The New Jersey Devils will enter this offseason with just under $20 million available to re-sign their own free agents, acquire some new talent, and also hire a head coach. This post previews what the Devils have coming up for free agency and their salary cap.
The New Jersey Devils have been in the offseason since their final disappointing home loss on April 15. They missed the playoffs by 10 points. They fell from a staggering 112 point season wherein they came back to beat Our Hated Rivals in the playoffs to earning just 81 points (a drop of 31 points!), Lindy Ruff getting fired after a game where he forgot to put an extra skater on the ice when he pulled the goalie, and the team finding all kinds of ways to disappoint great crowds at the Rock. The Devils went into 2023’s offseason with expectations as Mike wrote back then. The Devils clearly failed to meet them.
A lot has to be done by the Fall of 2024. General Manager Tom Fitzgerald will be very busy this Summer. He needs to hire a head coach and, with that, a new coaching staff. He has talked plenty about swinging big for a goaltender. It is time for him to at least hit for contact once more. The team’s depth left plenty to be desired and that must be addressed. Additionally, there has to be room for the future for future fat contracts to be handed out to starlets like Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec. It is not an easy task. Being a GM in the NHL is not easy for anyone. It must be done all the same. Now with the added pressure that the team’s failure to succeed in 2024-25 could cost Fitzgerald and others on his staff their jobs. Just because the team did not meet expectations last season does not mean the expectations have gone away.
As the the first major event of the offseason will take place on Tuesday – the NHL Draft Lottery – this is a preview of what the Devils have to do in this Summer with respect to the salary cap and free agency. We will have a draft-specific preview on Tuesday to align with the lottery drawing that evening. After then, we will shift more to prospect profiles and posts about free agents, both internal and external. Let us dive in.
The Major Offseason Events Ahead
Here are the dates of events already known.
- Tuesday, May 7: NHL Draft Lottery in Secaucus, New Jersey
- Thursday, June 27: NHL Award Show in Las Vegas
- Friday, June 28: 2024 NHL Draft – First Round in The Sphere in Las Vegas
- Saturday, June 29: 2024 NHL Draft – Second through Seventh Rounds in The Sphere in Las Vegas
- Monday, July 1: Free Agent Frenzy
With UFAs being able to sign on July 1, qualifying offers for restricted free agents would have to be tendered before then. Per the CBA, teams would normally have the later between June 25 or the first Monday after the draft; but that first Monday is July 1 itself, so I presume it is June 25 this year. Either way, the End of June is going to be a busy time for everyone. This means any contract negotiations, trade discussions, draft planning, and similar events will happen in these coming weeks. Actual activity will likely happen around those events.
The Devils’ Cap Situation for the 2024 Offseason
The salary cap absolutely exists and all teams have to work within its limits even with LTIR me tell you about the Devils’ salary cap situation. According to CapFriendly, here is the situation ahead of July 1, 2024 as of the night of May 3, 2024:
Standard Player Contracts: Devils have 27 contracts for 2024-25. The maximum for any team is 50.
Reserve Limit Count: The Devils have 66 players on their reserve list. 2 prospects require decisions in 2024. I will go over both in a bit. The maximum for this is 90.
Roster Cap Hit: $65,937,500. Also known as $65.9375 million. This number includes Nathan Bastian ($1.35 million) and Dougie Hamilton ($9 million), who will be off IR and LTIR respectively and would need to be added back to it as needed.
Dead Cap Hit: $250,000. As of July 1, the buyout cap penalties of Cory Schneider and Janne Kuokkanen will be over. That’s $2.325 million freed up. The retained salaries for Christopher Tanev and Tyler Toffoli will also be off the books. All that remains is the final season of the recapture penalty for Ilya Kovalchuk’s contract – which is about a bit less than a third of a minimum player salary. That’s some found savings.
Carryover Bonus Overages: The Devils have more bonus money carrying over onto the cap for this coming season. Largely thanks to Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec, this is listed at $1,538,897. That’s worth just less than two minimum salary players. It is also an increase from $422,500 in 2023.
The 2024-25 Cap Ceiling: $87.7 million unless otherwise announced.
The Cap Space for 2024: $19,973,603. You can round that to $19.97 million. This is a result of the currently projected cap hit of $67,726,397, which is a sum of the roster cap hit, the dead cap hit, and the carryover bonus overages.
