The Offseason Plan™

[Triumph]

Okay, now we know: there's no top 3 pick for the Devils.  No top 5 pick for them.  No top 10 pick for them either.   The Devils really needed a top pick this year.   The good news is that there's still a year left to get one - next year.   After that I think it's over with; Cory Schneider will turn 32 during the 2017-18 season, and the Devils just have to press forward with what they've got.

I feel that Ray Shero used last season as a proving ground to see who on the current team can be trusted going forward, and the Devils got a lot of answers.  Yes, Kyle Palmieri was actually good.  No, Jacob Josefson is not a top 9 forward.  Sergey Kalinin isn't likely anything more than NHL filler.  John Moore is not an 18 minute a game defender.  Stefan Matteau and Eric Gelinas aren't a part of the future, and Jon Merrill is questionable too.

With that in mind, let's look at the roster assuming that all RFAs are signed:

Cammalleri-Henrique-DSP

Boucher-Zajac-Palmieri

Blandisi-?-?

Kalinin-Josefson-?

Greene-Larsson

Moore-Severson

Merrill-?

Schneider

?

Grim.

The good news is that there is cap space galore - there's $18M free by making some basic assumptions about what people will sign for, plus the possible 4.9M that's in reserve with Clowe being unable to play.

RW options:

UFAs:

Kris Versteeg - Versteeg's been traded seven times already in his career.  He turns 30 in 2 weeks.  LA used him as a 4th liner in this season's playoffs.  He's basically Lee Stempniak - teams see him as fungible, other teams see him as desirable, and off he goes again.  That's not to say that Versteeg will enjoy the success that Stempniak did, but he's a good target for NJ.

Kyle Okposo - I think the Devils should be interested here, but I think they'll be outbid.  There's not a compelling reason to give him a big money deal.  Kyle Palmieri already plays his spot on the PP plus he's also named 'Kyle'.  

Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau - He should still be okay.  Toronto signed him on one year deal last year.  Maybe this is the year he can be traded at the deadline, though I doubt it.

Trades

I've mentioned Mark McNeill here, and while he may not be good, he should be available from Chicago.  They've signed a bunch of other guys to compete for their lower lines next year.  I could also potentially see Seth Griffith from Boston coming available.  Tomas Jurco and Teemu Pulkkinen from Detroit are other options though I don't think Pulkiinnen fits in with the fast, attacking, supportive idea.

C options:

UFAs:

Darren Helm - Helm was used a lot on LW this season but he's still an okay center.  I'd consider offering him 3/10.5.  If he wants a 4 year deal, forget it.  Helm is 29 and has put up okay numbers.

Trades:

Patrik Berglund has 1 year left on a deal that I can't imagine the Blues have much interest in keeping.  The Blues already have $58M committed next season to 15 players and they likely want to re-sign Jaden Schwarz and David Backes plus upgrade the left side of their D - Berglund doesn't fit in with that.  I'd offer a 4th round pick and throw something else marginal in, *maybe* I'd go as high as a 3rd, but I can't imagine there's much of a market for this contract.  Berglund does have a 7 team no-trade list but that's a weird, odd number and it makes me think that it's all Canadian teams.  I'd be surprised if the Devils were on it, at any rate.  Berglund could then be moved at the trade deadline for a 2nd round pick if he stays healthy and plays okay.

Alex Khokhlachev is rumored to be heading to SKA St. Petersburg next year but now that that rumor's out there, maybe the Devils can get him for a conditional 3rd or something like that.  He's put up good numbers in the minors but for some reason Boston doesn't like him.

Defense:

I'd try to re-sign David Schlemko, but wouldn't beat myself up if he took a higher offer elsewhere.  I'd throw an offer out to Yandle but would expect it to be rejected.  The Devils could use a upgrade at LHD but I don't see it really on the UFA market - maybe there's a trade out there.

DEAD CAP TRADES:

Pavel Datsyuk - Datsyuk is a 35+ contract with a 7.5M cap hit - if he plays in Russia next year the Wings will have to get rid of his cap hit somehow, and NJ's the perfect place to do it.  There's some other teams out there with cap space but I think it will cost Detroit at least a 2017 3rd round pick to move this elsewhere - or at least if I were Shero that's as low as I would go.  I'd also consider expanding this trade to include Jon Merrill and Brendan Smith.

Bryan Bickell - The Hawks need every dollar this off-season and that Bickell contract, which was an awful idea when it was signed, is still clogging up the Hawks' cap.  NJ should be willing to take it off their hands for McNeill and a low round pick, while also including a reserve list dump.

