While he has not been a Devil for very long, Brian Dumoulin was an integral part of the Devils’ playoff defense.
Yesterday, Jared kicked off our pending free agent posts with a profile on Luke Hughes. While Luke Hughes projects to be one of the most important players of this era of Devils hockey, today features a presently more marginal case. If this man does not re-sign with the team this year, he will probably be the answer to a “This player only played 24 total games with the Devils, but led the team in ice time in a playoff series in 2025” trivia question on MSG some years down the line. If he does re-sign, he would give the team much-needed high-end defensive depth — with the potential to make a playoff impact — in the 2025-26 season. That man is Brian Dumoulin.
Who is Brian Dumoulin?
When the New Jersey Devils acquired Brian Dumoulin, I was surprised by the reaction. I had thought to myself: great, a two-time Stanley Cup champion is coming to fill in for Jonas Siegenthaler, while it seemed that many other fans were more preoccupied by the fact that the team traded for a 34-year old defenseman. On top of that, Tom Fitzgerald gave up a second round pick and Herman Traff — a 2024 third-round pick who played most of his season in the Swedish Hockey League. Dumoulin, coming from a mediocre Anaheim squad, did not have eye-popping statistics prior to the trade, but he brought years of experience, especially from his playoff runs with Pittsburgh.
On the surface, it seems there are only two ways this trade can be looked back on fondly. First, and now impossible, would have been if the Devils went on a deep playoff run. Second, and still possible, would be the Devils re-signing Dumoulin for the 2025-26 season, assuming they will need high-end defensive depth given the rigors of the NHL season and the expectation that someone important will get hurt. As it is right now, the Devils have six NHL defensemen who are expected to play big roles for the team in 2025-26, and that does not count Johnny Kovacevic, who had knee surgery last week.
What has Dumoulin done as a Devil?
In 19 regular season games after being acquired in a trade, Dumoulin had one goal and five assists for the Devils along with a -3 rating, while averaging 18:45 of ice time per night. At five-on-five, Devils goaltenders had a save percentage of .872 in the regular season with Dumoulin on the ice, and he usually found himself paired with Johnny Kovacevic. Once Dumoulin became acclimated to Sheldon Keefe’s team, those results began to improve, setting the stage for the playoff series against the Hurricanes.
In the five playoff games the Devils played this year, Dumoulin totaled 146:47 of ice time — just under 30 minutes per game. He had zero points, but the Devils were only outshot 63-60 with Dumoulin on the ice at five-on-five, leading to the team breaking even at 4-4 in those minutes. Relative to the rest of the team, Dumoulin provided solid relative boosts in expected goals, shots against, attempts against, and high-danger chances, helping to seal up the defensive end so his forwards could create offense the other way.
Dumoulin’s performance in Game Three was excellent, as the defensemen in that game bordered on heroic, given Johnny Kovaceivc’s knee injury in the first period. Dumoulin ended up playing 36:24 that night, blocking five shots and walking away with a +2 rating on the night. Dumoulin continued to play well in the two games that followed, but things were not meant to be. He led the team in ice time in Game Five, with about five minutes more than both Jonas Siegenthaler and Brett Pesce, and the Devils again broke even at 2-2 in that game with Dumoulin on the ice.
What will Dumoulin do moving forward?
Brian Dumoulin will be 34 at the start of next season. With 706 regular season and 86 playoff games under his belt, almost always in a first or second-pairing role, Dumoulin might not be able to be the same player he was in the playoffs this year forever. However, after two years of playing for noncompetitive teams in Seattle and Anaheim, I wonder if Dumoulin is at the stage of his career where he prefers to take less money to stay with a good club.
Now, will that be the Devils? I imagine that Dumoulin can give Pittsburgh a boost once again, given their struggles. He can end up across the river with the Rangers if he wishes to reunite with Mike Sullivan. Dumoulin, a Maine native, has mostly played in the northeast throughout his career, only going west over the last two seasons. Dumoulin is what he is at this point, and he should be able to dictate where he plays and what kind of workload he handles. With the Devils, Dumoulin showed he can have positive impacts on possession and shot share, even at his age, though he had a pretty unlucky season by goals against, having played for Anaheim and a struggling Devils team down the stretch.
