Agent Allan Walsh says the salary cap ceiling will be $97M, higher than the initial $92.5M projection. If true, what can the Devils do with that extra space?
Last week, NHL superagent Allan Walsh made headlines with a definitive statement on where he thinks the upper limit of the NHL’s salary cap is going next season on the latest episode of his podcast Agent Provocateur.
“You heard it from me. I am telling you right now, you can write it down. I am not divulging any confidences here, I am not divulging any inside information per say, I am telling you right now the upper limit of the salary cap next year will be $97 million”
A $97M cap ceiling would blow past previous projections of approximately $92.5M, but it should be noted that Walsh’s prediction is in line with a previous report from Elliotte Friedman that suggested the cap could increase to somewhere in the $95-$97M range. It should be noted that Walsh is one of the top agents representing players, if not THE top agent. Walsh is certainly vocal, and he will go to extreme lengths to defend his clients and their best interests like any good agent would, but he is also well-connected. He has represented top players in the league for many years and negotiated hundreds if not thousands of player contracts throughout his career. I have no reason to doubt that he knows what he’s talking about, so for him to come out and definitively say that the NHL salary cap will be $97M next year (and for there to seemingly be no pushback from other sources who would know) is noteworthy.
Of course, that raises the questions that we care about as Devils fans, which are “how does this impact the Devils” and “what can the Devils do with that newfound cap space”. Those are very good questions and ones that I will attempt to answer in this article.
A Refresher On the Devils Cap Situation For 2025-26
According to PuckPedia, the Devils currently have $75,775,000 committed next season to the following 15 players.
Forwards: Timo Meier, Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, Ondrej Palat, Dawson Mercer, Erik Haula, Stefan Noesen, Kurtis MacDermid, Paul Cotter
Defensemen: Dougie Hamilton, Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon, Jonas Siegenthaler
Goaltenders: Jacob Markstrom
If the $97M cap ceiling number is accurate, that would leave the Devils $21.225M for the final 8 spots to round out the NHL roster. And taking a quick look at who are pending UFAs for the Devils, we’re talking about rebuilding a fourth line that frankly hasn’t been very good to begin with, a backup goaltender, and a potentially tough decision on what to do with Johnathan Kovacevic knowing you have Simon Nemec and/or Seamus Casey waiting in the wings. Obviously, a sizable chunk of that $21.225M will go to Luke Hughes on his second contract, but for the most part, the Devils will have flexibility to do some things this summer. And that’s before considering hypotheticals like “What if they trade Erik Haula or Ondrej Palat or Dougie Hamilton to free up that spot and/or cap space”
What Can The Devils Do With That Extra Cap Space?
Step 1: Extend Luke Hughes
I think it goes without saying that priority #1 the summer is extending Luke Hughes, who is finishing the third and final year of his ELC.
The youngest of the Hughes brothers has been great in his second full NHL season, showing tremendous growth in his defensive game while still contributing a .5 PPG pace offensively despite a slow start and recent cold spell. He’s well on his way to becoming THE #1 defenseman on the Devils and as he gets more experience, I don’t doubt that he will play his way into becoming a perennial Norris Trophy contender like his older brother Quinn.
The easiest contract comparable to Hughes is Minnesota Wild defenseman Brock Faber, and while Faber is a righty, the two players have had similar offensive production through the first two full seasons of their respective careers. They also finished 2nd and 3rd in last year’s Calder Trophy voting last season. Faber signed an 8x$8.5M extension that begins next season last July, and I would expect the Devils to top that. I’ll pencil in Luke for 8x$8.6M AAV, with the AAV being double his jersey number (and a nod to older brother Jack)
Step 2: Sign a Quality Backup Goaltender
One of the Devils pending UFAs is backup goaltender Jake Allen, and while Allen has generally been ok through 26 games as a Devil over two seasons, I do think there’s at least a conversation to be had whether the Devils can improve there.
