The New Jersey Devils already answered their biggest question of the offseason, hiring Sheldon Keefe as their head coach. President of hockey operations Tom Fitzgerald, though, is far from done, especially after a disappointing 81-point season.
New Jersey has over $19 million in cap space with which to work, per CapFriendly. Some of that space will almost certainly go to restricted free agent Dawson Mercer, and Fitzgerald also has multiple potential free-agent departures to replace. Still, he’ll have the flexibility to add to a club that won a playoff series in 2023.
Let’s look at five major questions facing the organization heading into the offseason.
The Devils tried to go into 2022-23 with the combination of Vitek Vanecek, playoff hero Akira Schmid and Nico Daws. That went poorly: New Jersey finished with the sixth-worst save percentage in the league, and Fitzgerald dealt away Vanecek at the deadline. Schmid, 24, and Daws, 23, spent time in the AHL during the season. Neither was ready for the responsibility of a full-time NHL starter.
New Jersey took its first steps to address its goaltending shortcomings at the 2024 trade deadline, acquiring Jake Allen from Montreal and Kaapo Kahkonen from San Jose. Kahkonen will likely walk in free agency, but Allen will be back for 2024-25. If all goes to plan for Fitzgerald, he’ll be the Devils’ No. 2: The Devils executive made clear he intends to go “big-game hunting” for a goaltender this summer.
Calgary’s Jacob Markström looks like the potential front-runner to fill the void in New Jersey. When he’s at his best, the 34-year-old is one of the top goalies in the league. He has two years left on his deal with a $6 million cap hit. Fitzgerald reportedly engaged in talks for Markström during the regular season, so it would make sense for those talks to pick up. Though he made clear there is no trade framework complete, The Athletic’s Chris Johnston said on his podcast, “I have to believe the Devils get this done.”
Nashville’s Juuse Saros and Boston’s Linus Ullmark could also make sense as “big-game” targets. Both have one year left on their deals, and Ullmark has a 15-team no-trade list.
The Devils also have to decide how much they’re willing to give up for a goaltender. That brings us to our next question.
Fitzgerald told NHL.com that he’s open to trading the No. 10 pick for something significant. Perhaps that could be the centerpiece of a goalie trade.
If New Jersey keeps the No. 10 pick, it has a chance to find a foundational piece. Recent successful No. 10 picks include Mikko Rantanen (2015) and Evan Bouchard (2018). Of course, it’s easier said than done to hit on a pick. Plenty of teams have swung and missed in recent years with selections in that range.
In a recent mock draft by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler, Corey Pronman and Max Bultman, Pronman picked London’s Sam Dickinson at No. 10.
“I love his role as a matchup defenseman who you can pair with Hughes or Nemec and let them run around making plays,” wrote Pronman, who also mentioned Oshawa’s Beckett Sennecke as someone who could be available in that range.
New Jersey has holes to fill at forward, especially after moving Tyler Toffoli at the trade deadline. Toffoli would make sense on next year’s team — he had 33 goals last season, 26 of which were with New Jersey — but he wanted a longer-term deal than Fitzgerald felt comfortable giving out ahead of the deadline. That makes a reunion seem unlikely.
Targeting a top-six wing to replace Toffoli would make sense for Fitzgerald. Jake Guentzel is the highest-profile free agent wing on the market. He’ll be 30 at the start of next season, so there’s risk in giving him a long-term deal, especially if it’s around $8 million to $9 million annually. Viktor Arvidsson, Jake DeBrusk and Tyler Bertuzzi are among the others who could make sense as top-six options. The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn recently put together a breakdown of the top wings on the market.
New Jersey will have to add depth, too. Tomas Nosek and Chris Tierney are pending unrestricted free agents, and the Devils have a hole left by Michael McLeod, who, along with defenseman Cal Foote, was charged with sexual assault in connection with a 2018 incident in London, Ont. Both players were granted an indefinite leave of absence from the team in January.
Brendan Smith, a pending free agent, finished second on the team in short-handed ice time last season. Colin Miller was dealt to Winnipeg at the deadline but still finished sixth in short-handed ice time.
Simon Nemec, who had an impressive rookie season, could see an increased penalty-killing role, and John Marino, Jonas Siegenthaler and Kevin Bahl will be back. But the front office could consider adding someone to help in short-handed situations.
Mercer’s scoring numbers dipped in 2023-24, but he’s still a promising player. The 22-year-old has already played 246 games, 82 in each of his three NHL seasons, and is fifth in the 2020 draft class in points (131). How much he makes in restricted free agency will eat into the Devils’ cap space. With Mercer coming off a career-worst 33-point season, Evolving-Hockey projects him to get a two-year bridge deal worth $3.8 million annually.
