The NHL offseason is about to be in full swing. The NHL Draft begins Friday and free agency will shortly follow. General manager Tom Fitzgerald and his staff will have their work cut out for them after underachieving last season. What will Fitzgerald and Co. have to work with? What positions will they need to address? Our full offseason preview is below.
Offseason Schedule
What are the important dates of the offseason? You can read a full analysis into the schedule here. However, for a quick look, a bullet point list of the important happenings is below:
- June 27-28: NHL Entry Draft
- June 30: Qualifying Offer Deadline
- July 1: NHL Free Agency
- July 5-6: Arbitration Notification Deadline
Devils Assets
Of course, one of the most important aspects of any offseason is the assets teams have to work with. Entering the offseason, the Devils have $14.39 million in cap space according to Puckpedia. That figure is the 20th most in the league. This is with 19 players under contract.
As far as the draft capital goes, the Devils have the following selections across Friday and Saturday’s NHL Entry Draft:
- Round 2: No. 50, No. 63 (EDM)
- Round 3: No. 90 (VGK)
- Round 4: No. 99 (NSH), No. 114
- Round 6: No. 161 (SJ), No. 178
The Devils don’t own their first-round pick due to the Jacob Markstrom trade. They also traded away their third-round pick (Jake Allen), fifth-round pick (Colin Miller), and seventh-round pick (Kaapo Kahkonen). They hold four picks from other teams via previous trades they’ve made; No. 63 (John Marino), No. 90 (Alexander Holtz, Akira Schmid), No. 99 (Erik Haula), and No. 161.
In future seasons, the team owns all their picks in 2026, outside their seventh rounder. In addition, they own an extra fourth-round selection. In 2027, they own all their picks outside their third-round selection.
Internal Free Agents
Prior to free agency opening on July 1, the Devils have several of their own they’ll need to address. Those are listed below:
Restricted Free Agents: F Cody Glass (arb.), F Nolan Foote (arb.), D Luke Hughes, Santeri Hatakka (arb.), Isaac Poulter (arb.)
Unrestricted Free Agents: F Justin Dowling, F Curtis Lazar, F Daniel Sprong, F Nathan Bastian, F Max Willman, F Samuel Laberge, F Marc McLaughlin (G6), D Brian Dumoulin, D Dennis Cholowski, D Tory Dello, G Jake Allen
Note, Hatakka has signed a contract in the SHL.
As mentioned above, the Devils will have to extend a qualifying offer to each of their five restricted free agents prior to 5:00 pm ET on June 30 to retain their rights. Those who have, “arb.,” listed next to them are eligible to elect arbitration. This will allow a third-party mediator come in and decide that individual’s salary, on a one-year deal, after both the player and team submits a figure they believe they are worth.
Below are some contract projections from AFP Analytics for some of the notable pending free agents listed above:
- F Nathan Bastian (UFA): one year, $1,324,266.67
- D Brian Dumoulin (UFA): two years, $6,379,400
- G Jake Allen (UFA): two years, $7,024,555.56
- F Cody Glass (RFA): three years, $8,711,510.96
- D Luke Hughes (RFA): three years, $17,268,787.5 (bridge) or six years, $50,320,860 (long-term)
Current Depth Chart
Entering the offseason, one of the first things teams work on is identifying their biggest needs. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the Devils’ current depth chart entering the offseason:
Forwards:
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| Timo Meier | Jack Hughes | Jesper Bratt |
| Nico Hischier | Arseni Gritsyuk | |
| Ondrej Palat | Dawson Mercer | |
| Paul Cotter | Cody Glass* | Stefan Noesen |
Analysis
The Devils have some work to do up front. After trading Erik Haula, and recent rumors of potentially not qualifying Cody Glass, granted a new deal could still be possible, center is a must. This, unless the Devils plan to roll Dawson Mercer down the middle, and newest addition Juho Lammikko steps into the fourth-line center role.
