Complete Guide to the 2015 Offseason for the New Jersey Devils
The 2014-15 season was a season of disappointment for the New Jersey Devils.
The Devils fired their head coach halfway through the season, struggled to score goals for the duration of the campaign and ultimately missed out on the playoffs by 20 points.
Thankfully for Devils fans, the organization can now officially focus on fixing this mess, beginning with the 2015 offseason.
The Devils sit on an interesting precipice which will make the upcoming offseason an intriguing one. The Devils have one of the best goaltenders in the league and a solid defense corps, both of which are good enough for New Jersey to be successful as soon as next season.
But the Devils' forwards were a picture of inadequacy for much of the season, and the aging group shows no signs of immediate improvement from within. So the Devils currently sit in a place where they have undeniable assets but remain an obvious step away from being a contender.
Can New Jersey find itself some goal scorers and turn its fortunes around? This offseason guide will try to address that and other pressing questions about the Devils' future.
Season Recap
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Top Performers
Michael Cammalleri led the Devils with 27 goals, 11 more than Adam Henrique and Steve Bernier, who tied for second. Andy Greene and Adam Larsson played together on New Jersey's top defense pairing for the last third of the season, and both players finished with positive plus/minus ratings.
In goal, Cory Schneider was the team's unequivocal MVP. Schneider finished the season with a 2.26 goals against average and a .925 save percentage.
Biggest Disappointments
Only one Devil ended the season with more than 20 goals. Only two ended the season with more than 40 points.
So, choosing just a few disappointing players out of a sea of mediocrity is difficult. But surely Dainius Zubrus leads the pack, having amassed only 10 points in 74 games. Michael Ryder and Martin Havlat were brought in to alleviate New Jersey's goal scoring woes, but a combination of injury, attitude problems, poor defensive play and inconsistent offensive contribution saw both players scratched for the majority of the second half of the season.
Final Analysis
The Devils are set for the foreseeable future in goal with Schneider and backup Keith Kinkaid quite capable of carrying the load as they did in 2014-15. Greene led a defense corps that had some understandable ups and downs given its youth. While players like Jon Merrill and Eric Gelinas might like to forget this season, it no doubt provided valuable learning experiences for New Jersey's young defensemen.
It is no secret that it is the forwards that let the Devils down this season. New Jersey's inability to create chances and score goals was the story of this season, and that problem will be the story of the offseason as well.
Biggest Storylines to Follow
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Can the Devils Add Scoring?
General manager Lou Lamoriello has told Tom Gulitti of Fire & Ice that New Jersey's need is clear, saying, “I think that we have to get a couple of offensive forwards. Our role players are outstanding. Our defense, I'm extremely pleased with. Goaltending, I don't think say enough about it the way it's been. So we have to get a couple offensive players.”
Lamoriello's assessment is spot-on. As noted previously, the Devils have plenty of talent and depth at defense and one of the best goalies in the NHL, so those positions are set. At forward, players like Steve Bernier, Jordin Tootoo, Jacob Josefson and Stephen Gionta were all more than acceptable role players.
It was the offensive forwards that let New Jersey down in 2014-15.
Of course, this has been the Devils' greatest need since the departure of Ilya Kovalchuk and David Clarkson after the 2012-13 season. Yet after two offseasons of attempting to fill this need, only one recently added offensive forward remains—Michael Cammalleri.
The free agent market is not exactly overflowing with goal scorers this offseason, so if Lamoriello is to make his offseason goal a reality, it may require a trade.
Will There Be Defensemen on the Way Out?
If the Devils have to make a trade or two to add goal scorers, that means they will have to part ways with a few current players. Because the team's one area of clear strength and depth is on defense, there is a real possibility that one of New Jersey's young defensemen gets moved.
Surely Adam Larsson, who proved this season that he is capable of being a top-pairing defensemen, has the most trade value of any of New Jersey's young defensemen. But after watching his tremendous growth this season, Lamoriello will likely be hesitant to part ways with him unless the Devils get undeniable offensive talent in return.
