It is sad to see that the hockey season is nearing the end. Three teams have punched their tickets to the conference finals. Meanwhile, teams are preparing for the draft as well as taking care of current contracts. One team to keep an eye on is the New Jersey Devils. They have a list of RFA and key players to watch for.
New Jersey RFA Carousel
Rumour: Jeff Marek talks about the future of the Devils and one player in particular
The New Jersey Devils RFA list is lengthy. There are plenty of key players on that list. Of course the wealth can only be spread so much, but there are priorities on this list. Elliote Friedman discussed the Devils and their future saying, “You have the baseline there for something that can be very good for a long time”. And he is right. The Devils have a great 1-2 punch down the middle with Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. In addition, the defence is deep. But they have key free agents in such as Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt.
The Cap Space
Heading into next season, the Devils will have around $35 million in cap space. With Meier and Bratt needing new deals, there is enough to get both done. However, there are plenty of other key names such as:
- Tomas Tatar
- Miles Wood
- Nathan Bastian
- Michael McLeod
- Erik Haula
- Damon Severson
- Ryan Graves
- Mackenzie Blackwood
- Kevin Bahl
- Jesper Boqvist
Tom Fitzgerald will have tough decisions to make, especially the back end with how well Luke Hughes played. But a lot of these players played success in their great season.
One Player Could Be on The Move
One player that Marek and Friedman discussed was Yegor Sharangovich. According to Friedman, he was a player he had heard around the deadline that could have been moved. This offseason, the priority is Meier and Bratt. At one point in time, Sharangovich was a player who saw time on the top two lines. He eventually fell out of favour and was a healthy scratch. Sharangovich played in three playoff games and had no points. However, in 75 games, he went on to have 13 goals, 17 assists, and 30 points. 11 of his 17 assists were primary. Sharangovich is a solid two way player, but has fallen out of favour in New Jersey. If the Devils do lock up both Meier and Bratt, Sharangovich could be shipped out of New Jersey. He is one of their RFA players, but with other young talent in the pipeline, his role can be replaced.
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