The team is also in dire need of a top-nine goal scorer. Four of the top-six group is locked down with Timo Meier, Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, and Jack Hughes. That leaves two open spots, one of which should be addressed externally.
The team could also use another bottom-six depth scorer. There is no guarantee veteran Ondrej Palat comes back, and, as mentioned above, Glass is a candidate for a non-tender.
Defense:
| Left Defense | Right Defense |
| Brenden Dillon | Dougie Hamilton |
| Jonas Siegenthaler | Johnathan Kovacevic |
| Luke Hughes* | Brett Pesce |
Analysis
The defense is basically set, unless an unforeseen trade occurs. What is interesting is the appearance of two prospects in Seamus Casey and Simon Nemec. With each looking ready to make the leap to the NHL, could one be expendable in a deal for scoring help?
Goaltenders:
| Starter | Backup |
| Jacob Markstrom |
Analysis
With Jake Allen likely leaving, given he is arguably the top option on a relatively weak free agent market, the Devils are in need of a backup to supplemental Markstrom. It is possible the Devils roll with Nico Daws, however, with some injury issues in Markstrom’s past, and a very inconsistent overall sample from Daws, an external backup add may be the wiser move.
The Needs
Based off the analysis above, here are the positions the Devils should focus on attacking in the offseason:
- Top-six wing
- Middle-six wing
- Bottom-six center
- Backup goaltender
Of course, these all can be found either in the free agent market or via trade. With just a shade over $14 million in cap space available, the Devils will need to allocate their resources wisely.
The Free Agent Market
The free agent class, on paper, projects as relatively weak. Below are some of the top options on the market that would fit a need for the Devils, and the contract projections associated with them, courtesy of AFP Analytics:
- Nikolaj Ehlers (W, 29): six years, $48,640,537.5
- Brad Marchand (LW, 37): two years, $10,186,666.67
- Brock Boeser (RW, 28): six years, $50,756,340
- Pius Suter (C, 29): four years, $19,932,214.29
- Reilly Smith (RW, 34): two years, $8,759,260
- Jonathan Drouin (LW, 30): three years, $15,073,481.25
- Brandon Saad (LW, 32): two years, $5,176,100
- Victor Olofsson (W, 29): three years, $10,231,631.25
- Andrew Mangiapane (W, 29): two years, $7,656,977.78
- Ilya Samsonov (G, 28): 1 year, $1,995,950
- James Reimer (G, 37): one year, $1,143,612,50
- David Rittich (G, 32): 2 years, $2,276,720
- Alexander Georgiev (G, 29): 1 year, $1,957,750
The Trade Market
Free agency is always the most popular way teams address needs in the offseason, however, there is also the trade market, which the Devils have already been active in, moving on from Erik Haula.
Below are some names that may be on the move this offseason, and ones that should intrigue general manager Tom Fitzgerald and his staff:
- Jason Robertson: 25, left wing, one year and $7.75 million remaining (RFA)
- Marco Rossi: 23, center, RFA
- Jonathan Marchessault: 34, right wing, four years and $5.5 million per season remaining
- Bryant Rust: 33, right wing, three years and $5.125 million per season remaining
- Jean-Gabriel Pageau: 32, center, one year and $5 million remaining
- Viktor Arvidsson: 32, right wing, one year and $4 million remaining
- Nick Robertson: 23, left wing, RFA
Final Thoughts
It’s another important offseason in the offing for the New Jersey Devils. Despite some of the recent deals they have given out, the team has some cap space to work with, and seven draft picks in Friday’s draft. It is clear, general manager Tom Fitzgerald must address his forward group, whether that is via free agency or trade. The team should also look at adding an external goaltender to replace Allen and backup Markstrom this season as well as some additional forward depth. In doing so, New Jersey should once again be looked upon as a contender in the Eastern Conference.
Be sure to follow along our social media pages all offseason as we will have constant updates and content throughout.