Allen has posted an .898 save percentage and 3.5 goals saved above expected in 13 games this season. Those numbers are fine. Not bad, not great, just about what you expect from both your backup goaltender as well as Allen in particular, who has been an .894 goaltender over the last three seasons dating back to his time in Montreal.
Jacob Markstrom will turn 36 next season in the final year of his deal, and while Markstrom has been mostly great for the Devils, I do think he’s getting around the age where you want to try to dial back that workload in an attempt to keep him fresh later in the season. And if you’re going to do that, you have to have faith in whoever his tandem partner is that they’re going to give you a chance to win more often than not when they get a chance to play.
I think an argument could’ve been made to go cheap with your backup goaltender to try to save that money to use elsewhere, but if the salary cap ceiling is going to be more than expected, it probably makes sense to spend something in the $1.5M-$2M range on your backup, if for no other reason peace of mind. And who knows, perhaps that winds up being another year of a known commodity like Jake Allen? Or maybe the Devils look towards some of the other pending UFAs like Alex Lyon or a reclamation project like Alex Georgiev. What I don’t think the Devils will do is go with an internal option like Nico Daws, or rush a prospect like Jakub Malek to the show. That makes little sense given where the Devils are in their timeline.
I’ll guess the Devils stick within their comfort zone, and if Jake Allen is comfortable remaining the backup, they probably bring him back for $2M for another season. A slightly higher AAV than what he’s making now, but a paycut from what he was making and still fairly compensated. This would leave us $10.625M for the remaining six players the Devils need to fill out the roster.
Step 3: Upgrade at 3C
As I mentioned last week, the Devils need to upgrade at 3C if they want to be serious about contending for a championship in this window. Healthy or not, what we have gotten from Erik Haula this season isn’t going to cut it. And to take it a step further, if it comes down to adding a 3C or a scoring winger, to me, its an easy call to add the center 10 times out of 10.
Of course, I would be careful when it comes to paying UFA prices for anybody at this stage. We’ve talked enough about the center market when it comes to rentals at the trade deadline, and its mostly the same list of players who are hitting UFA this summer. And while there are a few sometimes centers like John Tavares, Matt Duchene, and Jamie Benn who will hit UFA, I don’t know that its likely the Devils can attract any of them to come to New Jersey.
I do think the Devils have enough cap flexibility though to be a player in the trade market though, so it might make more sense to attack the hole in that manner. I don’t love the remaining term on Ryan Strome’s contract but perhaps he might be available in the right circumstance. Same goes for JT Compher or Andrew Copp in Detroit if the Yzerplan suddenly changes direction. Maybe New Jersey native Ross Colton becomes available if Colorado is serious about freeing up space to retain Mikko Rantanen. And I know if I were Tom Fitzgerald, I’d be checking in with old buddy Barry Trotz and keeping an eye on whatever is going on with Ryan O’Reilly. For argument’s sake, I’ll pencil them in for someone in the $4M range via trade like Colton.
What the Devils Probably Can’t (Or Shouldn’t) Do With That Cap Space
Step 1: The Devils Should Probably Let Johnathan Kovacevic Walk as a UFA
Johnathan Kovacevic has been a tremendous addition to this group, but with cap space being as tight as it is, I don’t know how feasible it is to bring Kovacevic back the more I think about it.
With roughly $4.65M in career earnings to this point and at age 27, Kovacevic is in the prime of his career and will be hitting UFA for the first time. He’s well within his right to try to maximize his earnings, and while I think there is a worthwhile argument for keeping him, even something as reasonable as 3x$3M might be a little too rich for the Devils given their situation.
I get that Simon Nemec has not had a great year between the injury he suffered prior to training camp, his early run this season with the Devils, and his current stint in Utica, but he is still a former 2nd overall pick with upside who deserves a longer look with the Devils before they cast him aside permanently. I get that Seamus Casey is a work in progress, and while his offense might be NHL-ready, he still has a ways to go defensively at the pro level. But the fact of the matter is that both of those players are still on ELCs and every dollar counts. The smart move might be letting Kovacevic walk, trading another late round pick for another veteran defenseman on a low salary who could possibly become the next Kovacevic, and let that guy and Nemec compete for that spot. Or save your draft capital and sign a veteran defenseman for roughly $1M with the understanding that that player is likely going to be the 7th defenseman most nights.
