Joined: Apr. 2017
Posts: 345
Likes: 234
While signing your first rounders is generally always a good signing, I question if it needed to be done *right now*. The chances of him making the NHL out of camp, even on the Devils, are slim to none. While it’s good to at least give him the motivation, I question if developing on a squad with no established solid D core would further his development. It could certainly backfire as we have seen with youngsters brought up/in too early.
The second consideration with the signing is that the Devils have just 4 contract spots remaining. Assuming they wish to leave 1-2 for flexibility in season to make trades, that means they can only sign 2 or at the most 3 other players to NHL contracts. While the domestic and intl UFA market isn’t very deep right now, there could still be useful pieces to add (esp to strengthen the blueline) and there could be trades bringing back extra bodies (2 for 1 sort of deals) if they’re dealing away verterans to bring in youngsters.