The New Jersey Devils the playoffs in the 2023-24 season after making it into the second round of the playoffs last season, and finished the season with a total of 81 points, a 38-39-5 record; With Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier in the midst of their primes, the New Jersey Devils really need to start to buckle down and put together the pieces for a contending team. The good news is that the New Jersey Devils have the benefit of having the 10th overall pick, which they could move to acquire a netminder, and they also have plenty of cap space to add other players as well. This coming offseason is a big one for the New Jersey Devils front office because after striking out on a netminder last offseason, the pressure to acquire a netminder this offseason is immense for GM Tom Fitzgerald, who might be on the hotseat if he can't find a way to fix the mess.
Before the 2024 NHL Draft, the New Jersey Devils make two major trades
New Jersey Devils acquire Jacob Markstrom, Matthew Coronato, 1st Round pick '24 (from VAN) from the Calgary Flames for Alexander Holtz, Jonas Siegenthaler, Akira Schmiid, 1st round pick '24.
This trade works out great for both teams, New Jersey gets their number 1 goalie in Jacob Markstrom, which gives them a goalie tandem with Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen, a vast improvement from last season and a young goal-scoring winger, Matthew Coronato, who has been lighting it up in the AHL, but couldn't crack the lineup with Calgary. For Calgary, they get Alexander Holtz, a top 10 pick in 2020, but has fallen out of favor with the Devils, Jonas Siegenthaler, who struggled with injuries and is going to be paid 3.4 million per season for the next 4 years, and Akira Schmiid, a solid goalie to tandem to have in the pipeline after Dan Vladar's contract is up. The two teams will exchange 1st round picks, meaning Calgary will get the 10th overall pick, and New Jersey gets Calgary's first-round pick they got from Vancouver, the 28th overall pick.
A Three team trade is made between the New Jersey Devils, Florida Panthers, Utah
New Jersey Devils get Sam Bennett, Michael Kesselring, Michael Carcarone
Florida Panthers get John Marino, Jack McBain
Utah get Ondrej Palat, Nolan Foote, Eetu Luostarainen, 2nd round pick '26 (from NJ)
This Move makes a ton of sense for all teams involved, New Jersey needs a third-line center because they like to play Erik Haula on the wing with Jack Hughes, so they sent John Marino to Florida to Sam Bennett. With Bennett, he is a player you can move up and down the lineup and gives the Devils the sandpaper they have been missing. New Jersey also was able to get Michael Kesselring and Michael Carcarone from Utah in exchange for Ondrej Palat, Nolan Foote, and a 2nd round pick; the major thing here was being able to get out of the Ondrej Palat contract. From Florida's perspective, they are in a cap crunch and need cap space to retain key players such as Sam Reinhart, and Anton Lundell. Brandon Montour is going to demand big money on the open market, so a Bennett for Marino trade makes perfect sense, and getting Jack McBain from Utah to replace Bennett makes sense cap-wise.
New Jersey Devils have only have 6 total picks in the 2024 NHL Draft, here are those selections.
2024 NHL Draft
28-Nikita Artamarov (LW/RW)
75-Will Skahan (D)
91-Raoul Boilard (C)
139-William McIsaac (D)
153-Jake Fisher (LW)
171-Eric Jamieson (D)
The New Jersey Devils took 3 Defenseman in the 2024 Draft, Will Skahan (6'4), William McIsaac (6'3), and Eric Jamieson (6'3), which adds depth to their prospect pool on defense. Their first round pick was highly skilled,
Russian Winger, Nikita Artamarov, who has the potential to be a steal late in the first round. The other forwards picked are Center Raoul Boilard and Left Winger, Jake Fisher.
Pending UFAs
Tomas Nosek (C)
Chris Tierney (C)
Nick DeSimone (D)
Brendan Smith (D)
Kaapo Kahkonen (G)
The New Jersey Devils don't bring back any of their UFAs.
Re-signed RFAs:
Dawson Mercer (RW)-2yrs/4M per
Michael Kesselring (D)-2yrs/2.5M per
Nico Daws (G)-2 yr deal/0.9M per (two-way)
Michael McLeod and Cal Foote are obviously not going to be brought back, as they have ongoing legal issues they are dealing with.
In free agency, the New Jersey Devils sign Brenden Dillon to a 3-year deal worth 3.75M per season.
2024-25 New Jersey Devils
T.Meier-N.Hischier-J.Bratt
E.Haula-J.Hughes-D.Mercer
M.Carcarone-S.Bennett-M.Coronato
K.MacDermaid-C.Lazar-N.Bastian
B.Dillon-D.Hamilton
L.Hughes-S.Nemec
K.Bahl-M.Kesselring
J.Markstrom
J.Allen
Spares: S.Bowers, M.Willman, G.Clarke
New Jersey Devils have retooled and improved their roster for the upcoming 2024-25 season and could be poised to make a playoff run once again.
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