Keep in mind that this is the projected cap space. The real money the Devils will be paying out over the course of 2024-25 is in signing bonuses ($18,217,500) that are paid out on July 1 and salaries ($76,737,500). A player’s cap hit is based on the averaged accrued value over the length of the contract – they may get paid more or less than what that number is. But the Devils must be compliant to the salary cap by the time the 2024-25 season begins. Teams are allowed to exceed the ceiling by as much as 10%, or $8.77 million for this offseason.
Retained Salary Spots: 3. The Devils will regain all of their spots as of July 1, 2024. This may not matter except for trades in 2025.
It seems like the Devils have plenty of money to play with with just under $20 million of cap space to fill. They certainly have enough room for contracts and to add a lot to the reserve list. However, that money will be used up pretty quickly when you look at the team’s pending free agents.
The Devils Pending Free Agents for 2024
The Devils have the following players who will need a new contract. Here is a quick reminder on the statuses of the free agents:
Restricted Free Agents (RFA): The Devils can retain the rights to a RFA by tendering them a qualifying offer. This would mean another team would have to have the player sign an offer sheet to get the player – which the Devils would have the first right to match. Generally, this is why RFAs tend to stick with the same team. Not giving a RFA a qualifying offer will mean they become an Unrestricted Free Agent on July 1, 2024.
Also: Depending on a player’s professional experience since their first NHL contract, a RFA may have arbitration rights. They can file for an arbitration hearing, which is typically scheduled in mid-July to early August. It forces the player and team to come to terms on a contract. They can often ruin the relationship between player and team, but more often than not, a player files to force the team to act.
Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA): These players will become available to sign with any team as of July 1, 2024 if they are not re-signed before hand.
RFAs on New Jersey (4): Dawson Mercer, Nolan Foote, Michael McLeod, and Cal Foote.
Given their ongoing legal situation and their non-roster status from being indefinitely suspended, the Devils effectively have two in this category.
RFAs in Utica (7): Brian Halonen, Nathan Legare, Santeri Hatakka, Michael Vukojevic, Nico Daws, and Akira Schmid.
Schmid and Halonen have arbitration rights. Whether that will be exercised is another matter.
UFAs on New Jersey (6): Tomas Nosek, Chris Tierney, Brendan Smith, Kurtis MacDermid, Nick DeSimone, and Kaapo Kähkönen
UFAs in Utica (6): Samuel Laberge, Kyle Criscuolo, Max Willman, Tyler Wotherspoon, Erik Källgren, and Keith Kinkaid
Prospect Rights Expiring (2): Jaromir Pytlik (expires on June 1, 2024) and Artem Shlaine (expires on August 15, 2024) – The Devils need to either sign these players to entry level contracts by those days or they become free.
The Devils actually took care of two non-Devil roster free agents already. On April 30, the Devils announced they re-signed Shane Bowers to a two-way contract for two seasons and Ryan Schmelzer also to a two-way contract for two seasons. Both would make at the rate to make $775,000 for the season at the NHL level if/when they are in New Jersey. That is the minimum salary for a player for 2024-25 and 2025-26.
Going back to the RFAs for a bit, the qualifying offer would be at least 100% of the previous contract based on the base salary. This would be relatively cheap for each player. Mercer’s qualifying offer would be 105% of his entry level contract, which works out to $874,125. Same for Nolan Foote and Brian Halonen. Legare, Hatakka, Vukojevic, Daws and Schmid would require an offer of $813,750 each. That means if the Devils qualify all of their RFAs – which they may not do – they would need to spend about $6.69 million. The minimum offers alone eat into that $19.97 million of cap space. There will still be plenty of money left over – just not as much as nearly $20 million would expect. Less than that if/when Tom Fitzgerald gives more money to certain RFAs, namely Mercer.
As for the pending UFAs, there really is no one major set to walk should they want to and/or the Devils let them to walk. Smith was arguably used the most among the group and he was still a depth defensemen. The remainder are either AHL vets (Wotherspoon, the goalies), tweeners (Willman, Tierney), AHL quality but stays up for GRIT~! (MacDermid), a solid but not irreplacable DeSimone, and a solid-ish Kähkönen. Replacing these players with better ones to improve the may require some money to be spent. But if Fitzgerald wants to aim for a higher class of free agent than likely fourth liner or third pairing defenseman, then he will have some room to play with. There will likely be turnover for the other Comets, but that is common for the AHL to move vets in and out.