Perhaps more likely options are Damon Severson, Jon Merrill or Eric Gelinas, all of whom have now had significant NHL experience but have yet to reach their full potential.
Of course, New Jersey will not want to give up any of these players, but given this offseason's limited free agent class, it may not have a choice.
Is Lou Lamoriello's Time in Charge Running Out?
The Devils have now missed the playoffs for a third consecutive season. As I have said in the past, there are reasons both in and out of Lamoriello's control for this unfortunate turn of events, but patience, at least among fans, is beginning to run short in Newark.
If Lamoriello's moves this offseason fail once again, it would be shocking if the ownership's patience does not start running short as well.
So, perhaps for the first time in Lamoriello's nearly 30 years in charge of the Devils, there is significant pressure on New Jersey's general manager. Every move that he makes this offseason not only serves to improve the fortunes of a struggling team but also to prove that Lamoriello deserves to keep his job.
Who Will the Next Head Coach Be?
Lamoriello took on the role of interim head coach for the second half of the season, running the team with co-coaches Scott Stevens and Adam Oates after firing Peter DeBoer.
Will it be Stevens or Oates taking over full time next season? Or will Lamoriello go outside the organization to find the next coach of the New Jersey Devils?
Experienced coaches such as Paul MacLean, Dan Bylsma and Ted Nolan are all currently without jobs, so Lamoriello will not be short on choices.
Notable Players Hitting Free Agency
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Michael Ryder and Martin Havlat
Both Ryder and Havlat were brought into New Jersey to ease the Devils' scoring woes, but neither player ever really fit. Now, both are about to become unrestricted free agents.
This season, Ryder put up 19 points in 47 games before regularly becoming a healthy scratch for the second half of the season. Havlat amassed 14 points in 40 games before suffering the same fate.
The chances of the Devils re-signing either of these players are about equal to New Jersey's chances of trading for Sidney Crosby this offseason—it isn't going to happen.
Ryder and Havlat will serve as a reminder about signing players who are poor fits for the organization out of desperation.
Adam Larsson and Eric Gelinas
Both Larsson and Gelinas are set to become restricted free agents this offseason. It is extremely unlikely that either player leaves New Jersey via free agency, as any team interested in signing the young defensemen would have to surrender draft picks to the Devils as compensation.
But this is not to say that Larsson and Gelinas' contract negotiations are not noteworthy. The length and nature of these negotiations often reflects the nature of the relationship between the player and the team.
Larsson finally got a sustained chance to play this season, but Gelinas struggled defensively again and did not get as large a chance to prove himself.
Larsson and Gelinas are both three years away from unrestricted free agency, so this could conceivably be the last time the Devils negotiate with these players before they hit the open market.
Of course, as mentioned previously, both of these players could be on the trading block as well, which adds another interesting wrinkle to negotiations.
Scott Gomez, Jordin Tootoo and Steve Bernier
Gomez, Tootoo and Bernier may well have entered the 2014-15 season with legitimate concerns that they would never play in the NHL again. But all three players have now made serious cases that they deserve to still be in this league.
With Gomez, 35, and Tootoo, 32, having revived their careers in New Jersey, it seems likely that both would choose to stay with the Devils if possible. Bernier, 30, has spent the last four seasons as a Devil and just had his best-ever offensive season, so a move would not be sensible for him, either. Is New Jersey interested in keeping these players around, though?
The Devils need playmakers, and Gomez's 34 points in 58 games prove he can continue to be a useful offensive weapon. Tootoo brought grit and speed to a team that needed both, and his 10 goals certainly help further his case for a place on the team going forward. Bernier was second on the team in goals and fifth on the team in points, and New Jersey is in no position to turn away role players who can help ease the team's offensive struggles.
So, it seems likely that the Devils will want to bring all three players back next season. However, if they plan to bring in new players as well, it could be tough to see where these players fit in.
