Cody Glass is an interesting case. He was only with the Devils for 19 games total this season, but played well in his regular season games here. He is an RFA at 26 years old, so the team has control over his next deal, but with such a tight cap situation, it will be interesting to see what Tom Fitzgerald does here. The Devils need bottom six help, so the need is there, but can it work?
Welcome to another free agent profile here at All About the Jersey! Today, we are looking at a recent addition to the team, bottom six forward Cody Glass. Glass is very close to becoming an unrestricted free agent, and only barely meets the requirements to still remain a restricted free agent. To qualify as a UFA, a player needs to either be 27 years old on July 1st, or have accrued 7 seasons in the NHL. Glass is 26 and will turn 27 next April, and he has yet to accrue 7 seasons of NHL experience. So regardless of what happens this season, this will be his last offseason as a restricted free agent. Tom Fitzgerald and the New Jersey Devils should take this into consideration when considering what to offer him, as the situation changes next year.
Glass only played in 19 games for the Devils this year, between the regular season and the playoffs, but he showed his value in those games, especially the regular season games. He produced 7 points in those 14 games, and any bottom 6 forward producing a half point per game is a player with some value, especially those who are still young enough to be restricted free agents. Let’s take a look at Cody Glass as a player and go into what he’s done and, knowing that, consider what Fitzgerald and the Devils might do regarding bringing him back to the team.
Who is Cody Glass?
Glass, like former Devils great Travis Zajac, is a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba. He played his junior hockey for the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL before being drafted with the 6th overall pick in the first round in 2017 by Vegas, the franchise’s first ever draft selection. He had a dominant draft-eligible season to lead to that draft pick, producing 94 points in 69 games for Portland that season. He followed it up with two more dominant years for the Winterhawks, with 102 points in 64 games in 2017-18 and 69 points in 38 games in 2018-19 as the captain of the team. His numbers from junior hockey show a player who was worthy of being a top 10 pick.
Sadly, that production has not translated to his professional hockey career. He joined Vegas in the shortened 2019-20 season, producing 12 points in 39 games while also playing a few games in the AHL. He also split time in 2020-21 between the AHL and NHL, being similarly unproductive with 10 points in 27 games for Vegas and 10 points in 14 games for the AHL affiliate. It was clear that after two years of professional hockey, Glass was not showing the same productivity and talent that he put on display in the WHL. This led Vegas to trade him to Nashville in the 2021 offseason, with 1 season still left on his entry-level contract. As part of a three-team trade, Philadelphia also being in the mix, Vegas received former 2nd overall pick, Nolan Patrick.
Glass would play two seasons in Nashville, his final year of his ELC, and then on a one-year, prove-it contract in 2022-23 worth $874k. He spent most of the 2021-22 season in the AHL and played quite well there, finally showing some of the promise he showed before being drafted, with 62 points in 66 games. He also had a short stint in Nashville, with 1 point in 8 games, but his main growth was at the AHL level. His 2022-23 season was his first true full season in the NHL, where he played 72 games for the Preds, producing at nearly a half point per game, ending with 35 points. It was a quality year after spending the previous few seasons up and down between the AHL and NHL. He might not have proven that he could be a top line forward, like Vegas wanted when they took him at 6 overall, but he proved that he could be a suitable NHL bottom-six forward.
He parlayed that 2022-23 season into a new, two-year contract with a $2.5 million average annual value. It was a nice jump up in salary for him, as he had never made over a million per year before. And it showed some confidence in his game and production the previous season. Alas, his production that first year, in 2023-24, was not great, with only 13 points in 14 games played for Nashville. It was a step back from what he produced the previous season, and it definitely was not the progress that the brass in Nashville wanted to see out of him. It led to him being dealt to Pittsburgh in the offseason for prospect Jordan Frasca in a deal that also involved some picks being swapped. He was similarly bad with the Pens this past season, producing only 15 points in 51 games before coming to Jersey.
