The New Jersey Devils offseason started with a mess to clean up after a team that looked primed to make a run completely fell apart last season. Then they couldn’t get a save. Then Jack Hughes cut himself with a steak knife at dinner (yes, this happened). There was basically a season long standoff with Dougie Hamilton waiving his trade protection. Dougie refused to waive which created even more poor favor with Simon Nemec. The general manager really did nothing to help New Jersey amid injuries and goaltending woes. Ultimately, this might be a good thing because the Devils fired their GM and hired Sunny Mehta.
Mehta has done great things since taking over. They got important prospect Anton Silayev signed out of Russia. Mehta ended the Hamilton/Nemec debacle by trading Nemec to Calgary and acquiring two first picks, plus a second. On the eve of free agency, he reshaped the roster by moving underperforming goaltender Markstrom for much needed forward depth in Jesper Boqvist and Evan Rodrigues.
Mehta didn’t try to improve, at least not immediately, via free agency. The only move they made was getting their captain, and one of the best two-way centers in the league, Nico Hischier signed to a 5-year extension. Once the dust settled on the biggest names in free agency, Mehta decided to strike getting Anthony Mantha on an extremely favorable deal. Mantha was brought in on a 2-year contract worth under 5 million per season, a signing Penguins fans would have liked Dubas to have made himself.
The Devils new GM was apparently one of the only GMs who did not fall asleep at the wheel as the summer waned. Just two days ago Mehta made the first impactful trade we had seen in a month. The Devils were able to acquire Luke Evangelista from Nashville for essentially pieces they received via the Simon Nemec trade. With this trade, the Devils have built out an extremely deep forward group. This forward group might be amongst the best in the entire league. Evangelista is not only young, signed to a great contract, but also an extremely effective player. This is a great move from an analytical thinking GM, and it further goes to show why more front offices are shifting away from former players and more towards people who use analytics with a mix of feel. The Penguins have done great by following the same lead and hiring Dubas, but this is a trade you would have wished the Penguins could have pulled off. Instead of having Kuzmenko, the Penguins could have acquired Evangelista and really began to develop a solid young core, not just reclamation projects.
Why the New Jersey Devils offseason might not be finished
The scary part about all of this is the fact that Mehta and the Devils might not be done. They might not be done and the moves they remaining could be league altering moves. It’s no secret that the Devils have two of the three Hughes brothers. It’s also becoming less and less of a secret where Quinn Hughes, the third and best, Hughes brother wants to play (or more like who he wants to play with). Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin did not produce the most thrilling interview the other day if you are a Wild fan as he cast serious doubt whether or not Quinn would re-up in Minnesota.
Sure, the Hughes deal might take a couple months as both parties might want to see how the season is going. However, it’s becoming more and more likely the Quinn completes the Hughes trifecta and ends up in New Jersey. A move to acquire Quinn shouldn’t really add a feather to Mehta’s cap because a rock could be running that organization and Quinn would want to go there. However, Mehta will still need to put together a trade package that Minnesota will accept (or just wait until free agency). Either way, Mehta is on his way to creating one of the scariest teams in the East.
Though Mehta has done great things for the forward depth, and defensive logjam, Mehta has left the Devils weak in the same area as last season. Goaltending figures to be a problem going into this season. The Devils smartly moved Markstrom out but did little to replace him. Markstrom might have struggles but the Devils don’t have a promising netminder coming from within to take over the crease. All of this quietly leads to the other cataclysmic move that the Devils can make. Hellebuyck wants out of Winnipeg, we covered that last week, and it seems only a few true suitors remain. One of those would be New Jersey. If the Devils find a way to get Hellebuyck without seriously subtracting from this roster, and also eventually getting Quinn Hughes the Devils might quickly become the most dangerous team in the entire league. All of this could happen in the first six months of Mehta’s tenure in New Jersey, which would be quite the impressive start to his tenure. How would you rate the Devil’s offseason?