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Top Free Agent Targets
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As previously noted, this is not a strong free agent class in terms of offensive talent, so these players are the best of an average group.
It is worth noting that according to HockeyBuzz.com, the Devils had just over $6 million of cap space unused this season and will be opening up another $8 million with the departures of Havlat, Ryder and likely Bryce Salvador.
Matt Beleskey
Beleskey, a 26-year-old left wing who plies his trade in Anaheim, does not have a history of scoring a ton of goals. In 264 games prior to this season, Beleskey had 37 goals and 45 assists, not exactly an impressive tally.
But, this year, he has 22 goals and 10 assists. Is this an outlier or an indication of a player who is a late bloomer?
Surely Beleskey has benefited from playing with Ryan Kesler as his center, a luxury he obviously did not have before the Ducks signed Kesler last offseason. But the Devils need to determine whether or not that is the major factor at play in Beleskey's improved production.
Carl Soderberg
Of course, if the Devils could sign a center of Carl Soderberg's caliber, perhaps he could get the best out of a player like Beleskey.
Soderberg, 29, just completed his second full season in the NHL with the Boston Bruins. Until 2011-12, he played exclusively in Sweden, but Soderberg has been a tremendous pick-up for the Bruins since coming to the NHL.
In 161 NHL games, the Swedish center has 29 goals and 65 assists with Boston. Though New Jersey's strongest forward position is currently center, acquiring a playmaker like Soderberg would still be a great help to the team.
By adding Soderberg, the Devils could move Adam Henrique to the wing permanently, leaving Soderberg, Gomez and Travis Zajac as the team's top three centers.
Of course, after missing the playoffs, Boston's future is unclear. How strongly the Devils will pursue Soderberg is also unclear, but if they could manage to sign him, it would be a step in the right direction.
Michael Frolik
Frolik, like Beleskey, is a winger who does not exactly have a history of putting up huge numbers but had a solid season this year.
The Czech right wing, 27, broke into the league with two 20-goal and 40-point seasons in Florida from 2008-2010. He was traded to Chicago during the 2010-11 season but never reached the same heights there that he did in Florida.
A move to Winnipeg before last season coincided with a jump in his play. Frolik has 34 goals and 50 assists over the last two seasons with the Jets. Frolik is by no means a superstar, but he could certainly be a top-six right wing in New Jersey, given that Tootoo and Bernier filled that role for the Devils at the end of the season.
While Frolik is not going to solve New Jersey's scoring problems by himself, he could certainly be a useful second-line player, provided the Devils add other offensive players as well.
Best Options in the NHL Draft
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Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel
The Devils have a 7.5 percent chance of winning the draft lottery, giving them a legitimate shot of picking first. If they do, the Devils will almost certainly take either McDavid or Eichel.
McDavid, 18, the consensus top choice in the 2015 draft, picked up 44 goals and 76 assists in 47 games with the OHL's Erie Otters this season.
Eichel, also 18, had 26 goals and 45 assists in 40 games for Boston University this season.
Though other teams have a better chance of winning the draft lottery and being guaranteed an opportunity to pick one of these budding superstar centers, the Devils also have a shot. If New Jersey manages to win the lottery and get one of these players, though, it will have acquired a tremendously talented player who will immediately raise the stock of the team's offensive prospects immensely.
Dylan Strome
Strome, 18, was a teammate of McDavid's with the Erie Otters in the OHL this season. In 68 games, the young center amassed 45 goals and 84 assists, giving him an OHL-leading 129 points.
Listed at 6'3" and 185 pounds, Strome has some size to go along with his obvious scoring ability, not to mention decent quickness and agility as well.
If New Jersey does not win the draft lottery, it will have either the sixth or seventh choice in the draft. Whether Strome falls that far will depend on the needs of the teams between the top two picks and the Devils. But if he is there, he has an excellent chance of being New Jersey's choice.
Mitchell Marner
Marner, 17, finished second in points in the OHL this season, falling three points short of Strome by picking up 44 goals and 82 assists.
