Équipe: 2023-24 Devils du New Jersey

Date de création initiale: 11 mars 2023

Publié: 11 mars 2023

Mode - plafond salarial: Basique

Blackwood: During the off-season I’m not sure how many trades we will see. My feeling is they will ship Blackwood off for a mid round pick at the least. Blackwood will not be a devil at the start of next season.
Rango: Sharangovich is also on the border of being traded but ultimately I’m not sure if Fitzgerald will find a price he likes for him. He will get his QO but as for a trade, I’m not sure. To me he just doesn’t really fit the lineup much anymore. He’s a decent top 9 player who PKs and can pot in 20 but I just don’t know if there is room come next season.

Bratt: Bratt and Meier are the obvious big names and I am very confident they both get signed. I like that Fitz has made it public that getting Bratt resigned is his biggest priority. With Bratts recent play however, I’m not sure he can justify more than 8.5 at the most. Imo, Bratts camp will start there, Fitz will start at 7.5 and they’ll meet in the middle at 8.

Meier: Meier is still getting used to everything so the jury is still out on what his camp will be requesting. Imo if the devils can make a bit of a run, even if it’s just passed the 1st round, it should be easy to sell these players on a real opportunity to win the cup here. I don’t see Meier getting more than 9 at the most. I think he comes in at 8.5

Bo, McLeod, Bass: Boqvist has more than proved that he belongs in the starting 12. He is getting a raise, but not by that much. I think the Koukkanen deal makes sense for him.
Imo McLeod is a very important part to our bottom 6. Top FO guy who can PK? I think those are 2 very important skill sets for the bottom 6. I think he deserves to keep his spot, it took him some time to figure it out but he is a very serviceable 4C. Bass should get qualified but I think he is more a 13F especially now with the acquisition of Lazar.

Bahl: Bahl has also started to show he can hang in this league. I imagine he will probably get a 2 year bridge deal and reassess if he is worth a long term invest later.

In terms of UFAs I will start from most likely to return to least.

Haula: Haula has obviously had his struggles putting the puck in the net but I honestly think his presence has been invaluable. Haula and Palat are the veteran leaders I want on this team and I be,I’ve the 2 of them together can show this young group how to win and how to be leaders of their own. I also don’t think he will be pricey or demand a long term contract. I want him back next year, let’s keep that 3rd line of Palat-Haula-Boqvist in tact.

Graves: I personally don’t really like Graves. I think he is way to slow for this devils team and I honestly think moving away from him might be the better idea and we try and find a stop gap for a year or 2 while the team waits for Luke and Nemec. Regardless I do think there’s a strong possibility of him coming back.

Tatar: Tatar makes me nervous. If he comes back are we getting this years Tatar, or last years? To me this quite easily been a career year and I’m not sold he can come close to replicating the magic he’s shown. I can see a path to him being resigned if he’s willing to take a decent pay cut. He honestly might be willing to because I’m not really sure what appetite there might be for his services anyway.

Severson: Poor Sevo. Been on this team through the worst of it and just as the team finally he gets good, he’s more then likely getting shafted. I don’t see a way the devils resign him especially when he will be looking for at least 6 on the open market. I will always root for him because this man got so much more hate than he deserved.

Wood: punt him. Doesn’t PK, don’t know why he’s on PP2, and definitely not worth 3.2mil. Sure he can throw the fists but he hasn’t even done that all that much this year. He’s fast and draws penalties but he also takes a lot. I think the Devils should turn to Nolan Foote for the 4LW and see if he can role with it. The team may also just need to find a cheap vet as insurance for this position as well.


Next year I think it’s about trying to keep the magic. One thing about next year though is I really don’t know what the plan will be with Holtz. If they resign Tatar, I don’t see room for the kid unless injuries start to happen. Sharangovich is also a question mark, in this scenario I’m assuming he gets traded. what he’s traded for doesn’t matter in terms of this exercise. Let me know what you all think.