Our latest examined the New Jersey Devils’ nine current unrestricted free agents (UFAs). Now, we will take a look at the 13 restricted free agents (RFAs) the team will have to make a decision on. Unlike UFAs, the Devils still own the rights of each of the team’s 13 other free agents. In regards to RFAs, there are three options. You can qualify and sign, qualify and re-sign to a new contract, or not qualify and let walk as an UFA. There has yet to be an official date as to when RFAs will have to be qualified/non-tendered. However, it seems right before July 21st (NHL Expansion Draft) would be a safe bet.
What Is A Restricted Free Agent (RFA)?
So, if a player is extended a qualifying offer by their respective team three things can happen. The first is the player can accept the qualifying offer which would promptly be accepting a one-year contract. Per CapFriendly, the contract would be worth 110% of the previous base salary if that salary was less than or equal to $660,000, 105% of the base salary if that salary was greater than $660,000 or less than $1,000,000, or 100% of the base salary if that salary was equal to or greater than $1,000,000.
The second outcome is the player and team can simply negotiate a new contract after being qualified, this being longer than a year if wanted. For example, this is what happened last offseason with Devils’ Mackenzie Blackwood and Jesper Bratt. The last possible outcome is if the player qualfiies for arbitration rights, the player can elect that an arbitrator choose between a submitted amount by the team and the player and that amount would be the player’s salary for next season. Worth noting, Nick Merkley, A.J. Greer, Jonas Siegenthaler, Colton White, Evan Cormier, and Gilles Senn all have arbitration rights.
So, with 13 RFAs General Manager Tom Fitzgerald will have some decisions to make. Let’s examine whether all 13 RFAs deserve to be back, and if they do what their next contracts may look like.
New Jersey Devils’ RFAs
It seems it would be best to split the Devils’ 13 RFAs into three different categories. The first being those who are likely to be retained but retained through the negioataion of new contracts. We already saw this to be the case with former RFA this offseason with Nathan Bastian. The second category being those RFAs who are likely to be extended a qualifying offer and accept the rated base salary outlined above. The last group being those of the 13 who seem unlikely to be back in the form of being non-tendered.
Likely To Be Signed To A New Contract
As mentioned above, we already saw Nathan Bastian – who was a RFA – signed to a two-year, $825,000 contract. Others that seem most likely to be qualified then negotiate a new contract are the following: Nick Merkley, Michael McLeod, Janne Kuokkanen, Yegor Sharnagovich, and Jonas Siegenthaler. The chart below includes Evolving-Hockey’s projections for each of the above’s new contracts:
| Player | Age | Projected Contract |
| Yegor Sharangovich | 23 | Four years, $4,693,000 |
| Janne Kuokkanen | 23 | Two-years, $1,517,000 |
| Michael McLeod | 23 | Two-years, $1,390,000 |
| Nick Merkley | 24 | Two-years, $1,045,000 |
| Jonas Siegenthaler | 24 | One year, $950,800 |
Most of the above sounds about right. Break-out rookie Yegor Sharangovich had a tremendous year offensively and quickly established himself as the team’s best goal-scorer. It does appear the above projection might be a bit much, but a negotiation of a deal longer than one-year and north of $2,500,000 does seem correct.
Both Janne Kukkoaken and Michael McLeod also had, albeit to a lesser extent, little breakouts of their own. Kuokkanen was sixth in NHL rookie scoring and proved to be a nice boost offensively. McLeod, although not the player some may have hoped, is showing signs of developing into a very nice bottom-six penalty-killing center.
Nick Merkley is the one skater on this list that can bring some pessimism. He did play in 27 games but only tallied 10 points, and his underlying statistics were not pretty (as evident in the chart above). It would be a bit odd if the Devils did not qualify him and lost him for nothing, but if that did happen to anyone on this list I certianly would not be surprised if it was him. Merkley is also a decent candidate to fall into the file for arbitration category.
Jonas Siegenthaler was traded to the Devils from the Washington Capitals prior to the NHL Trade Deadline for a 2021 third-round pick. He was not able to play much for the Devils due to contracting COVID-19 and some injury issues. But, in his eight games with the team he did put up decent underlying numbers. It would be extremely silly to see New Jersey let Siegenthaler go after trading for him. The only way it seems he will not be back is if he is taken by the Seattle Kraken in the upcoming NHL Expansion Draft.
Likely To Accept Qualifying Offers
When examining which of the 13 RFAs are likely to be extended a qualifying offer and subsequently accept the one-year, calculated salary, three names stick out. These being forwards Marian Studenic and A.J. Greer and defenseman Colton White.
Studenic was able to play eight games at the NHL-level this season. It was hard to get a grasp of how exactly he did given such a small sample size. The underlying numbers were slightly below average and he only had two points. But, as mentioned, it is a very small sample. Nonetheles, given Studenic’s standing as a decent prospect with bottom-six wing aspirations he surely will be brought back.
Greer and White will both once again serve as AHL players next year. Greer was acquired via the trade between the Devils and the New York Islanders last season and performed well for Binghamton (AHL). In 16 games, he tallied 14 points and got rewarded for it with one NHL game where he did struggle. Nonetheless, bringing Greer back would bring a physical, veteran presence for a young Utica (AHL) team that desperately needs it. The 24 year old White has been playing for the Devils AHL affiliate for the past four years. From what I have seen he has been fine, but has not played to a level a potential NHLer should be. However, bringing White back would help keep some experience in a Utice (AHL) defensive core that has a current average age of 21.75.
The maximum one-year qualifying offer salaries of both Greer and White would be $840,000 and the qualifying offer to Studenic is projected to be $750,000 according to CapFriendly. Of the three discussed in this section, the one who may have a chance of not being qualified is Colton White. This is based off his stalled development and increasing age as well as the fact that the Devils have a logjam of defenders in the AHL.
May Not Be Retained
After analyzing the above eight RFAs, five are left. Forward Brandon Gignac has been with the Devils’ AHL affiliates since 2016. In 127 career AHL games, he has 53 points. This past season Gignac spent most of his time with the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen. Gignac provides to be a decent depth scoring option in the AHL. However, with the organization relegating him to the ECHL it seems possible he will not be retained.
Defensemen Colby Sissons most recently signed with VC Vita Hästen of the HockeyEllsvenskan. So, it appears he will not be back. This makes sense given that he spent most of the last two seasons in the ECHL and struggled while in the AHL. Fellow defenseman David Quenneville is also a RFA and also signed in Sweden with the SHL’s IK Oskarshamn, so it appears he will not be back either.
Both goaltenders Gilles Senn and Evan Cormier are RFAs. Senn, like the two defenseman above, signed a new deal overseas. He signed a three-year contract with HC Davos of the Swiss Hockey League. Senn’s development seemingly stunted this past year, where he saw a decline in play. In his AHL career, he had a save percentage below .900. Cormier was a former fourth-round pick by the Devils and has struggled in his time within the organization. He has career save percentages in both the AHL and ECHL below .900. Worth noting, the Devils did sign both Akira Schmid and Nico Daws to entry-level contracts. So, it is hard to imagine the team uses presumably their last goaltending roster spot on Cormier.
Conclusion
Well there you have it folks. As mentioned, the first step to almost any offseason is the retention/seperation of a team’s own free agents. According to CapFriendly, in total, general manager Tom Fitzgerald will have almost $38,000,000 at his disposal in retaining his own talent and going externally to correctly supplement his roster into competitivness. Of the team’s 22 free agents, 13 of which are RFAs and nine UFAs, the Devils will have some interesting decisions to make.