Also a center, Marner is only 5'11" and 160 pounds, but he has quickness that makes up for what he lacks in size. He is a proven playmaker with some of the quickest hands of any player in this year's draft class.
Like Strome, there is a chance Marner will already be taken by the time the Devils pick at either the sixth or seventh choice. But, also like Strome, if Marner is still on the board, the Devils would do well to pick him up.
Mikko Rantanen
Rantanen, 18, might be the forward most likely to make the jump directly to the NHL after being drafted this year.
At 6'4" and 211 pounds, Rantanen need not worry about being physically intimidated or pushed around at the NHL level. He also has more experience playing against professionals than most in this year's draft class, as Rantanen played 59 games in the Finnish Elite League this season, picking up nine goals and 19 assists.
Of course, Devils fans and management may remember thinking the same thing about Larsson, who spent two years playing professionally in Sweden before coming to the NHL, yet he ended up needing significant time in the AHL before being ready to contribute at the NHL level.
A more pressing concern about Rantanen might be his style of play, though. His playmaking skills are thought highly of, but with his size he may end up being more of a power forward than a playmaker or goal scorer in the NHL. The Devils need offensive firepower right now, so such a player might not be in their best interest.
If Devils' scouts have seen enough from him to convince them he can be an offensive weapon, though, Rantanen could be New Jersey's choice at the sixth or seventh overall pick.
Players Who Could Be on the Trading Block
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Any Young Defenseman
As mentioned in previous slides, the Devils have a plethora of young defensemen. So it will come as no surprise if one or more of them is traded for some offensive firepower.
Larsson, Gelinas, Merrill and Severson comprise the young defense corps that ended the season in the NHL, but Seth Helgeson and Raman Hrabarenka of the Albany Devils and Steve Santini of Boston College could also realistically be part of a trade.
Dainius Zubrus and Tuomo Ruutu
If the Devils end up adding forwards this offseason, they will have a bit of a logjam on their third and fourth lines. This may create an awkward situation for New Jersey.
Without a doubt, players like Josefson, Gionta, Tootoo and Bernier outplayed Zubrus (10 points in 74 games) and Ruutu (13 points in 77 games) this season, but the latter pair will cost the Devils $3.1 million and $3.8 million in cap space, respectively. In an ideal world, the Devils would find trades for these players, but their age, performance and cap hit make such deals unlikely.
Still, it seems that New Jersey might like to find a new home for either underperforming forward in his mid-30s.
Travis Zajac
Zajac is not a player that the Devils necessarily want to part with, but if they end up involved in a blockbuster deal, they may have to part with some offensive talent to acquire greater offensive talent.
Though his production was significantly down this season (25 points in 74 games), there is no doubt that Zajac can be a productive offensive player in the right situation. Given New Jersey's lack of goal scorers, it seems clear that he has not been in the right situation the last two seasons.
It seems plausible that a team in a similar transitional period to that of the Devils might feel they can get the most out of Zajac. If such a deal arose and brought scoring talent to New Jersey, Lamoriello would have to seriously consider the offer.
Prospects Most Likely to Debut in 2015-16
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Raman Hrabarenka
The 22-year-old Belarusian defenseman played in New Jersey's next-to-last regular season game in 2014-15, but a true debut could be in the cards for Hrabarenka next season.
At 6'5" and 235 pounds, Hrabarenka is a big defenseman with the ability to contribute offensively. He was limited by injury to only 45 games this season, but he still managed to put up nine goals and 18 assists for the Albany Devils.
With the possibility that one or two of the Devils' NHL-level defensemen could be traded this offseason, a path to a regular NHL spot could open to Hrabarenka. If he can prove himself to be reliable defensively in training camp, he could be an interesting partner for Gelinas, who is sizable and offensively dangerous as well.
Reece Scarlett
Like Hrabarenka, Scarlett is a 22-year-old offensively dangerous defenseman who spent this season in the AHL. Through 55 games, Scarlett notched 21 assists.
