It is now officially the offseason for 30 of the now 32 NHL teams. The first step of the offseason for most teams? Deciding which of their own free agents – both unrestricted (UFA) and restricted (RFA) – they would like to bring back. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the skaters and goalies the New Jersey Devils will need to make decisions about. In total, the Devils have 22 free agents. Of those, 13 are RFAs and 9 are UFAs. According to CapFriendly, General Manager Tom Fitzgerald will have $37,627,501 to work with in retaining the talent he chooses as well as making the team better externally.
Note, this article will focus solely on the Devils’ unrestricted free agents. Part two of this series will focus on the 13 restricted free agents the Devils have.
Unrestricted Free Agents
Forwards
Ben Street
Ben Street is a life-time AHL forward who is now 34-years old. In his first year in Binghamton (AHL), he tallied 42 points in 49 games which led the team. In the 2020-21 COVID-impacted season, Street only played 14 games due to injury, but led the team with a point-per-game pace of 1.00. The current team captain brings veteran leadership to an extremely young team. However, with a surplus of young centers waiting in the wings, it seems unlikely the veteran Street will be brought back.
Brett Seney
Despite only being 25 years old, Seney is still an unrestrcited free agent via his group of 6 classification. The former 2015 sixth round pick was once touted as a decent prospect within the Devils’ system, but has since stalled in his development. Seney’s production took a huge step back this season, going from a 0.72 point-per-game player last year to a 0.33 this season in the AHL.
It seems fair to say, Seney – who struggled in 51 NHL games during the 2018-19 season – seems like nothing more than an AHL contributor at this point in his career. Given this, and the fact the Devils have several younger and needing to develop players waiting, it would not be surprising if the Devils let him walk this offseason.
Mason Jobst
Mason Jobst was one of two AHL players acquired in the trade between the New Jersey Devlils and New York Islanders this season. After a slow start, Jobst turned it on down the stretch and ended up finishing with eight points in only 12 games. At one point, Jobst was Binghamton’s hottest forward.
Despite the surprisingly solid play, the former Ohio State Buckeye is already 27-years old. Although bringing Jobst back would be an intriguing thing to do, it may come down to the fact the Devils have other younger, and higher potential prospects needing play time. For this reason, Jobst most likely will not be retained.
Defenseman
Ryan Murray
Ryan Murray was brought in as a low-risk, high-reward trade and after early season struggles ended up being just fine. The 27-year old is slated to become a UFA for the first time in his career. As mentioned above, despite staying healthy his season did not live up to expectations. His offensive and defensive metrics both ranked below the league’s 50th percentile and Murray was even a healthy scratch for times this season. However, toward the end of the season Murray did show some life.
| Left-Handed Defenseman | Right-Handed Defenseman |
| Ty Smith | Damon Severson |
| ? | P.K. Subban |
| Will Butcher / Jonas Siegenthaler | ? |
The Devils current defensive depth chart above is unimpressive to say the least. There is a strong possibility Will Butcher or Jonas Siegenthaler is lost via expansion draft. If not, having both locking down the left-side would not be ideal. Bringing Ryan Murray back would help alleviate at least one of the pressing needs the Devils need to address. Additionally, it is highly likely Murray is due for some positive progression as his play this year did not mirror anything like he is accustomed to over his career.
A salary projection courtesy of Evolving-Hockey has Murray at four-years and an annual salary of $4,263,000. This does seem a tad high given the season he is coming off of as well as the flat-cap. If New Jersey is able to bring Murray back in the range of three-or-four years for anything below $4,000,000 this would not only provide solid value but also fill one of many pressing needs.
Connor Carrick and Matt Tennyson
Connor Carrick (27-years old) and Matt Tennyson (31-years old) are in very similar positions. Each can be considered “veterans,” each are unrestricted free agents who are coming off very poor years (see chart below), and each are not NHL-level players, rather AHL contributors.
Re-signing either one of Carrick or Tennyson would need to be strictly for AHL leadership. As it stands, the Devils’ expected AHL defensive core has an average age of 21.75. Bringing one “veteran” back may be a wise idea. However, you do risk the poossibility of young guys who should be playing being fazed out of the lineup. At the end of the day, it’ll be interesting to see what the Devils do here, but the safe and wise bet based off the circumstances is neither return next season.
Josh Jacobs
Like teammate Brett Seney, the 25-year old Josh Jacobs also qualifies to be an unrestricted free agent thanks to the group of 6 classification. Jacobs has done terrific work for the past five-years in Albany/Bingahmton (AHL) for the Devils organization. But, for some reason, has yet to get a pro-longed look in the NHL. Play in the AHL shows a defensive-first defenseman with decent skating abilities that can serve as a decent NHL bottom-pair guy. This especially being the case on a lower-level team such as the Devils.
Unfortunately, given the Devils unwillingness to play Jacobs past the AHL-level it seems unlikely they retain his services. The smart move would be to bring him back, give him a shot at the NHL roster in camp and if not you have your solid, veteran leadership for a very young AHL defensive core.
Goaltenders
Scott Wedgewood
Scott Wedgewood was signed as an unrestricted free agent last offseason. When signing the deal, Wedgewood most likely did not think he would get all the playing time he would. After being forced into a prominent role thanks in large part to the retirement of Corey Crawford, Wedgewood tallied a .900 save percentage in 16 games. He was not the worst, but certainly was still below-average.
Given how packed the Devils’ minor league goalie room is – Akira Schmid and Nico Daws under contract, Gilles Senn and Evan Cormier pending restricted free agents – it seems pretty certain Wedgewood will not be retained. If he is, it would be solely for a veteran voice in an extremely young, now Utica (AHL), goalie room.
Aaron Dell
Aaron Dell was claimed off waivers by the Devils after Corey Crawford announced his retirement. His stint with New Jersey certainly did not go as planned. The 32-year old played in seven games and posted an ugly .857 save percentage. With confidence, it is extremely unlikely Aaron Dell will be retained.
Conclusion
Predicting which unrestricted free agents will be retained by their receptive teams is tough. But, the above seems pretty straight forward. Bringing back Ryan Murray would help the Devils limit the team’s need once the offseason gets cranking. Josh Jacobs would be another individual New Jersey should look to bring back as he has shown the tools to serve in the bottom-six, or he can simply give the Devils much-needed veteran leadership in the AHL. The rest of the pending unrestricted free agents may fall victim to the youth movement and the numeorus prospects the Devils have waiting in the pipeline.
Part two of the series will be up in the coming weeks. That article will examine the Devils’ other 13 free agents, each of which are classified as restricted.