Pascal Dupuis, etc - The Devils should be willing to take any player who will no longer be able to play, provided that contract ends within the next 2 years.  I doubt anyone will trade anything of significance to get rid of them, but if NJ is considering other trades, they should do it.

My ideal Devils team next year is near capped out with dead space and they've accumulated a lot of picks.  They can then try to trade these picks for upgrades at various positions as they did with Kyle Palmieri - I certainly don't expect that kind of success, but more NHL players would be a good thing.  I'd also be listening to trade offers on Henrique in case something opens up with a potential upgrade, but I doubt anyone's giving up a legit 1st line center for Henrique and whatever else the Devils could offer.  Other than that, just hope the young players keep growing and something good can come out of it.

 

[MadDog2020]

The Devils should be able to get a very good player at 11. You're making the draft situation sound worse than it is.

[Triumph]

12 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

The Devils should be able to get a very good player at 11. You're making the draft situation sound worse than it is.

10 more teams draft above us.  If the draft had perfect information, 10 teams would be improving relative to us.   Now the draft doesn't have perfect information, and the Devils can get lucky, but 11 isn't good enough.

[Devils Pride 26]

57 minutes ago, Triumph said:

10 more teams draft above us.  If the draft had perfect information, 10 teams would be improving relative to us.   Now the draft doesn't have perfect information, and the Devils can get lucky, but 11 isn't good enough.

Would you trade Schneider? Probably best way to cement a bottom 5 next year

[Derlique]

1 hour ago, Triumph said:

10 more teams draft above us.  If the draft had perfect information, 10 teams would be improving relative to us.   Now the draft doesn't have perfect information, and the Devils can get lucky, but 11 isn't good enough.

It's pretty much accepted that taking dmen early isn't a wise idea. If 4 dmen are taken before and 3 of them are worse than #11 then things look better.

[MadDog2020]

The Devils should be able to get a very good player at 11. You're making the draft situation sound worse than it is.

10 more teams draft above us.  If the draft had perfect information, 10 teams would be improving relative to us.   Now the draft doesn't have perfect information, and the Devils can get lucky, but 11 isn't good enough.

We all would like to be picking higher, but all it takes is for one team to reach on someone and you could have a Nylander or a Chychrun fall to us. Will it happen? Who knows. But the Devils are still positioned to get a good player. We could've been stuck at 14 if the ping pong balls fell the wrong way, so at least we broke even.

[sundstrom]

pretty bleak that it's pretty much tank or bust in your eyes for the devils. 

the hope is that maybe a decent AHL playoff for severson clicks something for him.

zacha needs to hit the ground running next year.

[Triumph]

13 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

We all would like to be picking higher, but all it takes is for one team to reach on someone and you could have a Nylander or a Chychrun fall to us. Will it happen? Who knows. But the Devils are still positioned to get a good player. We could've been stuck at 14 if the ping pong balls fell the wrong way, so at least we broke even.

We're getting a good player, and the teams ahead of us are getting a better player.  When you're behind almost every team in the league in talent outside of the net/assets, that's not good.

21 minutes ago, Devils Pride 26 said:

Would you trade Schneider? Probably best way to cement a bottom 5 next year

No.  This rebuild just doesn't work without him, and the incentive for tanking isn't as high as it was before they changed the draft lottery.

[Daniel]

1 hour ago, Triumph said:

10 more teams draft above us.  If the draft had perfect information, 10 teams would be improving relative to us.   Now the draft doesn't have perfect information, and the Devils can get lucky, but 11 isn't good enough.

It certainly seems to be the case that the big tough defensemen are no longer being drafted in the first round, much less the top ten picks of the draft.  Pity for us, as it wasn't that long ago that teams wasted high picks on the likes of Dylan McIrath that allowed great players like Tarasenko and Cam Fowler to fall right to around where we're drafting.  

[Triumph]

10 minutes ago, sundstrom said:

pretty bleak that it's pretty much tank or bust in your eyes for the devils. 

the hope is that maybe a decent AHL playoff for severson clicks something for him.

zacha needs to hit the ground running next year.

Just next year, though.  After that they will have loads of cap room and a lot of awareness of where a lot of their players stand - they'll be able to confidently sign some free agents and maybe make a big trade if things can come together for that.

[Devils Pride 26]

1 hour ago, Triumph said:

We're getting a good player, and the teams ahead of us are getting a better player.  When you're behind almost every team in the league in talent outside of the net/assets, that's not good.

No.  This rebuild just doesn't work without him, and the incentive for tanking isn't as high as it was before they changed the draft lottery.

Do you expect the Devils to regress to a top 5 pick this year and then be a playoff contender in 2017-2018? That's the drift I get from your first paragraph. I think Schneider single handily keeps us from a top 5 pick. 

