Devils discussion (news, notes and speculation) - 2026-27 offseason part III

[TheUnseenHand]

Continue.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Lenni hungry. Lenni want eat.

 

[Devils Trap]

Bit rich on the cap, but if you can get him for like 4.5 - I think hes a perfect 3rd liner who can play up in the lineup



Sheldon LOVED him in TOR. He played every big PK / defensive zone minutes. One of the fastest players in the NHL, elite forechecker and more.

I would be interested if his cap hit was a bit less, but not the worst UFA out there. Think of him as a 2nd Connor Brown, except hes even faster then Brown is. One of the fastest players in hockey.

 

[NjDevsRR]

 

[Devs3cups]

WHERE GRITS EXTENSION

 

[Zippy316]

I genuinely wonder what teams are realistic options for Markstrom if Sunny really moves him.

It feels like the most hopeful option would be Markstrom getting his Florida reunion if Bobrovsky is way too expensive for them. Either that or he manages to dump him on a rebuilding team with a young up and coming goalie to tandem with.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

5M a year for Mikheyev would be burning money

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

I genuinely wonder what teams are realistic options for Markstrom if Sunny really moves him.

It feels like the most hopeful option would be Markstrom getting his Florida reunion if Bobrovsky is way too expensive for them. Either that or he manages to dump him on a rebuilding team with a young up and coming goalie to tandem with.

Florida is not trading for him unless there's a sweetener, he's also the complete opposite goalie they should be going for after Bob imploded this year

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

I genuinely wonder what teams are realistic options for Markstrom if Sunny really moves him.

It feels like the most hopeful option would be Markstrom getting his Florida reunion if Bobrovsky is way too expensive for them. Either that or he manages to dump him on a rebuilding team with a young up and coming goalie to tandem with.

Any trade of Markstrom for a bad 1 year goalie is a win (Binnington, Merzilikins, Kuemper) and seems feasible.

 

[thebeernerd]

Silly season time! I can't wait.

 

[NJDevs26]

LOL could have sworn I posted one, guess I got distracted before I did...but yeah at least now we can begin the offseason proper

 

[Killing Joke]

the senators wanna get bigger on defense. Send them Kovy and Dillon (one or the other) and grab up Spence who they don't want to keep.

The Citizen was told the club wants to get bigger and harder to play against on the back end. If that’s the case, then Spence doesn’t fit that moul

 

[JrFischer54]

@TheUnseenHand you mentioned on the previous thread about work ethic and the roster. Team has tons of skill never a doubt. But they have zero heart zero drive zero want to do what’s needed to win hockey games in the regular season let alone in a grueling playoff run. Results speak for themselves this roster is more then a few tweaks away

 

[thebeernerd]

@TheUnseenHand you mentioned on the previous thread about work ethic and the roster. Team has tons of skill never a doubt. But they have zero heart zero drive zero want to do what’s needed to win hockey games in the regular season let alone in a grueling playoff run. Results speak for themselves this roster is more then a few tweaks away

I don’t disagree but then why bother getting our hopes up or paying attention

 

[Billdo]

Bit rich on the cap, but if you can get him for like 4.5 - I think hes a perfect 3rd liner who can play up in the lineup



Sheldon LOVED him in TOR. He played every big PK / defensive zone minutes. One of the fastest players in the NHL, elite forechecker and more.

I would be interested if his cap hit was a bit less, but not the worst UFA out there. Think of him as a 2nd Connor Brown, except hes even faster then Brown is. One of the fastest players in hockey.

If they didn't waste the Palat savings on Bjugstad and Tslapkov or however it's spelled this could work.

 

[Devils Trap]

5M a year for Mikheyev would be burning money

Hes a better Mercer for basically Mercer money. Id rather upgrade on Mercer

Mikheyev is super fast, incredible F1 on the forecheck, constantly plays the toughest competition on every team he is on due to his elite defensive skills. Hes just a younger, faster Connor Brown

Mikheyev put up 18 goals / 18 assists with his most common ice mmates was Jason Dickinson, Ryan Donato and Wyatt Kaiser.

