Welcome to NHL draft week. The New Jersey Devils may not have their first-round pick this year, but that may be a pleasant change, given previous years in the lottery. Still, it should be a busy week for general manager Tom Fitzgerald and the Devils. They’ve been tied to Connor Hellebuyck in the rumor mill, and they’re trying to agree to a long-term extension with Timo Meier.
The Devils could also be active on the trade market, whether it’s moving out some of their pending restricted and unrestricted free agents or making acquisitions. Let’s round up the latest news and rumors, including the team re-signing Erik Haula and hiring Travis Green last week.
Green Hired to Replace Brunette
On June 22, the Devils officially announced that they had hired Green to replace Andrew Brunette, who the Nashville Predators hired as their head coach. Green spent four and a half seasons as the Vancouver Canucks’ head coach, compiling a 133-147-34 record. He’ll have the title of associate coach, the same as Brunette did during his one year in New Jersey.
Green was an offensive-minded coach in his time with the Canucks, as they played high-event hockey. He’ll oversee forwards and the power play with the Devils, with the latter being of note. The Devils’ power play saw significant improvement in Brunette’s one year as associate coach after he took over for Mark Recchi. It went from a bottom five unit in the league to the top 15, converting on 21.88 percent of its chances in 2022-23.
Though the power play took a big step forward this season, there’s still room for it to get better. In Vancouver, Green’s Canucks had some potent power plays, ranking ninth in 2017-18 and fourth in 2019-20. It also finished in the bottom ten in 2018-19 and 2020-21.
The reason for the inconsistency is the power play had trouble generating quality chances in all of Green’s seasons in Vancouver. That could be the product of the Canucks’ roster, though. They were poorly mismanaged by their front office and never had the talent that Green will have when he gets the behind the Devils’ bench for the first time in September. Time will tell what kind of impact he has, but adding another veteran voice with NHL coaching experience should help a young team looking to take another step forward in 2023-24.
Haula Re-Signed
It wasn’t a surprise when the Devils announced they had re-signed Haula to a three-year contract at a cap hit of $3.15 million. Based on his exit interview on cleanout day a little over a month ago, it’s clear he wanted to remain in New Jersey for the foreseeable future.
Related: Devils 2nd Round Targets for 2023 Draft
Haula may have had some of the worst shooting luck in Devils’ history for the first 65-70 games of this past season. But he started finding the back of the net at the right time, finishing with six goals in his last seven regular season games. That carried over into Round 1 of the playoffs, as he had four tallies against the New York Rangers.
Haula finished the regular season with 14 goals and 41 points in 80 games, right on par with his averages over the previous three years. He should have better shooting luck in 2023-24, so his goal-scoring should increase a bit. His defensive impacts have always been solid, and he can play as either the team’s third-line center or left wing somewhere in the middle six. He’s a good veteran to have around, so giving him an extension was a no-brainer. It came in just below Evolving-Hockey’s projection of $3.566 million annually, so it was a tidy bit of business from the Devils too.
Devils Open to Hellebuyck Trade Without Extension?
Not much has changed since Pierre LeBrun first reported there’s mutual interest between the Devils and Hellebuyck. But in The Athletic’s trade board 3.0, there was an interesting bullet about the two. The Athletic noted that the Devils might be open to acquiring Hellebuyck without an extension (From “NHL offseason trade board 3.0: How a Flames firesale could impact the market — plus all the latest rumblings” – The Athletic, 6/24/2023).
I’ve long been a proponent that the Devils should stay away from Hellebuyck, especially since he’s looking for Andrei Vasilevskiy-type money ($9.5 million a year). An extension at that price, even if it’s only for five years, would put the Devils in a poor spot with the salary cap, even with a big jump expected over the next few years.
But if the Devils are open to acquiring Hellebuyck without an extension, that might be the best-case scenario. Hear me out. One) It lowers the cost of a trade, which helps the Devils not pay all their premium trade chips in a sign-and-trade that’d likely come with a rough contract. Two) They can acquire Hellebuyck as a one-year rental and negotiate with him throughout the year to try and get him signed to a team-friendly deal. If he doesn’t accept a team-friendly contract, they can let him walk next summer or trade him in a sign-and-trade. If the Devils are interested in acquiring Hellebuyck this summer, that’s the path they should take.
Devils Quick Hits
- On the June 21 episode of 32 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman reported that the Devils and Meier are really grinding away at an eight-year extension. Per Friedman, “no one disputed that Meier told his agent to get an eight-year deal done.” With free agency opening on Saturday, Meier signing an extension this week wouldn’t be a surprise. If I had to guess, it looks close to Bo Horvat’s contract with the Islanders: eight years with a cap hit of $8.5 million.
- Also in The Athletic’s trade board 3.0 was Yegor Sharangovich making his first appearance at No. 14. They reported that Fitzgerald is starting to take calls on him, as they may not be able to afford him after a Meier extension. Sharangovich had a down year in 2022-23, but he’s capable of 20-25 goals a season in the right situation. With a weak free-agent class, the Devils could get a decent return for him, perhaps around a second-round pick and a B-level prospect.
- The Devils released their preseason schedule earlier in the week. They’ll play seven games, beginning on Sept. 25 against the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers and ending on Oct. 6 against the New York Islanders. All their preseason tilts will come against the local teams (Islanders, Flyers and New York Rangers) except for the opener against the Canadiens and Flyers, which is part of a split-squad matchup.