 

I fear we could be stuck at this 10th overall plateau for a couple of years then we'd get screwed when Schneiders play starts to look anything less than stellar. More than anything else, we need to hit on some of these guys whether its 10th overall or 100th. I know luck is a huge factor. 

[RunninWithTheDevil]

Kinda pie in the sky, but what are the chances we sign Stempniak at the UFA deadline?

['7']

There have been too many amazing players drafted 10-20 post lockout two to worry too much over this. Claude Giroux, Bryan Little, McDonagh, Pacioretty, Karlsson, Eberle, Kreider, Tarasenko, Kuznetsov, Filip Forsberg, Larkin

Top 5 is just the new buzz saying from the overanalyzers. You can win a cup without bottoming out and accumulating top 5s. Sure a 1 in a generational talent year (Crosby, McDavid) helps but that is a rare occurrence.

Edited May 2, 2016 by '7'

[Triumph]

1 hour ago, Devils Pride 26 said:

Do you expect the Devils to regress to a top 5 pick this year and then be a playoff contender in 2017-2018? That's the drift I get from your first paragraph. I think Schneider single handily keeps us from a top 5 pick. 

 

I fear we could be stuck at this 10th overall plateau for a couple of years then we'd get screwed when Schneiders play starts to look anything less than stellar. More than anything else, we need to hit on some of these guys whether its 10th overall or 100th. I know luck is a huge factor. 

I think the Devils got lucky last season in many respects.  Some very critical players barely missed time.  The areas where the Devils had the most organizational depth (LW) were what saw injuries.  So sure, Cammalleri went down and that hurt, but Boucher filled in and was an NHL player.  Imagine if Kyle Palmieri had missed 40 games instead of Camm.  The Devils 3rd RW for most of the year was Tyler Kennedy or Jordin Tootoo.  Imagine what happens if Henrique or Zajac is out for a while.  Greene and Larsson didn't miss a game, imagine what takes their place if one of them goes down.  So yeah, the Devils are getting some depth filling in their system this season, but it's not quite there yet.

Meanwhile no one on the team pushes play forward yet.  Zajac did or does, but finally the lead weights of Boucher and Palmieri dragged him down by the end of the year.  I don't expect that to change next year.  I don't expect them to be better than last at ES scoring.  We'll see - maybe Blandisi helps, he's got the most potential of anyone for next year.  But there's too many anchors and not enough motors.

In addition, I think we could see a lot of improvement out of Buffalo, Edmonton, Toronto, and Winnipeg this year.  Not all of them will improve, obviously, but the bottom of the league could be clearing out nicely for the Devils.

 

Edited May 2, 2016 by Triumph

[Zubie#8]

I love the Berglund idea but I disagree on their outlook for next year. I think they could be a playoff bubble team if a few things happen. These things being:

Schneider being Schneider

A top 6 RW acquisition

Cammalleri playing 65 games

Zacha contributing top 9 numbers

Cammalleri Henrique Palmieri

Boucher Zajac ???

Blandisi Zacha DSP

Kalinin Josefson Pietla

That first line can put up 70 goals. Hope Cammalleri could play at least 60 games.

[Triumph]

28 minutes ago, Zubie#8 said:

 

 

 

 

I love the Berglund idea but I disagree on their outlook for next year. I think they could be a playoff bubble team if a few things happen. These things being:

 

 

 

 

Schneider being Schneider

 

 

 

 

A top 6 RW acquisition

 

 

 

 

Cammalleri playing 65 games

 

 

 

 

Zacha contributing top 9 numbers

 

 

 

 

 

Cammalleri Henrique Palmieri

 

Boucher Zajac ???

 

Blandisi Zacha DSP

 

Kalinin Josefson Pietla

 

That first line can put up 70 goals. Hope Cammalleri could play at least 60 games.

Both of these things can be true.  The Devils finished with 84 points - 9 more points and they'd have 93 points, which is what the Red Wings got into the playoffs with.  9 fewer points and they'd have 75 points, good enough for 4th worst in the league.  Next year is going to be another high-bottom year most likely assuming the Canucks keep the Sedins - I see Vancouver and Arizona as being pretty bad but no one else strikes me as 'that team will be awful'.  So yeah, I could see NJ catching some bad breaks and finishing with 75 points and being one of the worst teams.  But there's no reason why they can't continue to catch good breaks and finish with 90 or so points.

Edited May 2, 2016 by Triumph

[Jerzey]

I'll take a page out of Mike Brown's book and say we need a lot more offense from the blue line next year. Maybe we should go for Yandle this summer. I think this AHL playoff run is good for Severson and hopefully his offense returns next year.