At the NHL level, while Glass has not shown the pure scoring and production talent that he showcased in his junior hockey days, he has shown an ability to be a productive bottom-six forward. He has a big frame at 6 foot 3 and weighs around 200 pounds, so he can be effective on a checking line and can do well pressuring the defense on the forecheck. He is not afraid to use his body and will hit people, to the tune of 53 hits this past season and 62 hits two seasons ago. However, it is not a staple of his game, he is not simply an enforcer now and nothing else. He can also be effective in the faceoff circle, winning draws at a 52.66% clip this past season across 338 attempts in all situations. This is a great skill to have in order to retain usage and viability as a bottom-six forward, as it will directly lead to more shifts. He is not strictly a center, however, and can also play right wing, so position flexibility is also a great skill to have for someone trying to retain usefulness in this league.
What Has Glass Done for the Devils?
For Glass, coming to NJ was sort of a renaissance for him. His production skyrocketed as he found himself a home here. He played with a few different guys on the Devils, with the most time spent alongside Jesper Bratt (72 5v5 minutes), Daniel Sprong (69 5v5 minutes), and Erik Haula (63 5v5 minutes). This worked for him. Before coming to NJ, his best production was 1.42 points per 60 in 2022-23 with Nashville. With the Devils across 14 regular season games, that number sat at 3.74. That is an unsustainable number, obviously, but it shows just how much more productive he was in his short stint here as opposed to anywhere else he has played at the NHL level.
Here are some of Cody’s stats from his time here this season, thanks to Natural Stat Trick (all stats at 5 on 5 except TOI/GP and Points):
As you can see, his regular season numbers here through 14 games were very good. In 14 and a half minutes per game, he averaged strong possession and expected goals numbers, and was dynamite in high danger. He was slightly sheltered in that time, but not crazily so, which backs up the numbers even more. Again, it is a small sample size, but he was very good in the short time he was here in the regular season.
The playoffs were a different story. Now, the entire team did poorly, so this is not just a Glass thing. But it is clear that Glass himself did not rise above the team and play better. His paltry 23.66 xG% was indicative of how the bottom 6 got absolutely nothing going the entire series. The only real offensive production against Carolina came from the stars in the top 6, and this is just another data point to prove that. Now, again, 5 games is an even smaller sample size than the 14 regular season games, and all were against a superior opponent in Carolina, but it does drive home the point even more that despite his high draft slot and excellent junior hockey stats, Glass is a not someone we should expect to replicate his junior hockey numbers at the NHL level. That isn’t to say he is locked in to what he is currently, but tempered and realistic expectations are important.
What Can We Expect of Glass Moving Forward?
Taking into account what I just wrote about being realistic with expectations, there is definitely room for someone like Glass on NHL rosters. He is defensively capable, plays with some physicality, can produce points worthy of a bottom six forward, and even go beyond that for short bursts, and he has proven that he can be analytically strong when playing with the right linemates. He might never live up to the expectations that come with being a top 10 pick in the draft, but that does not mean he is useless as an NHLer.
When he was acquired by the Devils, here was his player card and note from JFresh:
And here was Rono’s player card at the same time, which was a little bit more positive about his offensive and overall capabilities:
Seeing these cards, and knowing what he has done as a professional so far, it is safe to say that expectations for him should be as a third or fourth liner for the Devils. He has value there as someone who can play solid defense and chip in some points. He was at a half point per game in his short regular season time here, and that might be the top end of what we can expect. Over 82 games, that could fall somewhat, as he has never scored more than 35 points in any given season. But still, if he were to produce 30-something points for the Devils in a bottom six role while providing strong defense and some physicality, that would definitely be worth the contract to bring him back.
That being said, he is also still only 26 years old, so the floor is also not super low for him either. He is not in danger of falling off due to age and regression for at least half a decade. There are a scarce few forwards that really start to take strides at this age, think like David Clarkson, but that is extremely rare. However, it is not unreasonable to expect to see the best that he has to offer the NHL for the next 3 seasons or so. Even if that best is what we just saw in NJ, at least we know what is possible, and we don’t have to fear an Ondrej Palat-like drop during the length of his next contract.
