NHL Draft: Grade: A Simon Nemec at #2 was a very good pick in my opinion. 6’1 198 RHD who is mobile, has great hockey IQ, and all around beast of a player who is not only the best defenseman in the draft, but will be a staple on the Devils right side for a long time. Despite Shane Wright being available, the Devils are already stacked at C with Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier at the 1 and 2, with Dawson Mercer at the 3(now Erik Haula). Nemec will be one of if not the Devils best defenseman for a long time and I can’t wait to see him and Luke Hughes on this team Grade: B+ Seamus Casey at #46 was another great pick that I’m very happy with. Another offensive RHD to add the prospect pool is never a bad thing. Casey is a very solid prospect to have and considering he was ranked late 1st round by many scouts and experts throughout the season, I think this is a steal at #46 Grade: C+ Tyler Brennan(#102, goalie) and Josh Filmon(#166, forward) are also picks im happy with and think have potential Grade: B Trading for Vitek Vanecek is another move I’m very happy with for now, especially for a 2nd and 3rd round pick, while getting a 2nd round pick back with him(Seamus Casey). He wasn’t the best option out there, but there was definitely worse. The Devils desperately needed a legit backup goalie who can play an above average amount of games after a brutal season of injuries between MacKenzie Blackwood and Jonathan Bernier and terrible performances across the board from every goalie who entered our crease besides Nico Daws. Vanecek is a solid goalie who I think will do well behind a new Devils defense that is more defensively minded, which is also something we’ve been lacking. If Blackwood stays healthy, Vanecek will be a great backup, if Blackwood gets hurt, I have faith in a part time tandem of Vanecek and Jonathan Bernier Free Agency: Grade: B+ Ondrej Palat is the Devils big signing of 2022, not Johnny Gaudreau by any means, but it’s a solid consolation prize. Palat is not an offensive demon by any means, but contributing 40-50 points will help throughout the season while offering an extremely valuable veteran presence for the youngest team in the league. Palat is a long time vet and proven winner and has played with some of the best players in the world throughout his career, his presence around this team will be super important for this young team looking to take the next step forwards. I’m not a huge fan of the contract, 6M for 5 years, but it could be worse. The money isn’t a huge problem now, but the last 2 years of this contract worry me as around then there will be multiple young players to sign, and with Palat already being an average offensive player on the scoresheet, I can see a big drop off in those numbers in 2025-26 and 2026-27. As I mentioned though, Palat is a great leader and also an underrated player in the areas that don’t show up on the stat sheet, I like this signing for the most part Grade: C+ Signing Brendan Smith was an okay move in my opinion, nothing crazy or important and a pretty cheap deal. Not entirely sure why they have him 2 seasons with Luke Hughes expected to join the team in 2023-24, but Smith will be a solid 6th/7th defenseman for a team looking for guys who play a bit tougher and good defensively. Like I said, nothing crazy here just your average depth signing, but with the direction the Devils are building their defense I think Brendan Smith is a good player to have on our bottom pair and PK. 1.1M for 2 years is about as low risk as it gets, but still not sure about that 2nd year when if there is an injury in the 2023-24 season I’d prefer one of our prospects to be filling in rather than Brendan Smith Grade: A- Trading Pavel Zacha for Erik Haula was a great move in my opinion. There have been rumors about Zacha for awhile now so it isn’t a surprise he was moved. I’m aware Haula isn’t a star player by any means, but compared to Zacha I think this is a homerun move. Better skater, smarter player, more versatile, and overall just a better player in almost every department besides shooting. Big Zacha fan here, but he really isn’t a good player or good at anything besides shooting every chance he gets. Very lazy player, big for no reason as he doesn’t play physically, and really just doesn’t seem to care most of the time. I hope he can turn it around in Boston but I think this was a great add for the Devils, especially with Haula being a bit cheaper than what Zacha will probably get with his new contract, and Haula being older and more experienced which will help this team this season adding some more age to the youngest team in the league Grade: B Despite the grade being a B for this move, I’m a big fan of John Marino for Ty Smith. Ty Smith is coming off one of the worst seasons I’ve seen by a Devils defenseman in a long time, looked lost offensively and defensively almost every shift and provided almost nothing but highlights for the other team and turnovers. The reason I have the grade as a B is because Ty Smith is only 22, is a former highly decorated WHL defenseman, and had an above average rookie season in 2020-21. I don’t think all hope is lost on him and I think the season he just had will be his worst in his career, it’s probably only up for him. Do I think he will turn out to what people thought he would be when he was drafted? No. But do I think he will be a solid NHL player and possibly even better than Marino down the road? Yes. Marino right now though is the better player both offensively and defensively and has term on his deal making him a staple for this defense for awhile while this group begins to come together and start making pushes for the playoffs every season. As mentioned with the Brendan Smith pickup too, this team is looking to get better defensively and Marino brings just that. If Severson doesn’t return after this season, I’m very happy with a right side of Hamilton Nemec and Marino for a long time. For real though, we’ve all seen the clip of Drake Batherson absolutely embarrassing Ty Smith last year, it was a LONG season for him, but I wish him all the best in Pittsburgh and if we look back in a few years and say we gave up on him too quickly, I won’t be surprised, but I also won’t be surprised if he’s a total bust after the season he just had Overall I’m happy with the Devils off season so far and I believe Fitzgerald isn’t done yet. Jesper Bratt still needs a new contract so we will see what he ends up getting, probably somewhere around 7x7 which I am fine knowing how good Bratt is and will become in the future
