Re-Signing Priorities for the New Jersey Devils Front Office This Year

When things go poorly, a natural response is to think of everything that needs to change. The New Jersey Devils are now not at all likely to make the playoffs this season: it would take a near-miraculous winning streak after the Olympic break to vault them back into the mix, especially after losing the four-point swing to the New York Islanders on Thursday. For us watching, it is pretty easy to start thinking up who needs to go from this team, whether it’s on the ice, behind the bench, or in the front office.

But the New Jersey Devils have to keep a certain core of players, as well as some supporting pieces, even through a reset or retooling venture. Whoever the Devils’ GM is in May, June, or July, they need to ask themselves: what should the New Jersey Devils look like?

Answering that question means starting with the core: Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier, and Luke Hughes. Depending on how the sitting GM feels about Dougie Hamilton, the other $9 million man might be in that mix, too. Those seven players have the longest, most lucrative, and most iron-clad contracts. Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt both have full no-move clauses. Dougie has a no-move clause with trade protection against the majority of the league. Nico Hischier and the Hughes brothers are the biggest three actually drawing fans to the team, though.

Between those six, the Devils have $49.93 million tied up in the salary cap, per PuckPedia. While the current salary cap is $95.50 million, meaning they make up over 50% of the space combined, next year’s cap will be $104 million. The Devils, however, do not shed a ton of salary this offseason. Currently, they have a total cap hit of $90.88 million on the books for next season, giving them just around $13 million to deal with six roster spots. Let’s start with the player who needs a new contract — and deserves one — soonest.

Arseny Gritsyuk — An Offer Should Be Made Today, if Not Yesterday

As a 24-year old, Arseny Gritsyuk’s entry-level contract is only good for this season. After this, Gritsyuk goes immediately to the arbitration stage of restricted free agency, where he will be for two offseasons. This means the Devils really have two choices with Gritsyuk. They can give him one-year deal to save some space against the cap, followed by a longer-term extension in the 2027 offseason. Or, they can just get it out of the way now and give him somewhere between six and eight years, as this is the last offseason an eight-year contract can be given out.

With Arseny Gritsyuk, I lean towards a longer extension. I think that with 23 points in 53 games, Gritsyuk’s long extension would not actually be that expensive, even though I think Gritsyuk has been unlucky this season and that he will have much more productive in the future. His shot has good rise and zip, but he’s only hitting the back of the net 7.6% of the time. He has good forechecking instincts, he transitions the puck well, and he does not really make mistakes with the puck. The biggest problem, to me, is that he only plays a bit over 15 minutes a game. Per All Three Zones’ tracking data, Arseny Gritsyuk is good at pretty much a bit of everything, generating a lot of offense with a great forechecking instinct while playing very well in the defensive zone.

He will be 25 next month, so a long-term deal would take Gritsyuk to his early 30s. These should be his prime scoring years, so I think it makes a lot of sense for the team. He brings a skilled game with a ton of shots, and he is more than capable of handling the physical game of the NHL.

My take would be to offer Gritsyuk a max-term eight years with an annual average value somewhere between $6 and $8 million, taking him to his age-33 offseason.

Simon Nemec — Sometime Before Summer Would Be Nice

Nemec is second on the restricted free agent list, but he does not have arbitration rights yet. Turning 22 in just over a week, Nemec has 20 points in 43 games this season, which is a career high. However, it has not seemed like the defensive game has come very easy to him yet again this year. In his three-year career, he seemed most solid in 2023-24 under Lindy Ruff and Ryan McGill, when he actually had positive on-ice differentials in a consistently larger role than the one he has played under Keefe since. His contract projections, as a second-overall pick, are a bit higher despite his defensive struggles.

I do not think the Devils can afford to give either contract next season. Maybe if $4.3 million was the annual average value for six seasons, that would be a more acceptable deal with the way he has played for Sheldon Keefe’s team. For a defenseman who is not very big and possibly the slowest on the Devils’ blueline, Nemec drifts out of defensive position far too much. I think there is a long future for Nemec in New Jersey, but he cannot live on draft pedigree forever. He needs to make significant changes to his game to succeed in the NHL. Per HockeyViz below, Nemec has the worst defensive impact of any Devils defender by a wide margin.