Contract Comparables and What the Devils Might Do
The good news for the Devils is that Glass is still a restricted free agent this offseason. It means they have exclusive negotiating rights for now, and have more control over what they can offer and make work to keep him here. He isn’t the type of player to command a very long contract, but if Fitzgerald wants him to acclimate here as a piece of this team for a few seasons, he can do so without too much damage to the cap. And this is important, as the Devils are not projected to have a ton of cap space, if any. And with the need to sign Luke Hughes, that will leave much less room to fill out the rest of the roster. And with a bunch of expiring contracts, Fitzgerald will need to be prudent with how he spends money this offseason.
AFP Analytics projects Glass to net a three-year deal in his next contract worth around $2.9 million per year. They have him trending upward, and I think that is fairly accurate considering the success he had in the Devils during the regular season. He found a niche here that could potentially bear some good fruit, so it is worth keeping him here on a decent contract to see that play out. I can’t see him making less than what his current contract gives him at $2.5 million annually, so a slight bump is a reasonable projection.
Puck Pedia has Glass listed as a fourth line center and shows comparables to him in the league currently. Around his price bracket, Lars Eller makes $2.45 million annually with Washington, and Nicolas Roy makes $3 million per year with Vegas. I think Roy is the perfect comparable here, as he is currently 28, plays on the bottom 6 in Vegas, and produces around 30-40 points per year. Now, Roy got a 5 year deal with Vegas, and I do not expect Glass to get that sort of length. He has not proven enough consistency to earn that sort of deal. This deal coming up will still be sort of a prove-it deal to some degree, as he has not consistently done well, only at times. But in terms of AAV, Glass will probably end up somewhere between $2.5 and $3 million, similar to Roy, so the comparable is there.
I think something around what AFP Analytics projects, 3 years at $2.9 million per year, would be a great fit for both parties. Glass would get a nice little raise for what he did here in Jersey so far, and with a three year deal, he would have some security for the next few years. It also would not break the bank for Fitzgerald and the Devils, and would still leave them some cap room after signing Hughes. It gives the team a productive, fairly young guy on the bottom six that can fill a need there. And instead of having just a bunch of rentals and guys on one-year deals there, it gives the team someone who will be there for a few years and can really acclimate to the role.
That being said, I do not think it is an absolute lock that the Devils want to do something like that. As mentioned, the Devils are very tight with cap room moving forward. And this is on top of the fact that they have several guys on expiring deals, so they will have multiple positions that need to be filled. There is a chance that after Fitzgerald runs the numbers, he decides that nearly $3 million a year for a bottom 6 forward just is not worth it at this point, given all that he needs to do. He might want to spend that money elsewhere, or spread it out among guys who will sign for less than that. So while I think this is a good deal for both teams and could work, especially since he is an RFA, I also don’t think it is a lock that he returns.
Conclusion and Your Thoughts
In the end, I think the Glass situation is an interesting one. He is young at 26 years old, was a former top 10 overall pick and the first ever pick for Vegas, and showed some success and the ability to gel well with some Devils teammates while here. There is a role here for him, and as an RFA, he is someone who can come back without breaking the bank. However, the Devils are really tight on cap space as it is, so even a contract that nets $2.5-$3 million annually could be too rich for Fitzgerald and the Devils after signing Luke Hughes. I personally think they will make it work and bring him back, and I think it would be a solid decision for this franchise. Glass could be a productive member of the squad if you temper expectations and only look for, at best, a half point per game out of him along with some strong defensive play. But I don’t think it is a guarantee that he is brought back, given the cap situation.
That is what I think, however. What do you think? How do you feel about Cody Glass as a player, and how did you feel about his time in New Jersey so far? Given his contract comparables and what he can reasonably expect to make in his next contract, do you think the Devils should be trying to bring him back or not? What would you offer him as the GM of the Devils? Please leave your comments below, and thanks for reading!