The Devils re-signed Jake Allen and some depth pieces while making two important adds up front. It was a good day.
Free Agency Frenzy was not so much of a frenzy this year, with teams worried about being penalized for tampering after Bill Daly sent them memo after memo warning them about making contact with free agents before the beginning of the negotiation period at 12:00 PM today. But the New Jersey Devils still made strong moves, setting themselves up for more moves throughout the summer that should retool them for the 2025-26 season. First on the day, they re-signed Jake Allen to a surprisingly team-friendly deal:
Jake Allen
While free agency rumors indicated that Jake Allen would make as much as $5 million per season if he hit unrestricted free agency, the veteran goaltender is tired of moving. In his words:
I’m excited to finish my career here.
Rather than sign with a Canadian team desperate for goaltending, Jake Allen chose to stay in New Jersey for five years at an annual average value of $1.8 million, solidifying a goaltending tandem with Jacob Markstrom for the second year in a row. Allen’s decision to sign in New Jersey also gives them long-term goaltending insurance, as Allen has not had a heavy workload in his career and looks to take his career to age-40, which he should be able to do given his good health and proven track record of solid goaltending (Allen was tied with Connor Hellebuyck for second in the league in goals saved above expected per 60 in 2024-25). With multiple young goaltenders of interest in the system, the Devils are in a good place in net for years to come.
Connor Brown
Grabbing one of the pieces from the Edmonton Oilers’ back-to-back Western Conference Championship victories, the Devils signed Connor Brown to a four-year contract worth an average of $3 million per season. Brown, 31, who had 13 goals and 17 assists last year in addition to four goals and five assists in 20 playoff games, is one of the best skaters in the league, combining explosiveness and endurance to be a consistently tough player to play against. Brown will factor into the Devils’ penalty kill while seeking to regain the level of productivity he hit in Ottawa before suffering a torn ACL his first month in Washington a few years ago. Brown saw his production rise from 12 points to 30 over the last two seasons, so there may be hope that he can get back into the 40-50 range on the right line with the Devils. He will be a fit for the third line, but can play anywhere in the lineup at any time because of his tenacity and details.
Evgenii Dadonov
This was the one that I did not expect. Considering that the New Jersey Devils paid Tomas Tatar $1.8 million last season, signing 36-year old Evgenii Dadonov, to a one-year, $1 million contract was an incredible value add for Tom Fitzgerald. Dadonov, who had 20 goals and 20 assists last season, has had one of the highest-percentage shots since rejoining the NHL in 2017 with Florida. While Dadonov is not known for his defense, I believe that playing in Sheldon Keefe’s system will help hide those deficiencies, as Dadonov still has the legs and skill to produce even in limited minutes. Dadonov was tracked in the 86th percentile in total speed bursts over 20 MPH during the regular season, and he amped his speed up in the postseason, showing that he still has a lot in him at his age. He should be able to fit in on the third line, or in the top six in offensive situations.
The Depth Signings
While our attention was focused on the aforementioned three NHLers today, the Devils also did some important business to tend to their organizational depth.
Dennis Cholowski — Acquired in a three-way trade with the New York Islanders and Seattle Kraken, in which the Devils also acquired Daniel Sprong, Dennis Cholowski appeared in six regular season games and two postseason matches for the Devils. In those games, the Devils went 2-5-1, with Cholowski playing to a -4 rating in his six regular season games, while playing the equivalent of seventh defenseman minutes in a six-defenseman lineup when the Devils were playing the Hurricanes in the first round. Per PuckPedia, Cholowski is on a one-way deal for league minimum ($775,000), making him a candidate to be the team’s seventh defenseman while Seamus Casey racks up top minutes in Utica and Simon Nemec fills Johnny Kovacevic’s lineup spot.
Marc McLaughlin — Acquired in a trade with the Boston Bruins, which sent defenseman Daniil Misyul (now with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL) the other way, McLaughlin suited up for two games in a Devils uniform this season, in which he had an assist but did not really look that great on the ice, with the team giving up two goals against in his 18:32 of total ice time. However, McLaughlin is only 25 years old and can play center, so he is not bad to keep around. I had figured that he would have walked away as one of the rare Group 6 UFAs, but he instead took the two-way deal to stay here with a $350,000 minor league salary — a raise from the $120,000 Boston gave him for his AHL time last year.
