Devils Armchair GM Part 1: Kähkönen Returns

What if the New Jersey Devils have to run it back with Kaapo Kähkönen? Fortunately, they'd have plenty of money to load up the roster

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By all accounts, the New Jersey Devils are making a strong push to trade for Jacob Markström in the coming weeks after nearly acquiring him ahead of the trade deadline. While that seems to be the likely outcome, it's not guaranteed.

On the June 12 episode of The Jeff Marek Show, Elliotte Friedman said he believes that Markström wants to play for a team in a winning situation and that the Calgary Flames have not given up that it could be them. They're prepared to trade Markström, but they won't do it for the sake of doing it.

Also, on the June 12 edition of TSN's Insider Trading, Chris Johnston said that the Devils remain the team the most highly motivated to acquire Markström, but they're only willing to go so far.

I'd still bet Markström gets moved and probably to the Devils. But let's say worse comes to worst, and Markström, Linus Ullmark and Juuse Saros all stay put. Instead, the Devils re-sign Kaapo Kähkönen and run it back with him and Jake Allen.

That's far from an ideal scenario, but there is also a plus. General manager Tom Fitzgerald can put together a pretty deep roster. In a farewell of sorts to CapFriendly, let's use their Armchair GM tool to see what the Devils can do to the skater group if they bring back Kähkönen.

Why Kähkönen and Not Someone Else?

First, why bring back Kähkönen instead of trading for someone like Filip Gustavsson if the big-name goalies are off the table? Though it came in a minuscule sample, Kähkönen was excellent for the Devils last season, posting a .923 save percentage (SV%) in six games.

Overall, Kähkönen has a pretty good resumé for his career. Even behind the San Jose Sharks' woeful defense, he saved above expected for most of the 2023-24 season. Between both teams, he saved 1.4 goals above expected.

Kähkönen did struggle in 2022-23, allowing 24.6 goals above expected. But he was solid in 2021-22, saving 5.2 goals above expected between the Sharks and Minnesota Wild.

Kähkönen's contract projections are more than affordable. Evolving Hockey has him signing for one year and $1.696 million if he stays with the Devils, while AFP Analytics has him signing for two years and a cap hit of $2.028 million.

Gustavsson may have been great a season ago, but he was the opposite this season. He did fare better after the Wild replaced Dean Evason with John Hynes, but there was still a steep dropoff in the overall product. To me, there's not much difference between the two netminders, and Kähkönen is a bit more established than Gustavsson.

Averaging out Kähkönen's contract projections from Evolving Hockey and AFP, we have him re-signing with the Devils for two years and a cap hit of $1.875 million. That would give Fitzgerald plenty of money to make additions.

Now, let's get into the roster.

Get to Work on the Bottom 6

Let's start with the bottom six, which needs the most work. For this exercise, the Devils signed William Carrier, Kiefer Sherwood, and Jordan Martinook. Here are their contract projections via Evolving Hockey:

• Carrier: 2 years, $1.644 million cap hit

• Sherwood: 2 years, $1.687 million cap hit

• Martinook: 3 years, $3.039 million cap hit