Like any other National Hockey League team, the Devils had a busy offseason with new additions to the team, contract extensions, and departures. Here are some notable additions by General Manager Tom Fitzgerald. He traded forward Yegor Sharangovich and an additional 3rd round pick to the Calgary Flames in exchange for forward Tyler Toffoli. Then, he traded the 2025 5th-round pick for Colin Miller’s depth defenseman not to rush the development of Šimon Nemec, our second overall pick from the 2022 NHL draft. The last notable addition that came in through free agency was Tomáš Nosek. He was a part of the President’s trophy-winning Boston Bruins, who fell to the Florida Panthers in seven games in round one of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Outside of acquisitions for the team, the Devils had made key contract extensions to bolster the roster further. The key extension that needed to be made was Timo Meier’s. This is important because we traded several assets, such as Fabian Zetterlund, Andreas Johnsson, Nikita Okhotiuk, Shakir Mukhamadullin, and several draft picks. If they didn’t resign Timo, these picks and assets would be for nothing. He re-signed with the Devils for an 8-year, 8.8 million dollar contract. Another huge re-signing for the Devils is Erik Haula; the Devils picked him through a trade with the Boston Bruins in exchange for Travis Zajac. He was a crucial player in the playoff series against the New York Rangers because he made goals that goaltender Igor Shesterkin had trouble defending, which gave him the nickname of the “Ranger Killer.”
Before I mention the third key re-signing, here’s an honorable duo: Super Buddies Michael McLeod and Nathan Bastian. These two made our fourth line a formidable force despite the loss of Miles Wood. McLeod is a faceoff beast, winning 61% faceoffs. At the same time, Bastian has played his role as a fourth-line winger very well and has -1 +/- (goal differential). The final key re-signing is Jesper Bratt, a top-six winger who scored 73 points in an 82-game NHL season. He was usually on a line with Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier at the center and Tomáš Tatar, Dawson Mercer, or Timo Meier on the wing. He has contributed to the team in tremendous ways.
With all the re-signings and acquisitions, there must be some cap space casualties. In the NHL, the salary cap follows a hard cap system where you can’t go over the cap space your team is allotted. Other leagues, like the National Basketball Association, have a soft cap system where the league grants exceptions to teams to sign players over their cap space. In the Devils organization, we lost over 900 games of experience on the blueline by the sign and trade of Damon Severson to the Columbus Blue Jackets and the UFA signing of Ryan Graves to the Pittsburgh Penguins. This loss was alleviated by acquiring Colin Miller from the Dallas Stars. Another loss by the Devils was a duo who signed as UFAs to the Colorado Avalanche. Those being Miles Wood and Tomáš Tatar. Miles Wood was one of the oldest players on the team that the Devils drafted.
In comparison, Tomáš Tatar signed with the Devils in free agency after the 20-21 season. Lastly, the Devils took a necessary loss by trading Mackenzie Blackwood to the San Jose Sharks. During his rookie season, Mackenzie Blackwood had numbers similar to Devils goaltending legend Martin Brodeur, but when injuries plagued him after that season, he couldn’t replicate those numbers. This was costing/almost costing the team games. On April 13th, 2023, the Devils gave Blackwood the start; however, with his inept goaltending abilities, the team had a significant deficit of three goals. The Devils came out unscathed by pulling Blackwood for Akira Schmid, a rookie goaltender this year holding his own pretty well alongside goals from Luke Hughes, Erik Haula, Miles Wood, and Dougie Hamilton.
When all of the roster additions, re-signings, and subtractions, what are the potential line combinations of the team?
First line: Meier-Hischier-Mercer
Meier and Hischier have experience playing with each other as they are Swedes around the same age. Mercer adds completeness to the line because he is a sharpshooter who can make significant goals, as he did against the Montreal Canadiens in the preseason game on September 25th.
Second line: Bratt-J.Hughes-Toffoli
Hughes and Toffoli worked well together against the Canadiens during the preseason game on the 25th. They were the Devil’s top line. I put this line as the second line because Hischier is a more experienced center than Hughes. Bratt has worked well with Hughes throughout the 22-23 season, so it’s a no-brainer.
Third line: Palat-Haula-(contested spot between Holtz, Foote and Thompson)
Palat and Haula worked closely together last season on the second or third line, and they were a good duo together. The slot for the third-line RW(right wing) is heavily contested between three potential candidates. Tyce Thompson, who is giving an incredible showing at the preseason game against the Philadelphia Flyers, contributed a goal to the 6-0 win against the Flyers. Throughout the 22-23 season, Nolan Foote had constant re-calls to the Devils from Utica and contributed every time he was with the Devils. Alexander Holtz had contributed throughout the 22-23 season and the preseason victory against the Flyers.
Fourth line: Nosek-McLeod-Bastian
Nathan Bastian and Michael McLeod are the super buddies; you cannot separate them. They are a young duo, and Tomáš Nosek, as a veteran presence, can provide this line some guidance and strengthen the line.
Defensive pairing one: Sigenthaler-Hamilton
These two were the top pairing for the 22-23 season, complementing each other. Hamilton is more of an offensive defenceman. Jonas Siegenthaler is your defensive defenceman.
Defensive pairing two: L. Hughes-Marino
Similar to Sigenthaler and Hamilton, only the sides are reversed. Luke Hughes is an offensive playmaker and a good shutdown defenceman. He got Michigan out of a four-goal deficit with four goals, with the additional 5th goal that Dylan Duke (his former teammate) scored. John Marino is a defensive defenceman; however, he and Sigenthaler can score occasionally.
Defensive pairing three: Bahl-Miller
Colin Miller was the recent acquisition by the Devils to make the blueline effective after the significant loss of experience in the offseason by losing Severson and Graves. He has 400+ games of experience. Kevin Bahl is a 6′ 6 defenceman known for his physicality and knows how to use his size to his advantage. This pairing is unlike the other two because they are defensive defenseman who will shut down the opposition.
Goalie Tandem: Vanecek and Schmid
These two (Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid) made significant amounts of saves during the preseason and the last season, and they could hold their own during the 22-23 season. This year, they will split duties.
The big question for this year is goaltending for the Devils. However, I am confident that Vitek and Akira are the right people for this, and Keith Kinkaid, Nico Daws, Erik Källgren, and Tyler Brennan are up at Utica and Adirondack, waiting for their time to shine at the Rock, aka the Prudential Centre.
The Devils have a great chance at the Stanley Cup and only have a few teams in the way, such as the Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton Oilers, Colorado Avalanche, and Vegas Golden Knights. If they don’t make costly mistakes, they will have a great, successful year.
