The beginning of free agency marked three moves for the New Jersey Devils. First, the team traded restricted free agent Pavel Zacha to the Boston Bruins for Erik Haula. Next, New Jersey brought one of this past season’s Jack Adams Award finalist, Andrew Brunette, in as an associated coach. Lastly, the Devils signed veteran defenseman Brendan Smith.
Of course, rumors are still swirling about the Devils being one of the top landing spots for star forward Johnny Gaudreau. Though a recent report may indicate New Jersey could possibly no longer be the favorite. The situation is still very much fluid. Nonetheless, the Devils, who currently have a projected $23,484,167 left in cap space, appear far from done.
The Trade is One for One
As mentioned, New Jersey acquired forward Erik Haula in exchange for Pavel Zacha.
Zacha, who is in need of a new contract as a restricted free agent, registered 179 points in 386 career games with New Jersey. The 2015 sixth-overall pick certainly did not live up to his draft positioning, but still showed he can be a formidable bottom-six forward. However, after last season is became apparent not only did he need a change of scenery, but he may be the odd man out with a logjam in the forward group. For those curious, Zacha is being projected to sign a three-year extension around $4,500,000 annually.
In exchange, New Jersey received veteran center Erik Haula. The 31-year-old totaled 44 points in 78 games for Boston last year. This was his highest point total since 2017-18 when he scored 55 in 76 games with Vegas. It’s also the second-most points he has ever scored in a season. Haula, despite being listed as six-foot tall and 193 pounds, had 129 hits last season. Lastly, he is a career 52% at the faceoff dot and took 806 faceoffs last season. So, despite being listed as a left wing on some data bases, he more so plays center.
His one-ice impacts last season were strong. As they ranked in the league’s 65th percentile offensively and 72nd percentile defensively, per Evolving Hockey. A three-year sample of this data is much more unkind, as his defensive on-ice metrics rank all the way down in the league’s 16th percentile. Overall, an offensive-leaning presence, who has the right line mates, can put up some good numbers. As was evident last season and in Vegas.
Lastly, Haula has appeared in 61 playoff games and has 534 regular season games under his belt. He is a veteran that will bring a nice presence to the Devils’ younger lineup. He fits in the best on the Devils’ third line at center, which means Dawson Mercer will likely slide to the wing.
He is in the last year of a contract that carries a cap hit of $2,375,000. So, not only does New Jersey get what they are looking for in a capable third-line center, but also most likely, with the Zacha deal pending, save some cap space in doing so.
Adding Behind The Bench
After relieving Mark Recchi of his duties, and not renewing Alain Nasreddine’s contract, New Jersey was in the market for coaching. Well, it appears they landed one of the bigger names on the market in Andrew Brunette. The deal, which has yet to be confirmed by the team, was reported to be a three-year contract by ESPN’s Kevin Weekes to serve as one of the team’s assistant coaches.
Brunette coached the Florida Panthers last year in a head coaching role. He brought them to a 51-18-6 record which was good for the President Trophy. The first in Panthers’ team history. Although Florida exited in the second round, it was a terrific season for Brunette and the Panthers.
Adding a presence with the diverse experience Brunette has — Wild assistant coach, Wild assistant general manager, and Panther assistant coach — as well as the success he has experienced, should provide to be an immediate upgrade over what New Jersey had last season.
Devils Find New Defenseman
The first signing that New Jersey made today was bringing in 33-year-old Brendan Smith. Smith is a veteran of 571 regular season games and 56 playoff games. Last season he played 45 games for Carolina after spending the previous five season with the Rangers. He is a defenseman who has spent some time playing forward as well.
Smith profiles as a two-way defenseman who excels on the penalty kill. To the surprise of many, he is not that lock-down defensive type some have dubbed him as. Expect both okay offensive and defensive on-ice impacts. Smith should be a decent bottom-pair guy for the Devils.
The contract he signed is only worth $1,100,000 per season over the next two season. The interesting aspect is he is left handed. Which is peculiar given the Devils’ jam-packed lefty defensive group. It includes Ryan Graves, Jonas Siegenthaler, Ty Smith, Kevin Bahl, and Nikita Okhotiuk, among others.
Now, Smith does have some capabilities to play the right side, so maybe that’s what the Devils do. Or, if New Jersey brought him in to play the left side, maybe this spells the end for Ty Smith? Only time will tell.