Jared and Gerard will definitely go into more depth about the internal free agents. As well as the external free agents. Also known as the actual pending free agents for this year.
A Quick Look at the 2024 Free Agents
There are plenty of UFAs hitting the market of varying qualities as per CapFriendly’s list. Here are some names to keep in mind, which is not an exhaustive list.
- Big 30+ Names: Steven Stamkos, Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei, Adam Henrique, Chris Tanev, Tyler Toffoli, Vladimir Tarasenko, Tyler Myers, Jonathan Marchessault, Tyler Johnson, TJ Brodie, Ty Barrie, Shayne Gostisbehere, Brandon Montour, Matt Duchene, Chandler Stephenson, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Jordan Martinook
- Notable Names Under 30: Sam Reinhart, Jake Guentzel, Jake DeBrusk, Tyler Bertuzzi, Anthony Mantha, Teuvo Teravainen, Elias Lindholm, Anthony Beauvillier, Alexander Wennberg, Nikita Zadorov, Sean Monahan, Max Domi, Daniel Sprong, Anthony Duclair, Warren Foegele, Dakota Joshua, Danton Heinen
- Will Get Interest but May Have Issues: Jason Zucker, Jakob Silfverberg, Mike Hoffman, Victor Olofsson, Kevin Labanc, Viktor Arvidsson, Joel Edmundson,
- Extra Veteran Presence (35+ Year Old Skaters): Patrick Kane, David Perron, Alec Martinez, The Ageless Joe Pavelski, Mark Giordano, Jeff Carter, Corey Perry, Blake Wheeler, Trevor Lewis, Jack Johnson, Cal Clutterbuck, Kyle Okposo, Patrick Maroon, Kevin Shattenkirk, James van Reimsdyk, Max Pacioretty
- Goalies: Cam Talbot (35+), Ilya Samsonov, Alex Nedeljkovic, Casey DeSmith, Scott Wedgewood, Anthony Stolarz, James Reimer (35+), Antti Raanta (35+), Kevin Lankinen, Laurent Brossoit, David Rittich, Calvin Pickard, Martin Jones, Ivan Prosvetov
Anyone looking to spend big for a skater will have some options. Do not be shocked if some of those big names are retained – even if it takes up until the 11th hour to make it happen. If not, there could be some deals swung for a team to get something – little as it may be – for the pending free agent. Anyone looking for a goalie, well, the odds are good but the goods are backup or #1B caliber for the most part. Fine for depth and even better if you have a goalie coach who can elevate someone. Not so fine for the several teams that want an upgrade in the crease – like the Devils. Fitzgerald has made it clear he wants to make a significant move for a netminder. Whether or not he hits a homerun or even makes contact remains to be seen.
In terms of needs, goaltending is the big one. Depth at forward – especially at center – and defense are the other positional needs. Getting more centers in the system that can actually handle a NHL game much better than Tierney, Dowling, or Bowers is arguably the second biggest need. The losses at center were glaring when the team needed to have them play.
One could argue that replacing Toffoli’s production is another need and I can agree with that thinking. I still think the Devils could mix-and-match their top-end forwards to do so without needing to ask too much of Erik Haula or Ondrej Palat. It is not as glaring as the depth. Should the Devils let most of their UFAs walk, then they will need bottom six forwards and bottom pairing defensemen to fill out a NHL roster. It will be easier to address those positional needs through free agency than it would be for the goaltender. I think that should be more of a need than a Toffoli fill-in, which I see as more of a want/potential improvement.
All the same, I would expect the Devils to be a cap ceiling team once more. They have the core. The time to succeed is now. They established that in 2022-23 and they cannot slide back after the failure that was 2023-24. They may not make big name signings, but a big name trade and depth signings along with retaining Mercer and Nolan Foote may be what happens by early July. Oh, and hiring a new head coach. Which is one of their biggest needs right now and should be addressed sooner rather than later.
