As the NHL season is on pause and the NHL Trade Deadline is less than a month away, it is a prime time to look at the pending free agents on the New Jersey Devils for this Summer.
While the 4 Nations Face-Off has put a pause on the season, it has not put a roster freeze on the 32 teams of the NHL. It also does not change that the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline is less than a month away. Or that the final quarter of the season awaits after the season resumes on February 22. Teams throughout the league will need to start thinking about their offseason plans as it could drive their actions (or lack there of) for the deadline. Likewise, how those pending free agent players perform over the next 25-27 games and playoffs can play a big role about what happens next. It is early but it is something all teams are considering to various degrees. Let us do the same with the pending unrestricted free agents (UFAs) and restricted free agents (RFAs) of the New Jersey Devils for 2025.
The Projected Cap Situation for 2025-26
Projected Space: $95.5 million is the projected cap ceiling per the NHL and NHLPA. Per PuckPedia, the team will have $19.725 million to spend on re-signing players and signing ones that hit the open market on July 1. Keeping the RFA players will eat a lot into that space though.
Commitments: The Devils have 30 contracts that are already on the books for 2025-26, with 15 of them already on the NHL roster as of 4 Nations Face-Off break. This means the Devils have 20 contract spots open from the 15 that are ending by the end of June 2025. Bonuses have not been determined yet so it is not known if there will be any bonus overages.
That would be it in terms of commitments. The Ilya Kovalchuk penalty ends this season, so that is an extra $250,000 freed up. The Devils are not retaining any salary right now and I doubt that they will.
The Two Big Defensemen Free Agents
Luke Hughes, RFA – Current Deal: $925,000, entry level contract
Jonathon Kovacevic, UFA – Current Deal: $775,000 salary, $766,667 cap hit
The most expensive part of this look could be on the defense. New Jersey’s blueline has been stable as stable could get since the return Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce in the lineup in October through to Jonas Siegenthaler’s injury in Pittsburgh last Tuesday. Two of the six are up for new deals and neither will be cheap.
Luke Hughes should be expected to receive a huge raise. He will turn 22 in early April, his entry level contract ends this season, and he has proven to be a future force from the back. He was brought in and played playoff minutes when his time at Michigan ended in 2023. He is in the middle of his second NHL season and he is already leading the team in average 5-on-5 ice time per game at 17:36. Luke Hughes is one of the two defenseman on the team that has an offensive skillset. Unlike Dougie Hamilton, Luke Hughes is fast. He is also excellent in recovery if or when the opposition catches him in a poor spot. His 5-on-5 on-ice rates for the season are fantastic. Could he stand to improve? Of course. He sends a lot of pucks into bodies instead of on net; and he still has to be more judicious as to when to activate and roam and when to hold back. That said, Luke Hughes has been everything people hoped for as a fourth overall pick and then some.
This also means the second contract is not going to be cheap. If Devils management believes Luke Hughes will continue to blossom and be a force in both ends like his older brother Quinn, Adam Fox, and Cale Makar (all Norris winners, mind you), then the right play is to pay him like Jack Hughes. Locking up Luke Hughes to an $8 million by 8 season may end up being a huge bargain should he continue to blossom. A bridge deal may be more economical but it risks an even bigger pay day when others need new deals (e.g. Nico Hischier in 2027) and may not be good for the relationship between Luke and Fitzgerald. The Devils correctly gave out big deals to Hischier and Jack Hughes and have reaped its benefits. They should do the same with Luke Hughes. As much as I think that is what they should do, that does take up nearly half of the cap space for this year’s offseason.
This makes the Jonathan Kovacevic question harder. Kovacevic has a six-figure salary, acquired for a fourth, and has more than earned a substantial raise. It will be big. Thanks in part to how he has played for the Devils. Thanks perhaps more in part to Chris Drury handing 28 year old formerly pending UFA defenseman Will Borgen a $20.5 million extension over 5 seasons ($4.1 million cap hit). I think Kovacevic is much better than Borgen so I doubt he should expect less than $4.1 million per season unless he wants to do Tom Fitzgerald a solid. His agent should make sure he does not do him a solid.
