The New Jersey Devils took their best swing at signing Johnny Gaudreau and missed when the unrestricted free agent forward chose the Columbus Blue Jackets instead.
But the Devils believe they were still able to check a lot of the boxes they wanted this offseason with the moves they made last week. It started with acquiring goalie Vitek Vanecek forward in a trade of picks in the 2022 NHL Draft with the Washington Capitals on July 8 Erik Haula in a trade with the Boston Bruins for Pavel Zacha on Wednesday.
Then, New Jersey signed veteran unrestricted free agent defenseman Brendan Smith to a two-year, $2.2 million contract ($1.1 million annual average value) Wednesday and forward Ondrej Palata two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Tampa Bay Lightning, to a five-year, $30 million contract ($6 million AAV) Thursday.
“Johnny was going to play for one team. He didn’t choose us,” Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald said Friday. “We tried. We made our effort. We pitched. But Ondrej Palat chose us. He could have gone to a lot of places. He chose us because of the upside. He chose us because of what we could offer him and what he felt. he could help us with. Brendan Smith, he chose us because of what he saw and how he could come in and help us become a harder, tougher team to play against.”
[RELATED: 2022 NHL Free Agent Tracker | 2022-23 NHL Trade Tracker]
Of course, some could be disappointed that Gaudreau, a native of Salem, New Jersey, passed on a chance to play in his home state, signing a seven-year, $68.25 million ($9.75 million AAV) contract with Columbus after deciding to leave Calgary. Flames. But the rebuilding Devils (27-46-9) had plenty of other needs after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fourth straight season and ninth time in 10 seasons.
New Jersey’s young core, featuring forwards Jack Hughes21; Nico Hischier23; Jesper Bratt, 23; and Dawson Mercer 20, needs veterans to show them the way. Signing defenseman Dougie Hamiltonone of the prizes of the 2021 unrestricted free agent market, and acquiring defenseman Ryan Graves In a trade with the Colorado Avalanche last offseason was not enough, particularly with the Devils using seven goalies last season because of a slew of injuries.
But with Mackenzie Blackwood Expected to be healthy after recovering from a nagging heel injury, and Vanecek, a restricted free agent, coming from Washington, Fitzgerald believes New Jersey’s goaltending will be more stable to begin this season, and possibly better than that with Jonathan Bernier potentially returning from hip surgery during the season.
Adding Palat, a veteran of 628 regular-season games and 138 playoff games in his 10 seasons with the Lightning, and Smith, 33, who has played 571 regular-season games and 56 playoff games in 11 NHL seasons for the Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes, will provide more guiding lights for New Jersey’s young players.
Video: Ondrej Palat signs 5-year, $30 million deal with NJD
Haula, a 31-year-old veteran of nine NHL seasons who reached the Stanley Cup Final with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2018, should also help the Devils take the step toward postseason contention Fitzgerald said he thought they’d make it last season.
“You can go back a couple seasons when we talked about having some adults around our kids,” Fitzgerald said. “We feel like we’re doing that as our kids are maturing and understanding the next steps in their careers. It’s just a super exciting time for the New Jersey Devils.”
Palat is eager to embrace this new challenge after being one of the quiet leaders for the Lightning. Although it was emotional to leave Tampa Bay after its three-peat championship bid fell short last season with a six-game loss to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Final, the 31-year-old sees the potential of New Jersey’s youth and what he can contribute to its growth.
“I’m not going to lie. Leaving Tampa after 10 years, I was sad,” Palat said. “But I was kind of preparing myself the whole year that there was going to be a chance I would leave Tampa. It’s a business and now when I sign with New Jersey, I’m not sad anymore. I’m really excited to join the team and get the season going.”
Smith, who played a similar mentorship role with the Rangers during their recent rebuild before signing with the Hurricanes on July 29, 2021, is excited too. The 33-year-old said he believes the young Devils are closer to breaking through than their record last season might suggest.
“I kind of feel like a kid again getting excited to play with these guys,” Smith said. “That’s what I’ve noticed playing with younger guys. They keep me young as well and it’s fun. So if I can help them out in any way, shape or form, I’m excited about that because I think we’re close. . I think we’re very close and if we can get that level of competition up, we can make a little bit of a splash.”
Fitzgerald has more work to do, including re-signing Bratt, a restricted free agent, and possibly adding another depth defenseman. So there’s no point dwelling on missing out on Gaudreau.
“I felt that we were going to be a destination for him, but I’m guessing so were other teams that were in on him,” Fitzgerald said. “We put our best foot forward and he chose to go to Columbus for the reasons he chose. He could’ve gone anywhere, and we wish him all the best.”
On Saturday, the Devils acquired defenseman John Marino in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman Ty Smith and a third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
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