Step 2: The Devils are probably out on most Top Nine scoring wingers, barring salary retention or money going back the other way
The Devils don’t exactly have a lot of vacancies going into next year anyways when it comes to adding a scoring winger in the Top Nine, as Meier, Bratt, Palat, Noesen, and Mercer are all under contract for next year. And moving off of most of those players is either too complicated, counterproductive, or both.
They do have the space to add a winger from a roster construction standpoint. They don’t have $6M to burn on your desired winger of choice who can put the puck in the back of the net. Heck, they probably don’t have $4M per year for that guy.
The best internal option might be signing 2019 5th round pick Arseni Gritsyuk to an ELC, assuming that a) he’s ready and willing to finally come to North America and b) the Devils are giving him some assurances that he will immediately play in the NHL. This also assumes that Gritsyuk doesn’t burn his ELC for a playoff run with the Devils this season once his KHL season comes to a close. For the purposes of this article, I’ll assume he isn’t a part of this year’s team and he’ll be on his ELC for 2025-26.
If the Devils don’t go with the Gritsyuk option, they could probably easily fill that Top Nine winger role via trade (and ideally, with a little salary retention as well). Think something along the lines of when the Devils acquired Tyler Toffoli from the Calgary Flames, and while even though that deal didn’t work out, that had more to do with the Devils themselves than anything Toffoli did.
What I would not expect is for the Devils to be players on any of the notable UFA wingers. Mitch Marner and Mikko Rantanen are well out of the price range. B-tier options like Brock Nelson, Kyle Palmieri, and Brock Boeser are probably too expensive as well. That is, not unless they subtract from the NHL roster first.
What Could A 2025-26 Lineup Look Like With the Additional Cap Space?
I’ll preface this part by saying this is just my opinion, but I think the Devils would be smart to invest their money down the middle (and in Luke Hughes, of course) and try to get by cheaper on the wings. The bottom line is that there are simply far more wingers available than centers, and if there is a hole on the wing, its not too complicated to plug that hole at the trade deadline.
With that said, I think the lineup would look similar to this year’s with the key difference being the Devils depth down the middle. Here’s how I see a potential 2025-26 lineup shaking out (parenthesis is remaining years of term with the player’s AAV).
Ondrej Palat (2x$6M) – Jack Hughes (5x$8M) – Jesper Bratt (6x$7.875M)
Timo Meier (6x$8.8M) – Nico Hischier (2x$7.25M)- Dawson Mercer (2x$4M)
Arseni Gritsyuk – Ross Colton (acquired via trade, 2x$4M remaining) – Stefan Noesen (2x$2.75M)
Paul Cotter (1x$775k)- Erik Haula (1x$3.15M) – Curtis Lazar (re-signs 2x$1M)
Brenden Dillon (2x$4M) – Dougie Hamilton (3x$9M)
Luke Hughes (signs 8x$8.6M)- Brett Pesce (5x$5.5M)
Jonas Siegenthaler (3x$3.4M) – Simon Nemec (1x$918k)
Jacob Markstrom (1x$4.125M)
Jake Allen (re-signs 1x$2M)
Extras: Kurtis MacDermid (2x$1.15M), Justin Dowling, Santeri Hatakka
Rough Estimate of 2025-26 Cap Charge = $94.75M, assuming Dowling, Hatakka, and Gritsyuk are on minimum salaries
The Devils would enter the season with roughly $2.25M in cap space, which will accrue over time, and if the Devils need to go out and make any additions at the trade deadline, they should have enough accrued space to do something.
That’s how I see things. Perhaps you see things differently. Please feel free to leave a comment and thanks for reading.