Devils Still Have Options Worth Considering in Free Agency
Though the free-agent frenzy has come and gone, there are still a few UFAs the New Jersey Devils should consider to improve their scoring depth.
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The New Jersey Devils made a couple of moves early in free agency, signing Connor Brown to a four-year deal and Evgenii Dadonov to a one-year contract. There's still work to do this offseason, with most of that work likely to come in the trade market, but general manager Tom Fitzgerald shouldn't shut the door on free agency just yet.
While all the top UFAs have signed with new teams, there are a few depth players that the Devils and Fitzgerald should be keeping an eye on, especially the longer they remain unsigned.
Victor Olofsson
Now that Jeff Skinner has signed with the San Jose Sharks, Victor Olofsson is arguably the best remaining UFA. He played in 56 games for the Vegas Golden Knights this past season, totaling 15 goals and 29 points, a 22-goal, 43-point pace over an 82-game season.
We've talked about Olofsson a couple of times this offseason, but let's revisit his 2024-25 and why he looks like a good fit.
Olofsson may not be the best skater, but the Devils already added some pace with Dadonov and Brown, who are both solid skaters. What Olofsson would bring to the Devils is some finishing ability that they lacked during 2024-25.
Olofsson's top shot speed ranked in the 65th percentile this past season, and he has a career shooting percentage of 13.8. The underlying metrics haven't always been there, but that may have been a product of playing for the Buffalo Sabres because his advanced stats with the Golden Knights were excellent:
The Devils need to figure out a Luke Hughes extension and a trade partner to take on Ondřej Palát's contract before making another addition, but Olofsson shouldn't be overly expensive.
Evolving Hockey has Olofsson signing a two-year contract at a cap hit of $2.265 million, but he could very much come cheaper, especially the longer he remains unsigned. It's possible he could eventually be had on a one-year deal for less than $2 million, which would be a no-brainer.
Is he the top-six upgrade most fans have been seeking for Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt? Probably not, but he'd almost certainly be an upgrade over Palát, and that's worth something.
Michael Carcone
Michael Carcone is another player we've talked about here this offseason. I'm not particularly surprised he remains unsigned since he's 5-foot-9, 185 pounds, and there seems to be a shift toward size in the NHL again, but he can play hockey.
Though Carcone's goal production dropped from 21 goals in 2023-24 to seven this past season, it was partly because of bad shooting luck. He came into last season with a career shooting percentage of 16.7 percent, but ended up shooting just 9.3 percent.
Is Carcone a 16.7 percent shooter moving forward? Probably not, but I'd expect some positive regression in his goal-scoring this coming season since most of his underlying metrics were excellent.
Even though Carcone scored only seven goals for the Utah Mammoth last season, he was the team's third-most-efficient five-on-five scorer, averaging 1.84 points per 60 minutes. He also finished with an expected goals share (xG%) just above 52 percent, so he was playing well. He just wasn't getting the results he deserved.
Furthermore, Carcone’s top skating speed ranked in the 93rd percentile last season, while his top shot speed ranked in the 75th percentile. I'm not saying he’s the next Jonathan Marchessault or anything like that, but he might be a sneaky breakout candidate with the right fit.
Evolving Hockey has Carcone signing a one-year deal at $968,100, so the Devils might not even need to clear a contract to sign him. He may be on the smaller side, but he's worth a gamble.
Kevin Labanc
Kevin Labanc probably should have been a Devil last season after tearing it up on a PTO during the preseason, but he ended up signing a contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets because the Devils didn't have the cap space to keep him.
Labanc's stint with the Blue Jackets was turbulent and cut short due to a shoulder injury that required surgery in late February, but his underlying metrics were solid.
Labanc averaged 1.99 points per 60 minutes with the Blue Jackets, ranked eighth among the team's skaters. He also finished with an xG% of 54.55 percent, third on the team to Sean Monahan and Luke Kunin, the latter of whom played just 12 games with the team. Overall, his impacts were excellent, granted it came in a limited sample of 34 games:
Evolving Hockey has Labanc signing a one-year deal at the veteran minimum of $775,000, but I'd be surprised if he signs with a team before the preseason since he's coming off shoulder surgery. He'll likely have to take a PTO again, and it wouldn't shock me if he's someone the Devils bring in on a PTO for the second straight year.
The Devils wanted to sign Labanc last September, so they obviously liked the player. He's originally from Staten Island, and his underlying metrics suggest he still has good hockey left in him. He just needs to stay healthy.
Still Options for the Devils to Improve
Olofsson makes plenty of sense for the Devils because he's a proven 20-goal scorer and a shooting threat that the team did not have last season, but don't sleep on Carcone, either.
Carcone may be on the smaller side, but he's an excellent skater, has an underrated shot, and had terrific underlying numbers that suggest he's due for a bounce-back in 2025-26. Like Olofsson, he'd improve the Devils' scoring depth, so Fitzgerald should be keeping an eye on them as long as they remain unsigned.
Advanced stats from Natural Stat Trick and NHL EDGE