this article. Below is my ideal lineup come December for the New Jersey Devils. This including some moves I believe the team should make.

Unfortunately, with the recent hiring of general manager Tom Fitzgerald, my audition for the general manager position may be mute. Nonetheless, it is fun to speculate what the Devils’ roster and depth chart can look like come next season.

Depth Chart

Forwards:

Left Wing:	Center:	Right Wing:
Alex Killorn (Trade w/TB)	Nico Hischier	Kyle Palmieri
Evgenii Dadonov (UFA)	Jack Hughes	Nikita Gusev
Jesper Bratt	Travis Zajac	Valeri Nichushkin (UFA)
Jesper Boqvist	Pavel Zacha	Joey Anderson

Defense:

Left-Handed Defenseman:	Right-Handed Defenseman:
Will Butcher	Damon Severson
TJ Brodie (UFA)	P.K. Subban
Ty Smith	Connor Murphy (Trade w/CHI)

Goaltending:

	Goalies:
Starter:	Mackenzie Blackwood
Backup:	Anton Khudobin (UFA)

Extras:

• Miles Wood, LW
• Nick Merley, RW
• Connor Carrick, D

As you can see I had quite a bit of fun with this. One can dream, right? 

In all seriousness, cap-strapped teams such as Tampa Bay, Chicago, Toronto, and St. Louis are all going to have to make moves to stay under the ceiling. Thus, the two trades I included above are moves that are very realistic and ones general manager Tom Fitzgerald can make with three first-round picks at his disposal. 

Note, you can expect an article from me, at some point, going more in depth about some players that may be used as trade bait for teams trying to defeat the salary cap.

Conclusion

The Devils are positioned perfectly to continue rebuilding and creating a roster that can contend. So, buckle up Devils’ fans, this offseason has the potential to be as extremely exciting.

Whether it be taking advantage of teams who are strapped by the salary cap remaining constant or making a splash with the $20-plus million the team will have to spend in free agency, general manager Tom Fitzgerald will be busy. Additionally, the Devils have nine draft picks to work with – three of which are first-round picks. 

As mentioned, stay tuned to our social media pages for full offseason coverage. Free agency profiles, further in-depth draft pieces, and more will be churned out by myself and other writers.