Confirmed with Link: Weekesbomb: Palat to NJ for five-year deal

[NjDevsRR]

So do we put Palat in front of the net on the PP? That was Killorn’s job in Tampa but we can’t be a serious team and have Bastian on our top unit.

Dougie up top, Nico in the middle, Jack and Bratt on outside and Palat in front?

Bastian was actually fantastic in that spot so who knows lol.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

I'd be curious what the timing looked like there. That trade was announced and done about an hour before Johnny chose Columbus. Wonder if we just didn't have the option because we were still stuck in Johnny limbo

Chances are Carolina did that knowingly with 2 Metro teams who needed wingers being busy with Gaudreau. Props on them for doing that

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Not at all a fan of this signing

When will teams learn to stop handing out long term contracts to middle 6 talent coming out of their prime?

If I were President of the Devils, Fitzgerald would've been fired the moment he came to me for approval on this deal

New Jersey should be conserving their cap space to go big game hunting, not wasting their ammo on chipmunks and pigeons

This has all the makings of Ladd/Eriksson/Neal 2.0

I stopped reading when I saw middle 6. Anyone calling him that shouldn’t be taken seriously. He’s a solid top 6 forward.

 

[devilsblood]

I would keep Bratt with Nico & Sharangovich with Hughes. Those are the players who work best together. At the end of the day Hughes needs to be paired with the goalscorer in Govy & Nico works best with Bratt who drives a line. I would roll with one of 2 scenarios. I would first try

Palat-Hughes-Sharangovich
Bratt-Nico-Mercer
(Bratt & Mercer had insane chemistry at the beginning of last season)

My second scenario would be
Sharangovich-Hughes-Mercer
Palat-Nico-Bratt

I was thinking, who the heck is Govy? Took me a little bit to figure it out.

 

[Oneiro]

It's a philosophical argument but if you believe that experience, roles and character in the room are completely or minimally irrelevant, there's no convincing you. I have my limits on how much I weigh that stuff and this deal certainly pushes it. It's a low probability bet even if you love the kind of player he is - which we all do, even the ones complaining about it.

That being said...I do like Palat a lot, he fills a clear deficiency and I think the cap implications are a little bit overstated. You're going to get some good value on incoming ELCs / bridge deals during the meat of his contract - and if you don't, we're f***ed anyway.

 

[JimEIV]

There’s a perfectly reasonable and more likely possibility that no matter what team he was on his production would’ve dipped.

Of course! I be more willing to bet than not that neither Tkachuk or Gaudreau match this season production ever again.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Palat Hughes Sharangovich could work.

It worked with Kuokkanen and Palat is 10 times the player he is.

 

[devilsblood]

What does that have to do with showing a team that you want to win? Signimg a superstar elite player like Gaudreau shows you mean buisness. I’m sure eceryone on the Devils is now like daaaaaaaaaamnnnnn we just got Palat ! Look out Rangers and Hurricanes … here we come !!!

Who are the cup winners on either of those teams?

 

[Neutrinos]

I stopped reading when I saw middle 6. Anyone calling him that shouldn’t be taken seriously. He’s a solid top 6 forward.

So were Ladd, Eriksson, and Neal

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Obviously early, but what else can NJ legitimately do for the rest of the offseason? 17M ish left with a quite few RFA's to sign. I might legit just roll the cap space into next year unless a worthwhile trade comes up. Try to see if you can dump Johnsson still.

 

[Devils090]

Bastian was actually fantastic in that spot so who knows lol.

The only thing fantastic about our Powerplay is that Recchi is no longer in charge of it

 

[Hisch13r]

Obviously early, but what else can NJ legitimately do for the rest of the offseason? 17M ish left with a quite few RFA's to sign. I might legit just roll the cap space into next year unless a worthwhile trade comes up. Try to see if you can dump Johnsson still.

Well I’d like to see if they can find any takers for Palat

 

[SKNJD9]

Obviously early, but what else can NJ legitimately do for the rest of the offseason? 17M ish left with a quite few RFA's to sign. I might legit just roll the cap space into next year unless a worthwhile trade comes up. Try to see if you can dump Johnsson still.

sign the RFA's an I think we're done in that regard. Could still see a trade or two.

 

[devilsblood]

So do we put Palat in front of the net on the PP? That was Killorn’s job in Tampa but we can’t be a serious team and have Bastian on our top unit.

Dougie up top, Nico in the middle, Jack and Bratt on outside and Palat in front?

I'm happy with Nemec, and end of the day I'm glad we went RHD, but this is a cold reminder that we didn't Slaf.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

So were Ladd, Eriksson, and Neal

Your point? You called him a middle 6 forward. He clearly isn’t a middle 6 forward. His production is top 6, his analytics are top 6 and he played in the top 6 of one of the best teams in the league and back-to-back Stanley cup champions.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

I stopped reading when I saw middle 6. Anyone calling him that shouldn’t be taken seriously. He’s a solid top 6 forward.

