Personal takes:
The 2021/2022 roster obviously doesn’t look very strong and is probably a lottery/bubble team again. By then players like Hischier, Hughes, Bratt, Boqvist, Smith and Blackwood are the young core of the franchise, have matured and taken over the team. UFA signings are all short term deals so the cap isn’t damaged by the time all those ELC’s run out and to make sure there are enough roster spots for our prospects to play and develop. With all those 1st round picks the farm system has gotten a ton of true impact talent and should emerge as one of the very best. Sure, if we make it this way we’re probably looking at two more years of losing and fighting for top lottery spots again but imo we’re already so deep in this mess that we now should look to make it the proper way and not damage ourselves for the time when we can’t need it (No big and longterm UFA signings, please!). This ACGM is obviously relying on a lot of our prospects to develop.
19/20 season:
-The NHL goes to a 24-team-playoff, the season for the Devils is finished.
-Decisions made regarding conditional draft picks that affect the Devils: Devils don't get a pick from Carolina (Sami Vatanen) / Devils get a 2021 5th from Buffalo (Wayne Simmonds) / Devils receive a 2021 unconditional 1st instead of a 2020 1st from Vancouver (Blake Coleman via TBL) / Arizona doesn't win the lottery in 2020 so the Devils get their 2020 1st round selection (Taylor Hall).
-ELC slides (now last until 2023 instead): Ty Smith / Kevin Bahl / Nikita Okhotyuk / Nolan Foote
20/21 season:
-NHL and NHLPA agree to a flat cap at 81.5 mil cap for 2 seasons. There won’t be any CBO’s.
-Devils decide to give Tom Fitzgerald the GM job who hires Gerard Gallant as his head coach and Patrik Elias as one of his assistant coaches.
- The Devils don't name a captain for the 20/21 season but name a leadership group of 5 assistant captains (Zajac, Palmieri, Hischier, Severson, Subban).
-2020 Devils draftees: #6 RW Alexander Holtz (NJD) / #10 C Anton Lundell (ARI)
Devils sign both Alexander Holtz and Anton Lundell to a ELC in 2020 but send both back to Europe.
-Prospects who sign their ELC in 2020: Mitch Hoelscher, Xavier Bernard, Matthew Hellickson
-UFA signings in 2020: Brendan Dillon (2 years at 3.75 mil) / Mike Smith (1 year at 1.75 mil) / Luca Sbisa (1 year at 750k)
-Offer sheet in 2020: Jesse Puljujärvi (3 years at 2.1 mil) / Explanation: Sure, this contract is an overpayment for Puljujärvi at this point. 2.1 mil refers to a (2021) 3rd round pick as compensation which is not a lot to give up to gamble on a 22 year old player. 2.1 mil might be enough for EDM to not match, because for them this would be an awful contract for a player that doesn’t want to play for them during a time when they’re trying to contend and they can't trade for at least one year. / Why does this make sense for the Devils? This offer sheet makes sense because the Devils will hire a new GM (or take the interim tag from Fitzgerald as I proposed in this ACGM) who’ll start his new job with enough leverage in case this move backfires. This move does only make sense if the whole organization (Analytics Dep., Pro scouts, etc.) believes they can develop Puljujärvi into a top-6 / middle-6 forward. If that’s not the case -> don’t touch him. The Devils have enough internal options to fill out bottom-6 roles in the future. / What’s the risk of this? As already explained, a 3rd round pick isn’t a whole lot, so that’s one point why this makes sense. From a financial standpoint the Devils have still enough cap space to build a team around this contract if it doesn’t pay out in years 1 and 2. In year 3 the Devils have 15 mil from Subban and Schneider that’ll come off the books so even if Puljujärvi still isn’t worth this money until then, the Devils have enough room to work their way around this.
-Devils sign following players to contract extensions in the 2020 offseason: Jesper Bratt (3 years at 3.25 mil) / Joey Anderson (2 years at 925k) / Mirco Mueller (1 year at 1.4 mil) / Nick Merkley (2 years at 925k) / John Hayden (1 year at 750k) / Brett Seney (1 year at 925k) / Dakota Mermis (2 years at 850k) / Colton White (2 years at 850k) / Josh Jacobs (1 year at 750k) / Ben Street (1 year at 750k) / Zane McIntyre (1 year at 750k)
-Devils sign following player to a contract extension during the 20/21 season: Kyle Palmieri (5 years at 7.5 mil)
-ELC slides (last until 2024 ): Alexander Holtz / Anton Lundell
-Seattle ??? expansion draft: Devils protect 7/3/1
F: Hischier / Palmieri / Bratt / Anderson / Kuokkanen / McLeod / Zacha
D: Dillon / Butcher / Severson
G: Blackwood
Seattle selects Miles Wood (on LTIR therefore)
21/22 season:
-As mentioned above the cap stays flat at 81.5 mil.