Not only do I think Kovacevic is better than Borgen, I think he is one of the best defensive defensemen in the NHL this season. An on-ice xGA/60 in 5-on-5 play around 2 is great. Kovacevic is at 2.08 for a defender who plays 16:26 of 5-on-5 ice time per game. Penalty killing? He takes care of that too, often playing with Brenden Dillon on the top unit. Kovacevic looks like a big, no-nonsense defender killing plays and the data backs that observation up. If there are flaws, then it is that he’s not quick and he’s definitely not helping create offense. His on-ice rates for offensive metrics are really low, such as an on-ice SF/60 of 22.67 for example. This makes him one-dimensional, but he has been exceptional at that one dimension for New Jersey. Similar to how the organization took a chance on Jonas Siegenthaler and he blossomed, it appears they did it again with Kovacevic.
That said, re-signing him is going to be tricky. Again, the Borgen extension makes it a challenge to the idea of keeping him at a relatively low price. The other trick is the flexibility of the defense. Simon Nemec could be a NHLer real soon and his potential is quite high. The same can be said for Seamus Casey. There’s Anton Silyaev in the distance too. Sure, Tom Fitzgerald could trade those young guys for more immediate help (aside: it should be really good immediate help, not for a third line center) but doing so may be a bad long-term decision. Especially as defensemen are more involved in attacks than before in this modern game. Casey and Nemec can thrive there; Kovacevic, less so. That can be helped if NJ eats a hefty buyout on Brenden Dillon or Dougie Hamilton. But I doubt that happens for 2025.
Keeping Kovacevic is possible and paying him what he’s worth (more than Borgen) is also possible but it also takes up a lot of space that may keep the team from making further improvements. It may block the defensemen prospects but the goal is to put a successful team together and Kovacevic has been a part of the success of the 2024-25 campaign so far. I may not like the following idea given his revelatory 2024-25, but letting Kovacevic walk may be a real option. As would be one for the other other free agent of note.
The Goaltender Wildcard
Jake Allen, UFA – $3.3 million salary, $3.85 million cap hit, 50% retained by Montreal for $1.925 million.
Ah, Jake Allen. Acquired at last season’s trade deadline and arguably too late. The plan was for Allen to backup and support the eventual big name goaltender that Fitzgerald coveted. And got in Jacob Markstrom. Allen understood the assignment. He has also excelled. His statline is as follows:
- 5-on-5: 963:25 ice time in 21 games, 91.9% save percentage, 2.82 Goals Saved Above Average, 37 goals against with an xGA of 45.19, and a high-danger save percentage of 82.4%.
- All Situations: 1194:57 ice time in 21 games, 91% save percentage, 4.83 Goals Saved Above Average, 51 goals against with an xGA of 62.98, and a high-danger save percentage of 81.8%.
These are very good numbers. Good enough to ask whether he should be brought back for another season. Nico Daws may be on a one way contract for next season and the team has some legitimate pro prospects in Jakub Málek and Mikhail Yegorov. But if Allen wants to return and it costs $3 million, then who says no?
Maybe Fitzgerald says no. It depends on what he does with his defensemen and who else he wants from the open market. Allen’s cap hit is small for this season but that’s because Montreal is retaining half of that. That ends after this season. His salary for 2024-25 was $3.3 million. He may be OK with a reduction but not likely a big one. Not with the way he has been playing. Rather than entrust the crease to Markstrom and the current depth chart, Allen provides a known quantity of solid goaltending. Something that is valuable in of itself. Yet, letting him walk and having an Daws back up for $800,000 allows Fitzgerald to spend more elsewhere and keep an opportunity open for Daws and Isaac Poulter as well as Málek and Yegorov down the road.
I can see it both ways. I think it is worth having the discussion with Allen’s representation to see what he would ask for before entrusting Daws. But I can see the argument to have him move on. Especially if they want to keep Kovacevic. Therefore, Jake Allen is a Wildcard for NJ’s offseason plans.