Angus Crookshank — One of the best names in AHL hockey, Angus Crookshank has been a top six mainstay of the Belleville Senators for a few years now. Like McLaughlin, Crookshank gets a big raise from his time with the AHL Senators (also $120,000 last year) regardless of if he makes the NHL squad, as he will make $425,000 this season and $775,000 in 2026-27 if he stays in the minor leagues. In his career, Crookshank has 77 goals and 72 assists in 202 AHL games, along with two goals and two assists in 21 NHL games. In eight games for Ottawa this year, Crookshank had a 59.4 CF% (+11.6 relative in those games), but could not stick with those Senators. If Crookshank turns out to be more than just an AHLer, this will prove a very shrewd contract from Tom Fitzgerald.
Calen Addison — While I do not believe Addison was under NHL contract last year, he put up 33 points in 49 games with a -24 rating for the Henderson Silver Knights and 3 points in 13 games with a -11 rating for the Springfield Thunderbirds in 2024-25. This followed one year for the San Jose Sharks in 2023-24, in which he had 12 points in 60 games with 66 PIMs and a -35 rating. Prior to being acquired by the Sharks, he had a total of 34 points in 74 games with a -20 rating for the Minnesota Wild across the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. Listed at 5’11” and 172 pounds, shooting right-handed, Addison serves two purposes. First, he will challenge Dennis Cholowski for a roster spot in camp. Second, he will fill in the gap in Utica whenever Seamus Casey may be recalled, or if Casey is traded next season. If Addison makes the team, I would be very interested to see if Sheldon Keefe and Brad Shaw can focus his offensive abilities and improve his defensive play at the NHL level. He will make $325,000 in the minors or league minimum in the NHL this season.
What Now?
Per the team’s beat reporters, Tom Fitzgerald will speak with the media at 10:30 AM tomorrow. His work, while very good so far, is not done yet. While Jared will respond in part to what Fitzgerald says tomorrow, there are a few points that seem clear now. As far as I can tell, the team will still need to shed salary to afford the Cody Glass and Luke Hughes contracts. If the team were to clear Ondrej Palat’s $6 million cap hit from their books, they may even be able to afford another option at center (Pius Suter is still available), freeing Dawson Mercer up to play wing throughout the season. Not moving salary would mean relying on Johnny Kovacevic’s LTIR exception, which is not likely to last through the entire season, to remain cap compliant.
Additionally, I would like to see the Devils bring in another bottom six winger option, assuming Ondrej Palat is either traded or bought out in the case Cody Glass files for arbitration. Daniel Sprong is still unsigned, and he may be able to build a good relationship with head coach Sheldon Keefe. I would circle back there. Additionally, Curtis Lazar, who was very injured over the last year, may be a two-way option. I think those would be quick and easy fixes to the team’s current depth, as they will still need another extra forward for when Palat (or someone else I am not foreseeing) is moved out.
In all, I give Day One of Free Agency 2025 an A- for Tom Fitzgerald and the New Jersey Devils. Even in a tight market with few places to turn to, they got a good or great value out of the deals they gave to Connor Brown and Evgenii Dadonov while avoiding some of the ridiculous contracts given out, such as those by Boston (Jeannot), Los Angeles (Ceci), and Columbus (Provorov). Of course, the Devils barely had enough cap space to even think about such bad moves, but they still avoided it. And in Brown and Dadonov, Fitzgerald gives Keefe two strong skaters who add both offensive and defensive impacts to the middle six.
I only give an A- instead of an A because, in addition to the salary cap issue, I am not sure what the plan is for Nico Daws, who is waiver eligible in the 2025-26 season, as he is now effectively blocked by Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen. Of course, there is time for that situation to shake out further, but it is a question mark for the front office to solve moving forward. For now, this is a great start, and I look forward to seeing how all the pieces fit together with the moves that are yet to come.
Your Thoughts
What did you think of today for the Devils? Which move was your favorite? Do you like the AHL and depth deals? Do you think anyone will exceed expectations? Do you think anyone does not fit with the team? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.