-The Devils name Nico Hischier as their new captain. His fulltime assistants will be Zajac and Palmieri.
-2021 Devils draftees: #2 RHD Brandt Clarke (NJD) / #15 LHD Owen Power (VAN) / #24 G Jesper Wallstedt (DAL) / #42 LHD Jimi Suomi (NYI) / #48 G Tristan Lennox (ARI)
-Following Prospects sign their ELC (in brackets where they'll play): Reilly Walsh (NHL) / Graeme Clarke (AHL) / Aarne Talvitie (AHL) / Tyce Thompson (AHL) / Eetu Päkilä (AHL) / Daniil Misyul (AHL) / Brandt Clarke (Juniors) / Akira Schmid (AHL) / Alexander Holtz (Devils send him back to Sweden for his D+2 season) / Anton Lundell (Devils send him back to Finland for his D+2 season) / Owen Power (Juniors)
-Devils sign following players out of UFA in 2021: Andrew Cogliano (1 year at 1.75 mil) / Carl Gunnarsson (1 year at 1.5 mil) / Sam Anas (2 years at 800k) / Ben Street (1 year at 750k) / Matt Tennyson (1 year at 750k)
-Devils sign following players to contract extensions in the 2021 offseason: Janne Kuokkanen (2 years at 1.8 mil) / Gilles Senn (2 years at 925k) / Nathan Bastian (2 years at 800k) / Brett Seney (2 years at 925k) / Jeremy Bracco (1 year at 800k) / Jegor Sharangovich (2 years at 825k) / David Quenneville (1 year at 800k) / Evan Cormier (1 year at 800k)
-Devils Top Prospects at the start of the 21/22 season: #1 Brandt Clarke / #2 Alexander Holtz / #3 Owen Power / #4 Anton Lundell / #5 Jesper Wallstedt / #6 Nolan Foote / #7 Reilly Walsh / #8 Jimi Suomi / #9 Kevin Bahl / #10 Tristan Lennox / #11 Arseni Gritsyuk / #12 Patrick Moynihan / #13 Aarne Talvitie / #14 Nikita Okhotyuk / #15 Nikola Pasic / #16 Graeme Clarke / #17 Tyce Thompson / #18 Daniil Misyul / #19 Akira Schmid / #20 Eetu Pakkila
-Binghamton Devils 21/22 roster:
Seney – Street – Bracco
Maltsev – Anas – Thompson
Talvitie – Sharangovich – Clarke
Päkkilä – Hoelscher – Zetterlund
(Schnarr)
Bahl – Tennyson
Misyul – Quenneville
Mermis – Okhotyuk
(White - Vukojevic)
Hutton
Schmid
Taylor Hall resigns with ARI in 2020, therefore one condition is met and the pick upgrades.
2.
NJD
2021 1st round pick (VAN)
VAN
2020 1st round pick (VAN)
Additional Details:
VAN and NJD are allowed to renegociate the conditional pick that NJD owns. They agree to transfer the pick into a 2021 unconditional first.
3.
NJD
2021 3rd round pick (VAN)
Additional Details:
+ Sven Baertschi
VAN
2020 6th round pick (NJD)
Additional Details:
Devils take the last year of Sven Baertschi's contract. Trade happens after the 19/20 season is finished
4.
NJD
2022 4th round pick (ARI)
Additional Details:
+ Jason Demers
ARI
+ Connor Carrick
Devils trade Connor Carrick to the Arizona Coyotes and take on Jason Demers (salary dump for ARI). Trade happens in the 2020 offseason.
5.
NJD
2020 5th round pick (TOR)
Additional Details:
+ Colton Sceviour
FLA
2022 7th round pick (NJD)
Additional Details:
Devils trade for Colton Sceviour. Trade happens in the 2020 offseason.