Deal Mercer for a 2nd, get some assets and get this guy as a UFA. Sheldon would be over the moon to get him back

 

[thebeernerd]

I don’t want Mikheyev regardless tbh

 

[Billdo]

I genuinely wonder what teams are realistic options for Markstrom if Sunny really moves him.

It feels like the most hopeful option would be Markstrom getting his Florida reunion if Bobrovsky is way too expensive for them. Either that or he manages to dump him on a rebuilding team with a young up and coming goalie to tandem with.

Well he's got a 20 team no trade list too so that kind of hampers this unless he's willing to waive and I'd be relatively surprised if he would be keen on that.

 

[Forge]

Bit rich on the cap, but if you can get him for like 4.5 - I think hes a perfect 3rd liner who can play up in the lineup



Sheldon LOVED him in TOR. He played every big PK / defensive zone minutes. One of the fastest players in the NHL, elite forechecker and more.

I would be interested if his cap hit was a bit less, but not the worst UFA out there. Think of him as a 2nd Connor Brown, except hes even faster then Brown is. One of the fastest players in hockey.

Until they fix the top six, I'm not even looking at adding guys like him. Just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Add a top six player and get slightly more appropriate slotting

 

[Forge]

Well he's got a 20 team no trade list too so that kind of hampers this unless he's willing to waive and I'd be relatively surprised if he would be keen on that.

There is a little bit of wiggle room to get him to waive given he only has a 5 team no trade the following year and doesn't have a no move to present waiving and assigning to minors (or having a random team claim him).

I just have to wonder if anyone really has any interest given how he has played the last couple of years.

 

[glenwo2]

Oh....the forgettable Finals are over? "Oh I'm so sad".

Now then onto more important things.... NJ Devils things.

 

[None Shall Pass]

I get that the cap is going up but paying $5M a year to a winger on the wrong side of 30 who never scored 40 points in a year seems like a bad move.

 

[Devils Trap]

Another great pickup if we want to improve the blue line:

He has ALOT of Damon Severson in him, he is mistake prone but most of the time hes on the ice he dominates. Similar to 2022, Severson dominated 2nd and 3rd pair duties but couldnt hack it as THE guy on the blue line. One of the top analytic darlings and will instantly improve any blue line he goes to.

RFA this season, needs a new deal but doubt he would ever ask for what Nemec wants.

62% !! Corsi this season with a 63% Fenwick. 61.4% On-ice Expected Goals %. He finished top 25 in total NHL D Game Score this year - good on both sides of the ice.

His downside? Low Quality of Competition. Could be a risk where he flourishes in PP2 and Non top pair time - BUT I think he would excel as a Top 4 D.

Brilliant skater, doesnt ever reach top speed but according to NHL Edge he is in the top 80th% in 20-22 MPH Bursts and Top 87% in 18-20 MPH bursts.

 

[Forge]

the senators wanna get bigger on defense. Send them Kovy and Dillon (one or the other) and grab up Spence who they don't want to keep.





View attachment 1254614

Kovacevic has a full no trade and I know last year he said he had no interest in waiving it to leave. Unsure if that has changed, but I'm going to assume it hasn't

 

[Bcap88]

Another great pickup if we want to improve the blue line:

He has ALOT of Damon Severson in him, he is mistake prone but most of the time hes on the ice he dominates. Similar to 2022, Severson dominated 2nd and 3rd pair duties but couldnt hack it as THE guy on the blue line. One of the top analytic darlings and will instantly improve any blue line he goes to.

RFA this season, needs a new deal but doubt he would ever ask for what Nemec wants.

62% !! Corsi this season with a 63% Fenwick. 61.4% On-ice Expected Goals %. He finished top 25 in total NHL D Game Score this year - good on both sides of the ice.

His downside? Low Quality of Competition. Could be a risk where he flourishes in PP2 and Non top pair time - BUT I think he would excel as a Top 4 D.

Brilliant skater, doesnt ever reach top speed but according to NHL Edge he is in the top 80th% in 20-22 MPH Bursts and Top 87% in 18-20 MPH bursts.

View attachment 1254661

So pretty much the player nemec was supposed to be