The Devils might be wise to add one more depth forward, but is there anyone out there on the open market worth considering?
There’s an old saying that you can’t have too much depth.
New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald should feel confident in the moves that he has made this offseason to help the team remove the bad taste lingering in their mouths from the 2023-24 season. And if he did nothing else this summer, I think he could confidently enter training camp with this roster and let the chips fall where they may once the games start in October.
That said, the best laid plans can go to waste. We saw plenty of that last season where the Devils depth was tested due to the number of injuries on the roster. The Devils used 22 forwards (I’m counting Kurtis MacDermid as a forward for these purposes), 11 defensemen (I’m counting Brendan Smith as a defenseman), and 5 goaltenders last season. All of those are more than teams typically go through in a normal season. For comparison’s sake, the Devils used 19 forwards, 9 defensemen, and 3 goaltenders during the 22-23 season.
It’s important to have depth options you can trust in spot duty, and for the most part, I think the Devils are in a good position. Nico Daws is a young but experienced goaltender who is a phone call away should something happen to Jacob Markstrom or Jake Allen. Johnathan Kovacevic might be overqualified to be a 7th defenseman option, but the Devils do have Nick DeSimone and Santeri Hatakka as the next men up behind him. And even if the Devils were to lose one of them off of waivers, their blueline at Utica is in solid shape.
One area where the Devils aren’t as deep though is at forward. They do have some fourth line callup options with NHL experience such as Justin Dowling, Max Willman, Sam Laberge, Shane Bowers, and the newly acquired Adam Beckman and Mike Hardman. Guys like Nolan Foote and Brian Halonen are basically at the stage of their development where if they’re going to be anything at the NHL level, they need to show it ASAP. Other prospects like Josh Filmon need more time. I could be selling guys like Chase Stillman short in terms of them making an impact at the NHL level as early as next season, but my point is that they really only have fourth line types who are on the fringe of being NHL ready (guys like Lenni Hameenaho and Arseni Gritsyuk have more upside but likely won’t be options early in the season, if at all in 2024-25). Frankly, I didn’t love a lot of what I saw from most of the aforementioned names last year when they got the chance at the NHL level.
Perhaps Tom Fitzgerald looks at a free agent market that has been picked over at this point, he remembers his lack of cap space to work with, and he looks at the list of guys I just rattled off who have some NHL experience at forward, and figures he has enough to go into the season. He might be right. But I do look at a Devils roster where I already don’t love the center depth to begin with, and I look at a team that I ripped for being soft last year, and I want to cover all of my bases.
Let’s take a look at a few areas where the Devils might want one more guy ‘just in case’ and if a move would make sense in that spot.
If the Devils want one more scoring option….
James van Riemsdyk, Boston Bruins
There’s not much on the open market in terms of cheap offense at this point, but Middletown, NJ native James van Riemsdyk might be one of the better options available.
At 6’3” and 208 lb., he would bring some much needed size to the Devils forward group. 38 points in 71 games in a depth role for the Bruins last season isn’t terrible. Neither is his 54.66 xG%.
Coming off of a 1-year, $1M deal and still sitting unsigned at this point, I do wonder if JvR might call it a career at this point. He would be entering his age 35 season, after all. He’s also a guy who was never really the best skater in his heyday and I do question how he’d actually fit playing in the Devils system under Sheldon Keefe. Keefe and van Riemsdyk didn’t overlap during their time in Toronto (unless you want to count Keefe’s time coaching the AHL Marlies, which, I don’t), but van Riemsdyk has certainly been in the league long enough where the Devils brass knows what he is at this point of his career.
Daniel Sprong, Detroit Red Wings
I’m not really sure why Sprong is still unsigned or has bounced around the league as much as he has, but with 89 points the last two seasons between Seattle and Detroit, he probably should be somewhere in the league.
Listed at 6’0” and 195 lb., Sprong differs from JvR in that he’s a righty shot and is about 8 years younger. And while I think per/60 rates should be taken with a grain of salt, it should be noted that Sprong at 5v5 was at 2.36 total points/60. For some perspective, that’s just behind players like Brady Tkachuk, Mark Stone, and Mikko Rantanen and ahead of players such as Kirill Kaprizov, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart, and William Nylander.
If I had to guess, I would guess that Sprong has a little bit of Alexander Holtz in him where his effort in the defensive zone hasn’t been up to par and he’s drawn the ire of multiple coaching staffs and front offices as a result. Sprong saw his playing time dip in Detroit as the season went on and was occasionally a healthy scratch down the stretch, which is not what you want to see from a team that was a fringe playoff team in Detroit. It’s not a good thing that they deemed him not good enough to play in their most important games of the season. And seeing as the Devils just spent the offseason getting rid of guys like Holtz for guys with higher compete levels and a better all-around game, I can understand if they don’t want to take the plunge on a depth scoring option like Sprong who has flaws elsewhere. I do think his speed plays, but the fact he’s been on five NHL teams before his 27th birthday and has seemingly worn out his welcome no matter where he’s been is a concern.
If the Devils want one more center option….
Nick Cousins, Florida Panthers
Much like how John asked last week if Curtis Lazar is a center, I think the same could be asked when it comes to Nick Cousins.
Cousins, 5’11” and 192 lb., is listed as a center, but his usage in Florida the last two seasons is more indicative of a player who is more of a winger who can play center in a pinch. He hasn’t taken more than 200 faceoffs in a single season since 2018-19.
Of course, there’s more to playing center than just taking faceoffs. And for what its worth, its not like Cousins has been terrible in the dot. He’s just under 50% over the last five seasons, albeit in a small sample size. But if we’re looking for guys who can play there in an emergency, I think Cousins can fit the bill.
