Devils' Marino & Holtz Trades Set Up for Busy Free Agency

The New Jersey Devils had a busy Day 2 of the NHL Draft, making multiple trades to set themselves to be active in free agency

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Well, Day 2 of the NHL Draft provided plenty of fireworks, and a lot of it involved the New Jersey Devils. They got their day started by trading John Marino to the Utah Hockey Club in exchange for two draft picks, one of which they used to draft goaltender Mikhail Yegorov in the second round.

That was just the first move that general manager Tom Fitzgerald made, though. Later in the day, he sent Akira Schmid and Alexander Holtz to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Paul Cotter and a 2025 third-round pick. Let's review each trade and how they set the table for the Devils to be quite active in free agency tomorrow.

Clearing Marino's Cap Hit for Pesce

Given the Brett Pesce rumors that have surrounded the Devils over the last week or so, it's not a surprise that they moved Marino yesterday. Evolving Hockey has Pesce signing a six-year deal at a cap hit of around $5.5 million, so the Devils had no choice but to move Marino if that's the case.

I was hoping the Devils would complete a hockey trade and acquire a top-six winger for Marino instead of using free agency to do so since most free-agent signings are overpayments. But I understand why they went for a package that included a couple of draft picks since they needed the cap space.

One of those picks will come in the 2025 draft, but they used the 2024 second they acquired from Utah to draft Yegorov, who was considered by many as the best goalie in the 2024 draft. His numbers don't look great (.892 save percentage in the USHL), but the Omaha Lancers were one of the worst teams in the USHL.

Per Corey Pronman of The Athletic:

"Yegorov has clear pro potential. He’s nearly 6-foot-5 and moves quite well in the net. I wouldn’t call his side-to-side movements explosive, but he can make tough saves and is nimble for a guy his size. On his best nights, where he’s squaring up pucks, and given the type of stops he can make, he looks like a clear NHL goalie. Too often that doesn’t happen, though. Yegorov can struggle with his reads and decisions, challenging at the wrong time or struggling to pick up where the puck is going."

Yegorov may be a project, but any goalie is when they get drafted. The Devils' goalie situation is set in the NHL with Jacob Markström and Jake Allen, as well as the AHL with Nico Daws and Isaac Poulter, so Yegorov has plenty of time to develop. He will play for Jay Pandolfo at Boston University in 2025-26.

While moving Marino for some NHL talent would have helped, I get why Fitzgerald made the trade he did since it seems all but certain that Pesce will be signing with the Devils when free agency begins tomorrow; Elliotte Friedman confirmed as much on 32 Thoughts yesterday. Because it already looks like there's a replacement for Marino, they did fine enough here.

Holtz & Schmid to Vegas for Cotter

It sure seemed like Alexander Holtz's days with the Devils were numbered when Fitzgerald openly said he stunk this season during this end-of-season press conference. So it's not a surprise that they moved him yesterday.

First, Cotter is a pretty good player for what he is. He finished with 25 points in 76 games this season and totaled 13 goals in 55 games in 2022-23. He has good size at 6-foot-2, 212 pounds and is physical, totaling 233 hits this season, but he's also a good skater and will add some speed to the Devils' bottom six.

While Cotter may have some offensive upside, his defensive game looks more like his strength, as he made some strides defensively this past season:

Cotter seems like a fine enough fourth-line winger, and he's under contract at a cap hit of $775,000 for the next two seasons. That's not insignificant and gives the Devils more cap flexibility heading into free agency tomorrow and having already taken care of a need.

Time will tell if Holtz can become more than a third-line winger. He still has plenty of work to do, but I'm not sure it's a move the Devils will regret in the long run. It seemed like it was time for a change of scenery and that there wasn't a place for him on their roster anymore. We can argue whether he got a fair shake with the Devils' skill players, but he didn't exactly earn it, either.

As for Schmid, it seemed like a foregone conclusion the Devils would deal him after drafting Yegorov. Between Daws, Poulter, Yegorov, Tyler Brennan and Jakub Málek, the Devils have plenty of goalie prospects in their system. Schmid was an RFA this offseason, and the Devils probably didn't want to pay him No. 3 goalie money, which could've come in at a cap hit slightly above seven figures.

If there's a move the Devils could regret from today, it's trading Schmid. Goalies are voodoo, but he was the team's best goalie in 2022-23. Even this season, he wasn't terrible in the NHL, only giving up three goals above expected. And that's partly because former coach Lindy Ruff started him in the second half of a back-to-back after he faced nearly 50 shots the night before.

Hopefully, trading Schmid doesn't come back to bite the Devils. Only time will tell.

Devils Set up To Be Busy in Free Agency

If there's a positive takeaway from yesterday's moves, it's that Fitzgerald gave the Devils a lot more cap flexibility heading into free agency. They'll enter tomorrow with just over $19.7 million in cap space after entering Day 2 of the draft with around $14-15 million in cap space.

A decent portion of that money will most likely go to Pesce, but we know the Devils will likely be looking for a bottom-four defender and a top-six winger, and don't rule out another bottom-six forward if they still have money left over. I'll have a free-agency primer for paid subscribers early tomorrow, but expect the Devils to be busy with nearly $20 mil in cap space to spend.

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