The Devils have several more RFA this offseason, but mostly at the AHL level. In this week’s edition of our free agent profile series, we take a look at forward Nolan Foote and goaltender Isaac Poulter.
Our free agent profile series continues this week at All About the Jersey, and after taking a look at Luke Hughes, Cody Glass, Jake Allen and Brian Dumoulin last week, the time has come to shift our attention to two of the final RFA on the Devils roster in Nolan Foote and Isaac Poulter.
Foote put the back injuries that ruined his 2023-24 season behind him with another solid AHL season and another brief NHL cameo. Meanwhile, Poulter took a bit of a step back this past season as Utica struggled.
With both players becoming RFA with arbitration rights, is either one in the Devils plans for the future? Or has that ship already sailed? Let’s dive in, see who these two players are, and if they might still be able to carve out a role moving forward.
Who is Nolan Foote and what has he done as a Devil?
If you’re wondering who Nolan Foote actually is. I have good news for you. I answered this question one year ago. I won’t waste your time or mine by copying and pasting what I wrote last year verbatim, and if you’re not so inclined to click on that link, I’ll briefly give you the cliffnotes version.
Foote is a former first round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning who came over to the Devils as part of the Blake Coleman trade back in February 2020. He has mostly played professionally at the AHL level as his ELC slid twice and finally expired after last season.
Foote has been a productive forward at the AHL level, with 44 goals and 46 assists in 138 AHL games prior to last season. He has also received some sporadic NHL playing time with the Devils with brief callups in those four seasons, but he’s never really been able to establish himself as an NHL regular with 6 goals and 2 assists in 23 NHL games before last year. A disc injury in his back effectively wiped out the 2023-24 season for him as he only appeared in 8 games between Utica and New Jersey, and with a small body of work at the NHL level to go off of, GM Tom Fitzgerald wound up re-signing Foote to a 1-year, two-way deal for $850,000.
Foote had another solid AHL season in 2024-25 with 18 goals and 21 assists in 53 games, but the issue for Foote is that once again, he had another solid AHL season and hasn’t been able to establish an NHL foothold. He did appear in seven NHL games late in the 2024-25 season and he did register an assist, but he doesn’t appear to be any closer to becoming an NHL regular. Considering the Devils bottom six was a disaster for most of the season, the fact that the team really didn’t consider using Foote in anything other than an emergency recall situation should be a strong indicator of what the organization thinks about him going forward. Foote seemingly has nothing left to prove at the AHL level, yet, he can’t beat out the Tomas Tatars or Nate Bastians or Daniel Sprongs of the world? Not good.
At 6’3” and presumably over 200 lb. at this point, its not like Foote doesn’t have the frame to carve out a career as a solid bottom six forward. But he’s never been a great skater and he hasn’t really improved in that regard. Foote does have a solid shot, but its tough to show it off when you’re playing sheltered minutes in a bottom six role and you’re spending most of the time chasing the puck than doing anything with it.
What will Foote do going forward? Who are Foote’s comparables and what is his value? What would I do with Foote and what do I think the Devils will do?
Your guess is as good as mine at this point.
Foote is an RFA with arbitration rights and a qualifying offer of $866,250. It would be easy to say “just bring him back, you need quality depth at the AHL level too” and I don’t think you’d necessarily be wrong to think that. But we are talking about a player who is entering his age-25 season this fall. I’m not going to go as far as to say “It’s not happening with him” because I simply don’t know and there have been other late bloomers before, but I’d be lying if I said I thought his future was bright at this point. He has enough age and experience where he isn’t really a prospect anymore, yet, he doesn’t appear to be an NHL player either. He might simply be a AAAA-type of guy.
I will say that I don’t think the Devils are really all that interested in going to arbitration with a player who hasn’t established himself as an NHL regular though. I will also say that while it’s not my money, the Devils do have a budget and there’s little reason to pay him roughly $100,000 more than your typical AHL veteran forward, most of whom make $775,000.
If I had to guess, I think the Devils opt not to qualify Foote, making him an unrestricted free agent. And at that point, the ball is in Foote’s court with where his professional career is going. I know if I were him, and I still haven’t broken through as an NHL player on this roster after almost five years, I’d probably see the writing on the wall and take my chances elsewhere. So I would guess he winds up signing a one-year, two-way deal elsewhere where he feels like he has a shot to compete for an NHL roster spot.
Maybe the grass isn’t greener on the other side and Foote winds up back in Utica. Maybe there’s still something that Fitzgerald or someone on the staff sees in him and they decide they want him around. I don’t think we can rule those possibilities out, and we are talking about a player that was once cited by this general manager as an example of “proper player development”. I don’t think its necessarily a failure in Foote’s development that he hasn’t taken that next step, but I do think the clock is about to strike midnight if it hasn’t already.
Who is Isaac Poulter and what has he done as a Devil?
Isaac Poulter took the long way to carving out a potential NHL career.
Going undrafted in his draft-eligible season, Poulter played four seasons with the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos before turning pro in 2022 and signing a one-year, two-way deal with the Utica Comets.
Poulter showed enough promise between his time split in Utica and the ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder to get his contract renewed for the 2023-24 season. He played very well for Utica, posting a .911 save percentage over 28 games and earning himself a two-year ELC from the Devils in the process. Poulter took a little bit of a step back this year with an .898 over 36 games for Utica, and while he has yet to make his NHL debut, he did manage to earn an occasional recall to backup either Jacob Markstrom or Jake Allen when one of the two needed a few days here or there.