The Non-Player Free Agent: A New Head Coach
Lindy Ruff was fired as the Devils’ head coach in early March. Travis Green was named the interim head coach for the final 21 games of the season. He was terrible. Fitzgerald has said he will interview Green, but Green has been allowed to interview elsewhere and has done so in Ottawa. And the Devils have reportedly talked to other coaches such as Todd McLellan as per Elliotte Friedman on a recent episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast. With Dave Hakstol getting a surprising axe out of Seattle and potential rumors swirling around Mike Sullivan in Pittsburgh and whoever lost Game 7 on Saturday, there could be plenty of options for Tom Fitzgerald beyond the pool of coaches fired last season (e.g. Craig Berube) and other available names (e.g. assistants looking for a head coaching opportunity).
This is actually a very important decision for Fitzgerald. I believe a successful organization needs the GM and head coach to be on the same page. The head coach has to have the game plans, discipline, and philosophies that aligns with the team the GM builds. Green was an absolutely miserable fit for the Devils roster, as I recently detailed on Friday. As much as the Devils can switch up their depth, their core is set. The Devils have Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier, and Nico Hischier committed up front with cap hits north of $7 million until the end of 2027. The defense has Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec on entry level contracts with Dougie Hamilton, John Marino, and Jonas Siegenthaler signed through 2026-27 at a minimum. The next head coach has to be able to utilize these players as best as possible. The next head coach cannot jam square pegs into round holes by having and expecting the players to perform opposite to their skills and strengths. I understand there are plenty of the People Who Matter who want someone who can be sterner. Someone closer to John Tortorella than a Lindy Ruff. Whoever is brought in really needs to be able to handle what Fitzgerald has committed to the team and organize them to succeed better than what Ruff and Green did last season.
This is also important to nail down ahead of free agency. While money may be the primary concern of the pending UFA, who his coach is going to be could play a factor in whether or not someone signs with the Devils. Who wants to sign a big contract – or even a short term, cheap contract – to play for a coach they do not like or favor? It is in Fitzgerald’s best interest to have the head coach established ahead of July 1 so he can answer the inevitable question of “Who would I be playing for” in negotiations.
It would also be in his best interest so the head coach and the GM can come to terms about the coaching staff. Generally, a coaching staff changes dramatically when a new head coach is hired. We are not privy as to whether assistants are on separate contracts or not, but I would not count on Ryan McGill, Dave Rogalski, Chris Taylor, or Sergei Brylin to return after the new head coach is hired. Fitzgerald may succeed at arguing to keep one or two (I will not be happy if it is Rogalski) but a new bench will need time to fill. With players becoming more of the focus as July 1 gets closer, taking care of the coaching vacancy sooner rather than later is preferable.
One other note: There is no salary cap for staff members. While Ruff was hired in 2020 in part because other coaches may have had higher salary demands, the Devils ownership has shown no issue with spending big bucks on the team. The Devils were a salary cap team for the last two seasons and utilized LTIR last season to remain compliant like about half of the NHL. The Devils had no issues giving huge new contracts to Bratt and Meier. The money is there. It is up to Fitzgerald to find the right guy to get the Devils back into the playoffs and back into Cup contention. Hopefully he is the right guy if Fitzgerald looks to stick with people he’s friendly with already.
What’s Next For Us & Your Take
With this preview, we will begin to transition to our annual re-focus on free agency and prospects. This coming Tuesday will have a NHL Draft and lottery preview. Jared has already begun looking at RFA Devils and Gerard will be joining him on Thursdays starting later in this week. This Friday will begin our first of what could be 30 or so prospect profiles ahead of the 2024 NHL Draft. For the few interested in the World Championships, I will somehow, someway have previews for both groups before they begin on May 10. There are Devils at this level, so it is more Devils-relevant than all of the other divisions I previewed. When something significant does happen, we will be there to have something to say about it. Hockey never really stops at All About the Jersey.
Your Take
Now that you read a whole lot about what is coming up for the Devils in this year’s offseason for free agency and their salary cap, I want to know your take. How are you feeling about the Devils ahead of free agency? Do you think they will be big spenders on July 1? Will they be more careful as Fitzgerald tries to make a trade for a goaltender (among other potential moves)? When do you think Fitzgerald will make a decision on a head coach? Are you confident in Tom Fitzgerald making the team better in this offseason? What do you think he needs to do and what he needs to avoid? Please leave your thoughts and other aspirations and worries about the Devils’ 2024 offseason in the comments. Again, prospects and the lottery will be covered on Tuesday. Thank you for reading.