Devils Armchair GM Part 2: Markström in the Mix

With Jacob Markström officially a New Jersey Devil, how can they build the rest of their roster with just over $16 million in cap space?

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Now that the New Jersey Devils have addressed their biggest need by acquiring Jacob Markström, general manager Tom Fitzgerald can focus on other issues to address. There are quite a few of them, and with just over $16 million in cap space to work with, he'll have to get a bit creative financially.

Using CapFriendly's Armchair GM mode (RIP), let's try and put together a roster Fitzgerald can assemble in the next couple of weeks.

Adding a Bottom-4 Defender

The Devils getting Markström's cap hit reduced to $4.125 million was huge. There's no doubt about that. They seem to want a bit of everything, and it would've been unlikely they could get a bit of everything if they took on his entire $6 million cap hit.

Still, Fitzgerald and the rest of the Devils' front office will have to find ways to get what they want without breaking the bank. As Frank Seravalli said on DFO Live recently, the Devils want a bottom-six forward, top-four and bottom-four defensemen, and a top-six winger. That's a lot to cover with $16.048 million of cap space.

Let's start with the bottom-four defender since Kevin Bahl was part of the package that went to the Calgary Flames for Markström. I've mentioned Brenden Dillon a couple of times in recent posts, and he now seems like an obvious candidate to replace Bahl.

Dillon is a pending unrestricted free agent who projects to sign a two-year deal at a cap hit of $2.895 million, so the Devils should be able to make that work. He's not the defenseman he used to be, but he still handled top-four minutes well with the Winnipeg Jets this season. If the Devils plan to play him on the third pair with Šimon Nemec, that could be a solid bottom pair.

There's the solution to the bottom-four defender, but finding a top-four defender becomes tough unless the Devils plan to move Jonas Siegenthaler or John Marino. Then they could sign someone like Brett Pesce. But I could see the Devils moving Siegenthaler or Marino if they can find a deal they like; Siegenthaler does have a 10-team no-trade clause that kicks in on July 1.

Buchnevich for the Top 6

I wrote about Pavel Buchnevich yesterday, so why not? Here's your upgrade for the Devils' top six. It comes at the cost of a 2026 first, 2025 second, and Alexander Holtz, with the Blues retaining $2 million of his $5.8 million cap hit.