Ranking Which New Devils To Be Most Excited About

The New Jersey Devils added plenty of new players this offseason. Which ones should you be most excited about?

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The New Jersey Devils had quite a busy offseason. They added a few new defensemen and a new goalie and shored up their forward depth with some free-agent signings. Which new Devils should you be most excited about? Let's rank them.

7. Johnathan Kovacevic

Having Johnathan Kovacevic ranked last isn't a knock on him. Rather, it's a testament to the blue line that Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald has built. The Devils acquired Kovacevic in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens, and though his numbers suggest he could be a regular, he'll likely be the team's seventh defenseman.

The good news is that Kovacevic can play. He's a good rush defender, wins one-on-one battles on retrievals, and has an overall positive impact. He also adds size at 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, and will play a physical game. You can do much, much worse than him for a seventh defenseman.  

6. Brenden Dillon

The Devils signed Brenden Dillon to a three-year contract in free agency at a cap hit of $4 million. He played difficult minutes for the Winnipeg Jets over the last three seasons and might be headed for a top-four role with the Devils. However, I'm not sure that will work.

There are some clear signs of decline in Dillon's game. His rush defense has fallen off a cliff, and the lack of puck-moving ability is a concern. The good news is that the Devils have suitable defense partners for him who could help cover up some of those flaws.

Still, I have my concerns about him. The Athletic had Dillon graded as the team's worst contract on defense. We'll see how things play out when the season begins, but a Jonas Siegenthaler bounce-back would go a long way in clearing up any worries about Dillon.

5. Paul Cotter

You may not have loved the Devils trading Akira Schmid and Alexander Holtz for a fourth-liner, but you should still be pretty excited about what Paul Cotter could bring to the table. He's a good skater who might have more to give offensively than he showed this past season with the Vegas Golden Knights.

But even if he doesn't, he'll add other elements to the Devils' bottom six. He's physical, plays with pace, and had solid defensive impacts this past season. It sure seems like the Devils missed what Miles Wood brought to the team's bottom six, and Cotter should make up for some of that. He's also under contract at a cap hit of $775,000 for the next two seasons, so he should provide more value than what his contract pays him.