The New Jersey Devils had a relatively busy start to NHL Free Agency, but they haven’t necessarily hit on any big fish. Many appreciate the signing of Connor Brown, even if it was a slight overspend. The Evgenii Dadonov signing appears to be a slam dunk. They likely won’t make another big move until the biggest move comes, and that’s signing Luke Hughes to a long-term extension.
Despite not knowing exactly how much money they have to work with, the Devils were tied to former Winnipeg Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers. The Devils have been loosely tied to Ehlers for a while, but they always felt like they were behind some of the teams that finished at the top of the line for Ehlers, and it came down to dollars and sense.
Ehlers was looking to get paid this offseason, and he got that from the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes paid Ehlers $51 million over seven years.
Carolina was tied to all of the big names this offseason because they were one of the four teams left in the Conference Finals, and they had a ton of money to spend. Many thought they’d have a chance to sign Mitch Marner, but the former Toronto Maple Leafs’ star never made it to market. Others thought they’d be at the top of the list for destinations for Jason Robertson, but that still hasn’t come to fruition.
So, the Hurricanes settled for Ehlers. They will say this was at the top of their list, but we all know this was the best of what’s left.
Meanwhile, the Devils are watching their biggest rivals get better. So, why is this good news?
Nikolaj Ehlers would have been a mistake for the New Jersey Devils
The Devils avoided what would be a terrible contract in the long run. Listen, we’re not saying that Ehlers is a bad player. He’s a good player. However, he’s just a good player. He has never even received a vote for anything besides the Lady Bing Trophy. He’s never had a point-per-game season, and he’s never even scored 30 goals in a season.
This is a good player, but this is not a great player. The Devils want to pay great players $8.5 million per season.
On top of that, Ehlers is 29 years old. This contract is almost exclusively going to happen in his 30s. He’s a fine fit in Carolina, but would his skills if they start to erode still fit next to Jack Hughes or Nico Hischier?
This is a move for now, and the Devils should be making some “for now” moves, but this move would impact all future moves. It’s not like when the Devils lost out on Johnny Gaudreau and signed Ondrej Palat instead. The Devils chose to not overspend at all after losing out on Ehlers. Of course, Ehlers signed late in free agency, so he was the last “big fish” left, but the trade market is expected to move after the holiday.
At the end of the day, the Devils didn’t overspend to the moon on anyone. They still need a top-six forward before the start of the season. There are trades to be made, but this wasn’t the right one at the right time.