(Photo of Timo Meier taking a shot on Jacob Markström: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
A super PAC allied with Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop has a colossal $9 million cash-on-hand after raising more than $575,000 in the second quarter of 2024.
Coalition for Progress has raised a mammoth $1.825 million so far this year to back up Fulop’s bid for the Democratic nomination for governor next year and in support of Democratic candidates. The super PAC has raised over $11 million since its inception in 2015.
Fulop announced his candidacy in April 2023 and quickly raised enough to qualify for matching funds under the state’s public financing law. He’ll be eligible to receive $5.5 million in public funds, giving him $8.7 million to spend in the primary. The $9 million in the Coalition for Progress account gives him $17.7 million in resources right now, more than ten months before the gubernatorial primary.
“With the Supreme Court and MAGA Republicans continuing their assault on some of our most fundamental rights and the rule of law, organizations like Coalition for Progress that advocate for common sense, forward-thinking leadership have never been more important,” said Drew Nussbaum, the PAC chairman. “We’re grateful to all of our contributors who believe in our mission and look forward to helping elect candidates who will deliver progress for the middle class.”
Raising enough to get 100% of the available matching funds isn’t always an easy task. In 2017, Republican Kim Guadagno, the sitting lieutenant governor, couldn’t hit that mark. Four years later, candidates needed to raise $490,000 to qualify for matching funds; only Murphy and Ciattarelli did so.
The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, which administers the matching funds program, has raised the contribution limit from $4,900 to $5,800; that gives Fulop a chance to go return to donors and seek an additional $900 contribution.
So far, Fulop faces former Senate President Steve Sweeney, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, and former Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller, the president of the New Jersey Education Association, in the Democratic primary. Others could join them, including Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) and Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair), Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, former Deputy U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Jim Johnson, and U.S. Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs Shereef Elnahal, a former state health commissioner.,
On the Republican side, State Sen. Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield), former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R-Somerville), former State Sen. Ed “The Trucker” Durr (R-Logan), and NJ 101.5 radio host Bill Spadea have announced their candidacies for governor. Former Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac is also mulling a bid for the GOP nomination.
Atlantic County Democratic Chairman Michael Suleiman wants Joe Biden to remain in the race and is calling on other New Jersey Democrats to reaffirm their support of the president for a second term.
“The corporate media and political elites want to dump President Biden because they’ll benefit from the chaos. Regular folks I talk to outside of the political bubble are sticking with Joe, and so am I,” Suleiman said. “Democratic primary voters overwhelmingly voted for the Biden-Harris ticket, and the wishes of our rank-and-file members should not be cast away.”
Suleiman was elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention on the Biden slate in the June 4 primary; he is obligated to vote for Biden on the first ballot if the president is nominated.
“Growing up in Atlantic County, I learned that we don’t abandon our own. As a family, we stick together and tough it out,” Suleiman said. “That’s why I’m reaffirming my support for President Biden.”
He wants the Democratic congressional delegation and county chairs to publicly state their support of the president.
“Let’s show the nation that New Jersey Democrats are united behind Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” he said.
July 7 (UPI) — A wildfire burning in a New Jersey state Park is 75-percent contained officials said Sunday. It has scorched more than 4,000 acres since Friday.
Fire officials said the extreme heat and rugged terrain is making full containment a challenge.
“It’s hot. I think it’s roughly 94 degrees,” New Jersey Forest Fire Service Chief Bill Donnelly said Friday. “Humidity’s up so a lot of wear and tear on the firefighters.
“The fire is burning in a very rugged area of the Wharton State Forest. A lot of it is inaccessible to motorized vehicles and our fire equipment,” Tom Gerber, incident commander of the NJFFS said Friday.
The so-called Tea Time Hill Wildfire was started by fireworks on July 4th and detected by the U.S. Forest Service about 9am the next day.
“A fireworks device lighted inside the forest ignited the fire late Thursday, July 4,” the NJFFS said in a Facebook post.
No structures are currently threatened, the Forest Service said. The NJFFS had previously reported that a residence and hunting club were threatened and park police evacuated Batona Campground as a precaution. A few local roads and trails were also closed. No injuries or damaged structures had been reported as of Sunday.
“On average, 1,500 wildfires damage or destroy 7,000 acres of New Jersey’s forests each year,” the NJFFS said.
In 2023, wildfire burned more than 18,000 acres of forest in New Jersey. The NJFFS responded to more major fires than they had in more than 20 years.
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