Poulter has good size for the position at 6’2” and has managed to play himself into being in the mix for the Devils in some capacity. But with his ELC now concluded and a logjam at the position, its fair to wonder what exactly Poulter’s future even is. He does have arbitration rights and his qualifying offer isn’t necessarily a bad number at $813,750. Unlike the aforementioned Foote, Poulter will still be waiver-exempt next season, so the Devils don’t need to worry about losing him unless they decide to move on for whatever reason.
What will Poulter do going forward? Who are Poulter’s comparables and what is his value? What would I do with Poulter and what do I think the Devils will do?
Now that he has parts of three AHL seasons (and two ECHL seasons) under his belt, I would expect Poulter to spend the majority of the season with AHL Utica once again as he continues his development. He won’t cost more than a salary typical of that of an AHL player, so its not like there are any cap ramifications to consider.
However, I do think there are potential roster implications that are worth considering, and I do think that raises the question of how Poulter fits moving forward.
The Devils currently have four goaltenders in the organization under contract next year in Jacob Markstrom, Nico Daws, Jakub Malek, and Tyler Brennan. Additionally, Tom Fitzgerald has said that he would like to have Jake Allen back, and that makes sense. The Markstrom-Allen tandem was very good for the Devils, and after years of struggling to find NHL-quality goaltending, I can’t blame Fitz if he doesn’t want to just let a quality NHL goaltender walk out the door if he can avoid it.
Daws is probably at the point of his development where he either needs to be considered to be part of the mix at the NHL level or the Devils might need to consider trading him. Daws is a little older than Poulter and has far more NHL experience. Daws had a brief, but brilliant, run when he got an opportunity with the Devils this season, posting a .939 save percentage and 4.9 goals saved above expected. The Devils also have a tight cap situation. Allen isn’t signed. Daws is for $812,500, and he’s 10+ years younger than Allen. Regardless, the Devils need to make a decision there, and whatever they decide there has a trickle down effect at the AHL level. The Devils would also have to take the chance that they can sneak Nico Daws through waivers if they bring him back. Given how poor goaltending is around the league in general, there’s a chance of Daws being claimed.
One of the names presumably in the mix at the AHL mix is prospect Jakub Malek, who is on his ELC and was loaned out to Ilves of SM-Liiga last season. That worked out for last season as the Utica Comets depth chart was crowded enough with Daws and Poulter sharing the net. But at some point, the Devils are going to want to get Malek on North American ice and playing under the supervision of their coaches. At some point, they’re going to want to see if they have something there.
The Comet’s net is crowded and that’s before one considers whether or not Daws is back in the AHL next season. If Daws isn’t, that’s before one considers whether or not the Devils sign a veteran goaltender with experience that they can stash at the AHL level just in case. That’s before one considers that Tyler Brennan (who is really more of an ECHL goaltender at this point than an AHL goaltender) is technically in the mix as he is under contract. And that’s before considering that the Devils best goaltending prospect probably isn’t any of those guys, as he’s currently playing at Boston University. That crowded room will only get even more crowded in future years.
Poulter has shown enough where he could be part of the mix at the AHL level. So for that reason, I could see him back on a 1-year deal.
Final Thoughts
The Devils are probably at a spot in both Foote and Poulter’s respective developments where they have to make a call, one way or another.
In Foote’s case, he hasn’t been able to break through as an NHL regular five years into his professional career, which naturally raises the question of whether or not it will ever happen for him. All the while, the rest of the roster turns over. The Devils will bring in other bottom six forwards at the NHL level this summer, but there’s little reason to believe Foote would be a part of that mix if he couldn’t crack the code this year. The Devils have several young forwards entering the professional ranks with Arseni Gritsyuk, Shane Lachance, and Lenni Hameenaho signing their ELCs. Cam Squires will likely be a Utica regular this year, and the Devils have other young forwards who are likely coming eventually, whether its Cole Brown, Kasper Pikkarainen, Matyas Melovsky, or whoever they wind up drafting next month. The Devils may or may not bring Foote back, but its tough to see him ever carving out a career being anything more than an injury recall at this point, especially as more and more younger prospects with higher upsides eventually pass him on the internal depth chart. Considering Tom Fitzgerald already spent some time cleaning up the AHL depth chart by trading away players like Chase Stillman, its very well possible that Foote could be the next man out. If you told me the Devils traded Foote’s rights for another AHL player a la how they handled Graeme Clarke last summer, would that be surprising? After all, wasn’t Clarke in a similar situation to what Foote is now where he couldn’t beat out a bunch of randos cosplaying as NHL players in our bottom six?
As for Poulter, I think there’s a stronger case to bring him back for at least one more season, but I think its dependant on a lot of factors that don’t directly involve him. Do the Devils bring back Jake Allen at the NHL level? If they don’t, then presumably Nico Daws is next in line to be the NHL backup and those moves at the NHL level would have an impact on the Comets. The problem is you are probably looking at a crowded AHL goaltender depth chart. Jakub Malek should be in the mix as he’s already signed to an ELC and played on loan for Ilves of SM-Liiga. Tyler Brennan is still under contract, even if he’ll be spending most of his time in the ECHL. And I know personally, if the Devils are going into an NHL season with Nico Daws as the backup, I’d like another goaltender with NHL experience in the system so we’re not a 36-year old Jacob Markstrom injury away from Malek or Poulter or whoever getting thrown into the fire. I’m confident that Poulter is ahead of Brennan on the internal depth chart given where both players predominantly played last season, and I could see the Devils bringing him back for another year to be in the mix at Utica. But I also don’t really consider Poulter to be in the mix in terms of being the Devils goaltender of the future. I view Mikhail Yegorov and Malek as having higher upside.
What do you think the Devils do with Foote or Poulter this summer? Do you think they bring them back or let them go? Please feel free to leave a comment below and thanks for reading.