What is Dumoulin’s value?
On July 1, 2023, Dumoulin signed a two-year contract with the Seattle Kraken that paid him $3.15 million per season. Dumoulin had previously played on a six-year, $4.10 million contract with Pittsburgh. Despite playing a lot of minutes in his career, Dumoulin probably did not make as much money in his career as most defensemen who log over 20 minutes a game for seven straight seasons. Now that Dumoulin is in the late stages of his career, he has two paths: he can try to make some of that money back with rebuilding or mediocre teams, or he can take less money to play with winners.
Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images
Now, I do not really think Dumoulin will sign a contract like Dmitry Kulikov, who, at age 33, signed a four-year deal with Florida that averages $1.15 million per season. Kulikov was coming off a 20-point season on Florida’s third pair when he signed that deal, though he had been playing second-pair minutes for Winnipeg, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Anaheim in the few years prior, in addition to post-deadline stints with Edmonton and Pittsburgh. However, this is the direction that Dumoulin would need to inch towards if he is interested in staying in New Jersey, unless one of two things happens:
- The Devils trade a defenseman
- The Devils expect Johnny Kovacevic to miss a significant amount (i.e. months) of the 2025-26 season
In true value, I think Brian Dumoulin is worth maybe $3 or $4 million for a playoff team, assuming that he would be a second or third-pairing defenseman with whichever team that signs him. He is not an incredibly productive player in the offensive end, and he has a lot of mileage on the odometer, but he has been one of the steadiest simple puck movers in the league over the years. As the Devils saw, Dumoulin is still capable of beating heavy forechecks with solid passing out of the defensive zone, though the team’s overall exhaustion by the time of their elimination led to reduced benefits from that skillset, with most Devils trying to survive via flips to the neutral zone.
If the Devils expect Johnny Kovacevic to miss most of the season, making him eligible for long-term injured reserve, I could see Dumoulin coming back on a one or two-year deal that pays him true value. A two-year deal for Dumoulin would set him up for one final contract with 35-and-over rules, which allow performance bonuses, following those two years. If Dumoulin signs with a rebuilding team, then I would expect him to try to maximize his term.
Will the Devils Consider Keeping Dumoulin?
There were a lot of games where I was like, “Thank God we made that move.”
Those were Tom Fitzgerald’s words when explaining his trade deadline, which mostly centered around Dumoulin and Cody Glass, as the New Jersey Devils were hunting for depth in the aftermath of their myriad injuries. While the All About the Jersey awards named the Dumoulin trade as the worst in-season move, I disagreed even before the playoffs (in a 5-4 vote). A key reason to those who did vote that trade as the worst move, though, was the fact that it appears then and now as a pure rental.
When John wrote about Fitzgerald’s press conference, he concluded that Fitzgerald may be gearing up to lose Dumoulin. You can see Fitzgerald answer the question about “towing the line” between blocking guys like Nemec and filling out the defense above. As Fitz responded, Dumoulin showed the hockey world yet again that he is capable of bringing big performances in the playoffs, and I imagine that will lead to some interest in Dumoulin around the league. Fitzgerald certainly does not seem very confident that Dumoulin would be back. A lot of it probably depends on where Dumoulin wants to be, in addition to the Devils’ health situation.
If I had to put a percentage likelihood on the Devils keeping Dumoulin, I would put it around 15%. I think the Devils will have a need for a starting-caliber defenseman aside from the six they have lined up for October, so Fitzgerald will have to ask himself: does he want to pay a guy like Dumoulin now, or does he want to give up a second round pick and a prospect in February when someone has a fresh season-ending injury? Answering that question now may prevent Fitzgerald from getting ire from fans in the next trade deadline season, but the salary cap looms large, and injuries are difficult to predict.
Your Thoughts
What do you think the Devils should do with Dumoulin this summer? Do you think they will sign him? Do you think they should sing him? If he does not sign with the Devils, where do you think he ends up? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.