Scarlett is listed at 6'1" and 185 pounds, making him significantly smaller and quicker than Hrabarenka.
He faces the same path to the NHL—if the Devils deal a defenseman or two over the offseason, Scarlett could be in line for a roster spot in October.
Paul Thompson
At 26 years old, Thompson is not a normal prospect.
Thompson leads the Albany Devils in goals with 33 through 71 games, not to mention 20 assists, but was signed to an AHL-only contract for 2014-15. So, as Gulitti reported, he cannot be signed to an NHL deal before July 1, though Lamoriello intends to sign him to an NHL contract for next season.
Ultimately, Thompson was not going to save New Jersey's season, so leaving him in Albany where he could continue to refine his game was not a bad option.
Thompson was a 2011 Hobey Baker Award finalist but went undrafted after his senior year at the University of New Hampshire. He has since spent time at the AHL level in the Penguins and Blue Jackets organizations, before signing with the Devils before the 2014-15 season.
Though Thompson is having a career year in Albany, it is also important to note the last three seasons he spent in the AHL were decent, but certainly nothing spectacular. There is a chance that Thompson could be a late-blooming difference-maker, but he could also be a career AHL player simply having a lucky season.
Stefan Matteau and Reid Boucher
Though both Matteau and Boucher have already played for the Devils more than 20 games each, a look at the Devils' prospects without mentioning these two would be incomplete.
Both players had mediocre seasons in the AHL this year, but each had bright moments when coming up to play in the NHL at the end of the season.
Matteau is a bigger, more physical player whose best-case scenario in the NHL is probably being a productive third-line player. While that is not flashy, players of that ilk are useful, and the Devils certainly hope he can reach that level.
Boucher is most remembered for his 62-goal season with the OHL's Sarnia Sting, but he has not yet shown regular goal-scoring prowess at the professional level. He has three points and five assists in 34 NHL games and 39 goals and 33 assists in 129 games for the Albany Devils. While he is only 21 years old and has time to develop, Boucher still has a long way to go before he will be the goal-scoring prospect Devils fans had initially hoped.
Both players will get a chance to make the NHL team during training camp, particularly if New Jersey's efforts to acquire new talent at forward fall through.
Projected 2015-16 Depth Chart
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For the Devils, much will depend on who comes in during the offseason. For the sake of this depth chart, I will assume that Lamoriello sticks to his word and brings in two offensive forwards. As right wing is the biggest area of need for the Devils, I will also assume both players are right wingers. With that in mind, these are the forwards:
Michael Cammalleri-Travis Zajac-Free Agent/Trade Addition
Adam Henrique-Scott Gomez-Free Agent/Trade Addition
Patrik Elias-Stephen Gionta-Steve Bernier
Dainius Zubrus/Tuomo Ruutu-Jacob Josefson-Jordin Tootoo
Extra:Ruutu/Zubrus
I would rather see Matteau come up on a permanent basis and play left wing on the fourth line, but I cannot see the Devils sitting almost $7 million worth of cap space on a nightly basis.
On defense, there have to be ramifications of the assumed offensive acquisitions. There simply are not two big right wings on the free agent market, so one would have to be acquired via trade. As has been a theme for much of this guide, such a move is going to cost the Devils a defenseman.
So, I will assume that either Merrill or Severson, the two defensemen with the most value outside of Larsson, will be the one to go. Additionally, the Devils will probably bring back either Peter Harrold and Mark Fraser, but keeping both would seem unnecessary given the young defensemen in the organization, so I will assume that as well.
Thus, the defense pairings turn out the following way:
Andy Greene-Adam Larsson
Jon Merrill/Damon Severson-Eric Gelinas
Mark Fraser/Peter Harrold-Raman Hrabarenka
Extra: Seth Helgeson/Reece Scarlett
In goal, the story is obviously simple:
Cory Schneider
Keith Kinkaid
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