The Bottom Six
Tomas Tatar, UFA – $1.8 million salary and cap hit
Nathan Bastian, UFA – $1.35 million salary and cap hit
Curtis Lazar, UFA – $1 million salary and cap hit
Justin Dowling, UFA – $775,000 salary and cap hit
Move on. I’m serious, just move on from all four of them.
I can buy the vision for each. Bastian, Lazar, and Dowling know their roles and have not complained much. Tatar has always been a fine 5v5 performer, but he fits an energy-line like a third left shoe. And he has not been all that impactful when he does get to play with better players. Further, Bastian, Dowling, and Lazar have been just guys out there. Often anonymous and often not making a positive impact on the game. They have a combined 11 goals between the four this season. Not that you expect them to score a lot but that is still low and replaceable. I would like to think Brian Halonen, Shane Bowers and other Comets look at them and wonder why they can’t get a longer look in NJ. The Bottom Six has been a black hole for offense. No matter how many pucks they get in deep, how hard they work, and how many times Ken Daneyko gasses them up on broadcasts, they’ve added very little to the team. I am more than fine with Fitzgerald rebuilding this end of the lineup and he can do that by letting these four walk on July 1, 2025. Now, if either of them pick up their play and perform much more in the final quarter of the season, then the discussion may change. For now, I say move on.
Finding bottom six caliber forwards that fit the team’s plans is not simple but far from impossible given the sheer number of them in free agency year after year. No, the Devils won’t save a ton by letting each walk but it will not cost a lot to replace them.
Utica Comets and Prospects
Santeri Hatakka, RFA – $775,000 cap hit and salary
Isaac Poulter, RFA – $812,500 cap hit, $830,000 salary, entry level contract
Daniil Misyul, RFA – $867,000 cap hit and salary, entry level contract
Nolan Foote, RFA – $825,000 cap hit and salary
Nathan Legare, RFA – $775,000 cap hit and salary
Adam Beckman, RFA – $775,000 cap hit and salary
Max Willman, UFA – $775,000 cap hit and salary
Sam Laberge, UFA – $775,000 cap hit and salary
The fate of most of this group will likely be contingent on whether they would want to go back to Utica and/or management is fine with giving them a NHL contract to make it happen. Among this group, Hatakka may be the closest to the NHL. Nemec and Casey have far more potential, but if NJ needs a more defensive fill-in for a call up, then Hatakka can be that guy. Given how his season was derailed by a preseason injury, I can see both sides wanting a re-do for 2025-26.
The rest, well, that depends on how much you like the player and/or how they’ve done in Utica. I am not opposed to another contract for Poulter or Misyul or even Foote. In general, I expect UFAs in the minors to want to move on and RFAs to be kept unless they think they can get a different opportunity elsewhere (in the AHL or overseas). The contracts here will be cheap and the real cost would be just adding to the contract limit. That all said, this may really come down to what the player is interested in and how Dan MacKinnon – the assistant GM that oversees Utica – and the front office sees in the player’s future. If any of them can get a call up and impress, then it can only help their cause for getting a contract somewhere in 2025-26.
One more thing: What about making more space? There are 2 Devils that Fitzgerald may want to at least think about a buyout.
Potential Buyouts
Kurtis MacDermid – $1.15 million cap hit, $1.25 million salary for 2024-25, two seasons left on deal
Buyout Results: $666,667 savings for 2025-26 and 2026-27; dead cap hits of $333,333 for 2027-28 and 2028-29 each
This contract was stupid then and it is stupid now. MacDermid is making more than Paul Cotter and Jonathan Kovacevic this season. A great bit of evidence that life is not fair. Further, MacDermid has provided next to nothing positive for the Devils. Offense? No points and six shots on net net in 21 games. Defense? Nope. Regular minutes? He has averaged 5:45 per game. Not even the proclaimed deterrence has happened as MacDermid merely watched Radko Gudas hurt Curtis Lazar and Matt Tkachuk jump into Nico Hischier. Skating? He falls like he is Cam Janssen. Those who claim he is adding any value have a different definition of value than I would expect. He cannot be on the active roster as he is playing. The savings is not much but doing so frees up a spot for someone in Utica with some actual hockey playing ability at the NHL to have a chance to play. It also opens up a contract spot too.