Plus, you’re not necessarily signing Cousins to play center anyways. You’re signing him to do Nick Cousins things, such as be miserable to play against. And seeing as Cousins has a reputation for being THE player that the players want to punch in the face the most, he’d go a long way towards making the Devils harder to play against. Cousins is better at hockey than Kurtis MacDermid, but he’s not significantly better to where I wonder if the Devils should sign him when they already have MacDermid in the fold.
Tyler Johnson, Chicago Blackhawks
Once upon a time, Tyler Johnson was a member of two Stanley Cup championship teams and one of the best defensive forwards in the league.
It just feels like a long time ago because he’s spent the last three years in the hockey wilderness that has been the Chicago Blackhawks.
Johnson is a right handed center/winger listed at 5’8”, 185 lb. He still has a little something left in the tank offensively with 32 and 31 points the last two seasons, but he’s also lost a step from his prime days in Tampa. The question with him is whether or not he’s lost several steps, or if his numbers look worse than they are because he’s been on a Blackhawks team that has been openly tanking the last few years.
I tend to think Johnson’s numbers look worse than they are because of the environment he was in in Chicago. Chicago was not trying to win the last three years, they played a lot of guys who don’t have NHL futures in key positions, and everyone’s stats suffered as a result, Johnson included. He’s still a plus skater though. He has a wealth of playoff experience, and while people rolls their eyes at this, he knows how to win. Him being 5’8” didn’t keep Tampa from winning championships (emphasis on the plural) with him being a part of that, and him being in a depth role on this Devils team could go a long way to easing my concerns with the center depth.
If the Devils Want One More Sandpaper/Grit option….
Cal Clutterbuck or Matt Martin, New York Islanders
I’ll preface this by saying its very well possible that the Islanders have already resigned Clutterbuck and/or Martin and aren’t going to announce it until they report to training camp because Lou Lamoriello is doing to do Lou Lamoriello things and the signed contracts might be sitting in his desk drawer, waiting to be filed with Central Registry. Unless they’re not and the Islanders actually moved on from one or both of them.
That said, in the off chance either player is still available, I think an argument could be made to bring one of them in to be the 13th forward. Martin (6’3”, 220 lb) is a lefty while Clutterbuck (6’0”, 212 lb.) is a righty. Both bring a wealth of experience, both play a heavy game, and both have been fixtures on the Islanders so-called “Identity Line”.
Nick Ritchie, Iserlohn Roosters (Deutsche Eishockey Liga)
I wanted to pick at least one guy who Sheldon Keefe would be familiar with from his time in Toronto, but most of their options are signed elsewhere. So I’m gonna go off the board a little bit with Ritchie, who didn’t even play in the NHL in 2023-24, but did play with Keefe in Toronto during the 2021-22 season.
Ritchie has ideal size at 6’2” and 234 lb. He never quite lived up to his draft pedigree when he went 10th overall to the Ducks in 2014 but he carved out a nice career for himself with 481 NHL games.
Obviously, its a concern that he was out of the league entirely last season. I don’t know what his situation is with Iserlohn in terms of his salary, his role, and whether or not he has a potential NHL out in his contract. But I’m not really signing Ritchie under the pretense that he’s a great hockey player. I’d be signing him with the understanding that he’s ok in terms of counting stats but what I really want him to do is be Nick Ritchie, for better or worse. Ritchie is still young, as he turns 29 in December. Could he have another year or two in him at the NHL level as a face puncher? Certainly. Will he? I have no idea.
Final Thoughts
Generally speaking, the list of available free agents is not good. I would pass on pretty much all the wingers available, including guys I haven’t mentioned like Kailer Yamamoto, Kevin Labanc, Mike Hoffman, Alex Nylander, and Filip Zadina among others. But I think a case can be made for Cousins or Johnson.
The only guy the Devils really have on the NHL roster who I think could slide over to center in a pinch is Dawson Mercer, but he’s probably better suited to be a winger anyways. I don’t really feel comfortable with the Devils internal options like Bowers should they need a bottom six center all of a sudden. But I would feel comfortable with an option like Johnson. Johnson could theoretically shift Lazar to RW (where he’d arguably be even better) and I think the Devils would have a quality 4th line with guys who can get after it with those two paired with Paul Cotter.
Cousins would be a bit of a different animal as he’s probably best suited for 13th forward on a deep team and a guy you insert into the lineup when you know you’re going up against the Matt Rempes of the world on any given night. I view him more as a winger, but I think he’s done enough at center where he’d give the Devils some much needed versatility should they need it. I view it similar to how I view Paul Cotter where I don’t really consider him a center but if he had to do it in a small sample size, I think they could get away with it. Obviously, he’s a different type of player than Johnson, but if the Devils wanted to double down and get one more pest, I don’t have a problem with it.
As for Johnson, I’m sure there will be some eyerolling at the idea of Devils adding another small center. I admit the fit isn’t ideal, but also, Johnson would likely have been signed by now if he was six inches taller. The market is what it is at this point. But I do think Johnson has something to offer to a contending team, which the Devils are certainly hoping to be. I don’t think he necessarily has to be exclusively a center, but the fact that he can play there would give the Devils some flexibility with their lineups. He could also be an interesting secondary option on the power play if the Devils wanted to use him in that manner.
I don’t think either player is commanding a whole lot of money at this point, so if the Devils want to sign either one for $775,000 for this upcoming season, I’m cool with it.
That’s how I view things. Perhaps you view things differently. Please feel free to leave a comment and thanks for reading.