Devils Made Necessary Upgrades on Day 1 of Free Agency
The New Jersey Devils addressed some clear roster flaws on Day 1 of NHL Free Agency.
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The New Jersey Devils were preparing for a busy first day of free agency. We knew that based on the moves general manager Tom Fitzgerald had made at the draft over the weekend. We also knew that based on previous reports, the Devils were looking for pretty much a bit of everything.
While there might be a bit more work to do in the coming days and weeks, Fitzgerald got pretty much everything he needed done on Day 1 of free agency. Let's look at the moves he made at a surface level and how they helped improve the Devils' roster.
Pesce Contract Gets Finalized
After a week or two of rumors that the Devils would be signing Brett Pesce, the deal was finalized yesterday at the very opening of free agency. Evolving Hockey had Pesce signing for six years and $5.54 million annually, and that's almost exactly what he signed for; his contract is six years at a cap hit of $5.5 million.
It was apparent when the Devils traded John Marino to the Utah Hockey Club this weekend that Pesce was New Jersey-bound. He's long been one of the better top-four defenders in the league, and though his counting totals may not suggest it, he's a solid puck-mover, just like Marino.
One area where the Devils struggled mightily last season was defending the rush. Marino was good at that, but Pesce is one of the best rush defenders in the league. Though he won't throw his body around, he's 6-foot-3, 210 pounds and is difficult to move in front of the net. That's something Marino struggled with last season.
Even though Evolving Hockey's contract projections are usually close to accurate, I thought there was a decent chance the Devils would have to pay Pesce over $6 million annually to sign him. That wasn't the case, and maybe it helps that Pesce is from Tarrytown, New York, just about an hour's drive from New York City in Westchester County.
I would've bet on Marino bouncing back next season under Sheldon Keefe, but Pesce is an upgrade. He played difficult minutes with the Hurricanes and handled them quite well. His cap hit is only $1 million more than Marino's, so I think it was a worthwhile investment by the Devils to swap the two. Their top four should be better with Pesce.
Dillon Solidifies Defensive Depth
Also among the rumored defensemen the Devils were targeting was Brenden Dillon, who signed a three-year deal at a cap hit of $4 million. He finished last season with 20 points in 77 games for the Winnipeg Jets while mostly playing top-four minutes.
Dillon isn't the defenseman he used to be, but he's still effective and had some decent impacts for the Jets this season. He also played nearly 71 percent of his minutes against top or middle-of-the-lineup players, so the fact he handled tough minutes decently should be encouraging:
The good news is that Dillon shouldn't have to play top-four minutes with the Devils, though that will depend on whether Jonas Siegenthaler has a bounce-back season in 2024-25. If so, a third pair of Dillon and Šimon Nemec should give the Devils some solid defensive depth.
While Dillon at $4 million per year is a bit pricey, I'm sure the Devils had plenty of competition for him and probably had to overpay a bit. That should be fine since it's only a three-year contract, and there's no doubt he adds some elements the Devils needed on the back end.
Dillon had over 200 hits last season and will not be afraid to throw his body around at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds. As long as he's paired with a puck-mover like Nemec, he should have success.
Noesen Returns
Stefan Noesen may not have been the reunion that Devils fans wanted, but that doesn't mean it's a disappointment. After being an instrumental part of the Devils' 2017-18 team on a line with Blake Coleman and Travis Zajac, Noesen bounced around in the AHL before finding a home with the Hurricanes.
Noesen reestablished himself as an NHLer with the Hurricanes and showed he could be a quality bottom-six winger. He finished with 13 goals and 36 points in 78 games a season ago and nearly repeated that in 2023-24, finishing with 14 goals and 37 points in 81 games.
Noesen's counting totals for a bottom-six winger are more than respectable, but some of his underlying numbers were outstanding over the last two seasons. He finished with an expected goals share (xG%) of just over 64 percent in 2022-23 and was just over 58 percent this season.
There are probably Hurricanes system things that are inflating his advanced stats a bit, but there's no doubt he's been a very effective player. A look at his RAPM chart from Evolving Hockey shows he's had a very strong two-way impact at even strength over the last two seasons:
Not only has Noesen been a decently efficient five-on-five scorer the last two seasons (1.77 points per 60 minutes), but he also contributed to the Hurricanes' second power-play unit. He's a good net-front presence, something the Devils could use more of in their lineup.
And while Noesen isn't the physical player that Paul Cotter is, he did total 118 hits this season after collecting 99 in 2022-23. He will add more physicality to the Devils' bottom six, so mission accomplished changing up that unit.
Noesen signed a pretty affordable contract as well, coming in at a cap hit of $2.75 million for the next three years. Evolving Hockey had him signing at a cap hit of $3.253 million on a three-year deal, so the Devils may have even found themselves a bit of value in signing him.
Devils Avoided Poisonous Contracts in Free Agency
Free agency usually causes more problems than solutions for teams, but the Devils and Fitzgerald avoided handing out any problematic contracts yesterday. Noesen came in slightly below his projected value, while Pesce signed almost exactly at his projected contract.
Dillon may have been a slight overpay, but it wasn't egregious. It's hard to complain about the work the Devils did in free agency, and they're a better team today than they were at this time 24 hours ago without having given out the contract that teams come to regret in free agency.
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