Should Fitzgerald not want to buy him out, at least burying him in Utica would achieve much of the same effect. Let him be a “tough guy” in the ‘A’ and let a player play as a Devil.
Ondrej Palat – $6 million cap hit, $4.95 million salary, no movement clause in 2024-25, two seasons left on deal
Buyout Results: $2.46 million in savings for 2025-26, $3.46 million in savings for 2026-27; dead cap hits of $1.48 million for 2027-28 and 2028-29 each
I hate to say I told you so. But Palat has not played up to his contract. The romantics among the People Who Matter may claim that his primary assist in Game 7 against Our Hated Rivals justifies the whole deal. I am not a romantic and a $6 million cap hit player needs to be more productive than 0.4 points per game. He may have a shot at having his most productive season as a Devil but that still clocks him at just over 31 points. That would still require him to be carried by Jesper Bratt and The Big Deal, Jack Hughes – his most common teammates this season. I understand that both players spoke well of Palat. I also understand that they have good 5-on-5 numbers together. However, both Bratt and Hughes have been much better in 5-on-5 without Palat than with Palat. That undercuts the claim that he does valuable things for Bratt and The Big Deal on that line. In fact, a lot of New Jersey Devil skaters have better 5-on-5 rates without Palat than with Palat. Since Palat will turn 34 by the end of March, this will likely get worse before it gets better. After all, he is with Bratt and Hughes because he cannot even lead a third or fourth line. This is not worth a $6 million cap hit.
I will also add that since Fitzgerald made the Devils older and more experienced, Palat’s intangibles are not nearly as valuable. It is not like Palat is going to teach Brett Pesce, for example, how to play in the playoffs. Remember that Pesce (and Noesen!) knocked out the Devils in 2023 among other experiences. And those younger players in that fateful Game 7 and in that series win over Our Hated Rivals now have that experience under their belts. Unless stories about being around Steven Stamkos carry more weight than I think, I am unsure what Palat brings off the ice that justifies his inclusion.
More importantly, buying him out before 2025-26 gives the Devils some real savings. An extra $2 million in 2025 and $3 million in 2026 can be used to get a solid bottom-six forward that would fit better than whatever Palat could do. Or be used to help pay Kovacevic and/or keep Allen around for a season. Buying Palat out removes a UFA for 2027, which is already shaping up to be a massive free agency period with Nico Hischier becoming a UFA (suggestion: do not let him walk, Fitzgerald) and Quinn Hughes becomes available (suggestion: run, do not walk, to get him, Fitzgerald). With the salary cap shooting above $100 million, a $1.4 million dead cap hit is not going to be a big factor in fitting it in. Additionally, such a move will force Fitzgerald to find a linemate for Jack Hughes that will complement and possibly elevate their talents instead of trying to make up for some perceived flaw. Hughes had one season carrying Erik Haula, now he has this season carrying Palat. It is time to let The Big Deal soar instead of dragging an older player to some relevance. One more reason to buy out Palat before next season.
Your Take
On the surface, it looks like the 2025 free agents coming out of New Jersey is not a huge list. There is Luke Hughes and some guys. However, the decisions made with these players will have impacts for future offseasons as well as the construction of the roster. The choices to make with Kovacevic and Allen will play a big role as to whether the Devils will be more free to spend this Summer or not. They can do more if they buy out Palat and/or MacDermid (or bury him in Utica). But the choices will play a role beyond having a new contract on the books. With the trade deadline coming up in less than a month, it is in the Devils’ best interest to at least have an idea on what they want to do for the offseason as it may drive who they want to trade and what calls they want to take for a deal.
Now that you know what is coming up in the future and you know how I feel about them, I want to know what you think. What would you give Luke Hughes in an extension? Do you pay Jonathan Kovacevic more than Borgen or let him walk? What about Jake Allen? Would you keep any of the four bottom six forwards set to become unrestricted free agents? Lastly, would you do any buy outs and, if so, who? Please leave your answers and other thoughts about the 2025 free agents in the comments. Thank you for reading.