Isnt this a playoff team

Created by: MelonVK

Team: 2021-22 New Jersey Devils

Initial Creation Date: May 13, 2021

Published: May 13, 2021

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Legend

Left Handed

Original Team

Waivers Exempt

Right Handed

Position

Trade Clause

Max Perf. Bonus

Expiry Status

Term Remaining

McDavid, Connor

$12,500,000 ( Performance Bonus

$250,000)

NMC

UFA - 5

Description

Now - first off, I'm not a Devils fan, okay? I don't care a particular lot about this franchise, but I just came across this roster and realize this years free agency could turn them into a whole different team.

Hamilton is an obvious star player and elite level defenceman - teams should line up to get him. What's really cool though is New Jersey is a young team on the rise, with plenty of cap to spend.

There are a lot of interesting prospects on the wing. Personally, I think Zacha and Wood have proven themselves enough as mediocre players, and NJ could cash in a few mid round picks on them and let the younger kids run the show.

I think replacing them with Coleman and Tatar, who are both sneaky elite wingers, could turn this teams trajectory from a lottery one to that of a playoff slam dunk and potential contender. Even if you can't get either, there's plenty of good wingers in this years FA class; Landeskog, Hall (well, maybe not for NJ, but he'll probably leave someone else on the table for them), same with Palmiery, Saad who's a beast, Jaden Schwartz, RNH and others.

Jack Hughes had a sneaky breakout season, which would've been a clear one were it not for some poor shooting luck from him and his teammates. Why not make the most out of his last cheap year?

I'd have this team competing for a playoff spot this year already, and with aging Washington and Pittsburgh sides (Boston too if we're using this years division constellation) there's some room for a young team on the rise to snatch a playoff spot.

Now, again, all of this is probably not happening, but let's play with the thought.

Do you agree? Let's have a chat about it!

Free Agent Signings

RFA	YEARS	CAP HIT
Kuokkanen, Janne	3	$2,550,000
Merkley, Nick	2	$1,500,000
McLeod, Michael	2	$1,000,000
Sharangovich, Yegor	3	$2,250,000
Bastian, Nathan	2	$1,200,000

UFA	YEARS	CAP HIT
Hamilton, Dougie	7	$8,750,000
Coleman, Blake	5	$5,000,000
Tatar, Tomas	4	$5,500,000
Reilly, Mike	4	$3,500,000
Driedger, Chris	3	$3,500,000

Trades

NJD

2021 3rd round pick (CGY)

CGY

Zacha, Pavel

NJD

2021 2nd round pick (BOS)

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2021
2022
2023

ROSTER

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

EMBED

TEXT-EMBED

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
23	$81,500,000	$74,316,097	$0	$3,522,500	$7,183,903

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Tatar, Tomas $5,500,000$5,500,000 LW, RW UFA - 2	Hughes, Jack $925,000$925,000 ($2,850,000$3M) C UFA - 1	Sharangovich, Yegor $2,250,000$2,250,000 C, LW, RW UFA - 2
Bratt, Jesper $2,750,000$2,750,000 RW, LW UFA - 1	Hischier, Nico $7,250,000$7,250,000 C UFA - 6	Coleman, Blake $5,000,000$5,000,000 RW, LW UFA - 6
Kuokkanen, Janne $2,550,000$2,550,000 LW, C UFA - 2	Merkley, Nick $1,500,000$1,500,000 RW, C UFA - 1	Johnsson, Andreas $3,400,000$3,400,000 LW, RW UFA - 2
Boqvist, Jesper $925,000$925,000 C, LW RFA - 1	McLeod, Michael $1,000,000$1,000,000 C RFA - 2
Maltsev, Mikhail $809,167$809,167 ($82,500$82K) C, LW UFA - 1	Zetterlund, Fabian $809,167$809,167 ($82,500$82K) RW RFA - 1	Bastian, Nathan $1,200,000$1,200,000 RW UFA - 2

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Reilly, Mike $3,500,000$3,500,000 LD UFA - 3	Hamilton, Dougie $8,750,000$8,750,000 RD UFA - 7	Driedger, Chris $3,500,000$3,500,000 G UFA - 3
Smith, Ty $863,333$863,333 ($400,000$400K) LD/RD RFA - 2	Severson, Damon $4,166,666$4,166,666 RD UFA - 2	Blackwood, Mackenzie $2,800,000$2,800,000 G UFA - 2
Butcher, Will $2,822,764$2,822,764 LD UFA - 1	Subban, P.K. $9,000,000$9,000,000 RD UFA - 1
Bahl, Kevin $795,000$795,000 ($107,500$108K) LD RFA - 2