This is actually an offer sheet in the 2020 offseason. Devils get Jesse Puljujärvi to sign a 3 year deal with an AAV of 2.1 mil. (explained in the description above).
7.
NJD
2021 6th round pick (CGY)
CGY
+ Colton Sceviour
Devils trade Colton Sceviour to CAL. Trade happens at the 20/21 trade deadline.
8.
NJD
2022 3rd round pick (PIT)
PIT
+ Jason Demers
Devils trade Jason Demers to PIT. Trade happens at the 20/21 trade deadline.
9.
NJD
2021 1st round pick (DAL)
2022 3rd round pick (DAL)
DAL
+ Nikita Gusev
Devils deal Nikita Gusev to DAL. The 2022 3rd is conditional and upgrades to a 2022 1st if DAL resigns him. Trade happens at the 20/21 trade deadline.
10.
NJD
2022 2nd round pick (NSH)
NSH
+ Sven Baertschi
Devils trade Sven Baertschi to NSH. Trade happens at the 20/21 trade deadline.
Palmieri contract is ridiculous, and if he's still our best RW in 3/4 years we are absolutely screwed. Other than that I like the look of the offence for the most part, if we get Clarke AND Power in '21 draft our blue line will be unbelievable going forward.
and if he's still our best RW in 3/4 years we are absolutely screwed.
If Hischier and Hughes are 60 - 70+ point centers and Palmieri still manages to score 30 next to them I'd be absolutely fine with that. But just because I've put him on the first line doesn't necessarily mean that he's our "best" RW.
Quoting: zyyyp
Other than that I like the look of the offence for the most part, if we get Clarke AND Power in '21 draft our blue line will be unbelievable going forward.
As much as I'd love to see the Devils draft 1-2 d-men in 2020 I don't think that Drysdale is still available at 6 and that there's a good fit at #10. Clarke and Power would obviously be near the best case scenario. My basic thought is just to get a LHD and a RHD.
I’d love to get Gusev but two first round picks for a winger is pretty steep
If he continues where he left off I can certainly see 2 firsts being the price, although this would likely be the maximum.
Just think about Blake Coleman who definitely is much less talented (although he still a very very good and useful player) than Gusev and got us 2 firsts (one of them was prospect Nolan Foote who was taken in the first round in 2019). It's possible, and don't forget that one first is conditional.
yes 7.5M aav x 5 years for a 50 point winger who's 34 at the end of that deal is in fact, ridiculous. I wouldn't be comfortable with anything over 6M.
Quoting: sh51_aa
If Hischier and Hughes are 60 - 70+ point centers and Palmieri still manages to score 30 next to them I'd be absolutely fine with that.
Then you've become complacent with mediocrity. We're talking about 4 years from now... that is a long time. if a 33 year old Kyle Palmieri is still in our top 6, we are in trouble.
yes 7.5M aav x 5 years for a 50 point winger who's 34 at the end of that deal is in fact, ridiculous. I wouldn't be comfortable with anything over 6M.
Oh boy.. I have a feeling that you're gonna be pretty pissed of about a new Palmieri (or Gusev) deal. I can tell you that: It won't be for 6 mil.
Maybe it won't be for 7.5 mil either, but as the market stands right now that's definitely more realistic, especially when we manage to keep the term down to 5 years instead of 6-8 like I did in my proposal.
Quoting: zyyyp
Then you've become complacent with mediocrity. We're talking about 4 years from now... that is a long time. if a 33 year old Kyle Palmieri is still in our top 6, we are in trouble.
We need more scoring depht either way.. When we get that while Kyle still scores his 25-30 goals next to Hughes or Hischier - even better. I think you're to much focused on 1st line, 2nd line, etc. We're not in the in the 20. century anymore. And yeah, 4 years from now Kyle might definitely not be the same player he is today - but you can say that about others like Boqvist, Kuokkanen, Bratt, (and Holtz, Puljujärvi, Hischier, Smith, etc. ) as well.
Oh boy.. I have a feeling that you're gonna be pretty pissed of about a new Palmieri (or Gusev) deal. I can tell you that: It won't be for 6 mil
if Palmieri wants more than 6M he can kick rocks, move him at the deadline for some nice future assets. Goose is a different story, far more skilled, younger, I think his game will translate well into his early to mid 30's similar to Kovalchuk. I'm fine with giving him 7M x 6 years.