That could apply to that horrific 2016 free agency class. And his age is a huge risk of declining.

 

[Hisch13r]

So were Ladd, Eriksson, and Neal

At best he’s I think he’s a fine 2nd liner that’s had the privilege of being the complementary piece to 3 of the leagues best forwards. Then you take into account he’s 31 and making 6 mil and this is going to go so south so quick

 

[Captain3rdLine]

That could apply to that horrific 2016 free agency class. And his age is a huge risk of declining.

Doesn’t really matter. Yes he could decline as most free agents could. He’s very clearly a top 6 forward right now. People calling him a middle 6 forward to make it sound worse are just being stupid.

 

[Guttersniped]

Would I like 1 year and/or 1m off this deal? Yes I would, because woof. Was he on my UFA wish list? Nope. Do I wish this was Niederreiter if it had to be one of the remaining bigger UFAs. Yep.

But I’m not going to freak out.

In regards to the Summer of 2016 signings. In 2016-17 salary cap was 73m, so the equivalent of this deal from then is 5.3m. And those deals were made worse because the cap froze at 81.5m from 2019-20 to 2021-22.

The big cap jump was predicted for 2026-27 but now some predict that escrow might get paid off fast enough that the jump comes in 2025-26. Those are years 4-5 of this deal.

So the whole league will get cap relief by the end of this deal. And if we have to buy out the last year or pay to dump it, c'est la vie.

As much as I make fun of “intangible” talk, I do believe in leadership, particularly in leadership by example. Having complimentary savy two-way forward who can run with the big dogs while teaching them a ton is a worthwhile thing to me.

As stand out performer on a Cup team he’ll carry real weight in that room, you can’t just get a random piece from Tampa and pretend that‘s the same thing. (No offense to Barclay Goodrow, who got 6 years/3.64m.)

Fitz better start making smart cheaper value signings though because he just blew 6m on an anti-value signing that’s going to only get worse. He also better get his ass in gear and get our RFAs signed to some nice deals.

But I’m not going to cry over this, it’s done. Hopefully Palet ages well and is a nice compliment to our top young guys.

 

[britdevil]

This sucks. An over the hill Palat vs a prime Johnny Hockey.

Fitz lost big time today.

 

[devilsblood]

Hughes doesn't need help defensively!!! Remember when that was a thing around here.

Dudes get lost in their numbers sometimes.

An overpay no doubt but I like this deal.

 

[McDuffz88]

Obviously early, but what else can NJ legitimately do for the rest of the offseason? 17M ish left with a quite few RFA's to sign. I might legit just roll the cap space into next year unless a worthwhile trade comes up. Try to see if you can dump Johnsson still.

I'm sure if push really came to shove and we needed to get extra cap space because a player became available in a trade we would find a way to dump Johnsson or find a taker for Tatar even if we retain a small part of his contract. But that's only if a big player becomes available to us which I doubt at this point of the game.

 

[blink]

How does signing an average 31 year old 50 point player ( if we are lucky ) showing we want to win now?

Because it's more than just points with Palat?
Because he actually shows up in the playoffs?
Because he has actually won something in his career?

Seriously don't think some of you have watched this guy play enough

 

[BananaGenetics]

So being a “veteran presence” on a team that likely misses the playoffs for at least one of those three years is worth having the inevitable cap dump?

Every FA contract is an inevitable cap dump nowadays. Its just the cost of staying cap compliant in a league that has more movement with bad contracts than ever

I dont like the deal just like you. But losing a future 2nd when Jack is 25 and in his real prime doesnt bother me. Sure its not good asset management and its not a good deal, but its the price of getting someone to help insulate the kids in a market that went quick.

If a Tkachuk trade pops up next year and we wanna do it, then yeah this deal stings more. But after that you're looking at a team without Tatar/Johnsson/Graves and possibly Severson. Thats 11.07million + Severson's 4.166. Added onto our 17mil as of todsy before our RFAs. Luke, Nemec, and Holtz are ELCs who wont expire until 2025. Besides Bratt at under 8, were not signing anyone to any bigger deals than maybe 4mil to Mercer or add 2mil to Damon's contract.

Id give the deal a 4/10. Below average but I appreciate the idea and the player. Will cost assets to move down the road but thats the cost of helping push the team forward now in a market that dried up while we had wild hopes of Gaudreau.

 

[OmNomNom]

You shouldn't be spending riskier elsewhere when you already have bargains, that's how you end up like the Edmonton Oilers with 2 superstars alternating in mediocrity with random playoff runs and missing the playoffs. Again I like Palat as a player, this contract is just utterly disgusting. I still think a team eventually eats the contract if we are competing. It's just tough to assume that.

we shouldn't yeah, but we did

but we do have that luxury to think about it like the above - we just can't keep doing that