 

[Zubie#8]

I mean I would love a top 5 pick but I just do not see it happening with this roster. Shero has to continue making shrewd moves like he has been doing and hope that we land a star with our picks.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NJDfan1711]

You left off Zacha from your line combos.  He's gotta be in the mix next year for sure.  I don't like DSP on the 1st line at all, that's not where he belongs.  Assuming we go after a UFA to slot on the 1st line, which I think we need badly, the lines in my eyes could look something like this, which isn't as bad as you originally outlined:

 

Cammalleri - Henrique - FA/UFA RW

Boucher - Zajac - Palmieri

Blandisi - Zacha - Elias

Kalinin - Josefson - Sislo

Greene - Larsson

Moore - Severson

Merrill - Schlemko/Santini

Schneider

Kink/Wedge (would be happy with either...I could see them going with Wedge now and letting Kink walk or keep him in the minors)

 

Obviously the above depends on a few things, but none of them seem like they are a huge stretch.  Will they all happen?  Maybe not, but with a little luck, it might not be too bad and we could be a playoff team, IF...

A) Cammalleri comes back, is healthy, and is productive.

B) Elias comes back, is healthy, and is moderately productive to play on the 3rd line

C)  Schlemko re-signs and we can put him back there and not have to play Warsofsky -- I don't like the idea of him on the team.  

D)  We sign someone that we can afford, and is a 1st line forward (easier said than done, but there's some talented UFAs this year)   

[CommonDreads]

Not the best player in this year's UFA market, but I would love Shero to go after Mikkel Boedker as long as the contract is reasonable. Great skater that can fill out our RW nicely, I like the combo of Boedker and Palmieri on the right side.

[Daniel]

Maybe Kerby Rychel is another player that can be gotten on the relatively cheap, especially now that Columbus should be drafting Puljarvi. 

The Devils were also reportedly interested in Yakupov (who I would take a shot, but only with a low ball offer) and Shero has apparently always like Eberle (who I do not want since I think the asking price would be too high) back to when he was with Pittisburgh. 

Perhaps the best hope for the Devils to get back to being relevant sooner rather than later is to build a team like the Rangers have had for the past three or four years.  When you think about it, it's not that much of a stretch.  If anything, the Devils might be in a better position in that there hopefully won't be any wasted high picks like McIlrath, Schneider will probably have a longer shelf life than Lunqvist given that Schneider has less mileage on him to this point, and there should not be a dreadful Girardi type contract. 

[nessus]

1 hour ago, CommonDreads said:

Not the best player in this year's UFA market, but I would love Shero to go after Mikkel Boedker as long as the contract is reasonable. Great skater that can fill out our RW nicely, I like the combo of Boedker and Palmieri on the right side.

I agree with this. I would offer Boedker a decent contract, and then trade whatever it takes to get Nishushkin here from Dallas (which I believe you mentioned in another thread). I do think it would cost more than we would like, but I'm all for it. If not Nuke, then maybe go for Yakupov.

 

Cammalleri-Henrique-Palmieri

Blandisi-Zajac-Boedker

Elias-Zacha-Nichushkin/Yak

Kalinin-Josefson-DSP

 

Not great, but a decent core to work with as we move forward.

 

[sokar]

Kyle Okposo is the player I would like to see the Devils land.  I would rather give him more money and less years, 5 yrs is what I would like to see him get.

Do you see the Devils moving up in the draft, maybe a trade with Buffalo

[Marshall]

6 hours ago, sokar said:

Kyle Okposo is the player I would like to see the Devils land.  I would rather give him more money and less years, 5 yrs is what I would like to see him get.

Do you see the Devils moving up in the draft, maybe a trade with Buffalo

Okposo has been a 0.88 PPG scorer last three seasons. Devils would have to be pushing up towards 8m on 5 year deals to land him since he probably gets close to 7 on a longer deal from other teams that are close to or in their window to win.

Also think Buffalo stay put - they're in a good spot to get defensemen that they probably want/need.

[NJDfan1711]

7 hours ago, Marshall said:

Okposo has been a 0.88 PPG scorer last three seasons. Devils would have to be pushing up towards 8m on 5 year deals to land him since he probably gets close to 7 on a longer deal from other teams that are close to or in their window to win.

Also think Buffalo stay put - they're in a good spot to get defensemen that they probably want/need.

I don't really see Buffalo taking a defenseman.  Of the 8 d-men listed on their roster, they only have THREE over the age of 25, and those three are age 28, 31, and 33.  So they're extremely young on the blue line, and probably just need to continue adding scoring, since they were again one of the bottom 5 teams in Goals For again this past year.