Nemec has something very valuable going for him: the team finishes their shots a lot better when he is on the ice. But he does make the game very high-event, so for all of the goals he helps to create, he also helps to give back on the other end. My feeling on Simon Nemec is that he should get a one-year extension. I would not support the team trading Dougie Hamilton to give him top ice time (but I might support trading Dougie in an effort to get a new, younger 1D from outside the organization), but I would be okay with the front office trading one of the other defensemen (aside from Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce) to get Nemec more consistent usage.

Something to remember is that Nemec is still very young. It would be normal for a defenseman his age to be in college or the AHL. Me saying I wouldn’t give Nemec a long-term deal this offseason is not to say he will never earn one with the Devils, but he needs to make strides in his game, both physically and defensively, that may be tough to pull off already in the NHL.

My hope is a one year, $2 million contract. If the Devils can move on from one of their three second or third-pair defensemen, I might be intrigued to see a longer bridge. But with Nemec’s impact on the game, keeping his cap hit down in the near future should be a priority. They will need to build more around him to make him succeed, and money will dry up real quickly if everyone just gets a long-term extension.

Nico Hischier — Top Summer Priority

Whoever the GM of the New Jersey Devils is on July 1, 2026 needs to make certain that he gets a contract extension to Nico Hischier immediately after handling his free agency business on the first day or two of the month. Coming off of a contract where he made $7.25 million, Nico Hischier is certainly due a raise. Over the course of his contract, Nico has 139 goals and 329 points in 375 games, which averages out to 30 goals and 72 points per 82 games played. As the Devils’ center handling the toughest matchups on the team, Hischier could see his scoring rise even higher if one of two things happened:

• Option A: The Devils’ next coach implements a more offense-friendly system
• Option B: The Devils realize they have a defensive third-line center in Cody Glass who can handle tough assignments

Few top players in the league play through as regularly tough assignments as Nico Hischier. When you look at the players in the league who have shot up to over 90 or 100 points per season, their teams have all designed their matchups and usage to be extremely offensive in nature, using third and fourth lines to handle more defensive situations, especially against opposing top lines. The Devils have never done this with Nico Hischier, opting to use him as the defensive matchup center throughout his career. This has certainly opened up easier competition for Jack Hughes to play against, but the Devils could do one better by having both of their offensive centers play in offensive situations. 70-point seasons will become 80 or 90-point seasons, and 90-point seasons can become 110-point seasons.

I care very little about the exact number Hischier ends up at: I just care that it gets done. With the cap ceiling currently projected to rise to $113.5 million in 2027-28, the Devils should have a ton of space to sign him. Currently, the Devils only have $66.38 million tied up for that season. Nemec and Gritsyuk will bring that total up a bit in addition to any outside players they bring in this offseason. But as of now, they have nearly $50 million for about 10 forward roster spots.

Nico Hischier will only be eligible for a seven-year contract due to the change in the CBA that goes into effect in September of this year. He will be 28 when he signs the deal, and he would be 35 when a max-term extension expires. Given the rise in the salary cap over these three seasons, with an expectation that it should keep rising beyond 2027, I think Nico Hischier is worth at least a seven-year, $70 million contract. This would be about the same percentage of the cap (8.88%) at the time of signing as his current deal ($7.25 million was 8.9% in 2020). I would not care much if it got up to $11 million. Nico has only gotten better with age, even if the team has gotten worse around him.

His tenure as Captain has not been marked by a lot of team success, but he is not the GM or the head coach. He cannot sign players, and he cannot design schemes or systems. Despite some…inefficiencies in those areas, Nico has remained a very good player since the highs of the 2022-23 season. Likewise, the Devils’ GM in July should make it clear that he should remain a leader and top player for the Devils for his entire NHL career. Get that deal done this summer.

Cody Glass — Second Summer Priority

Like Nico Hischier, Cody Glass is an unrestricted free agent when his deal expires in July 2027. The former sixth-overall pick has been one of the better trade pickups Tom Fitzgerald has made over the last few years, even if the GM did not realize that when he very nearly did not qualify him in free agency coming into this season. With 13 goals and 19 points in 45 games this season, Glass has played respectably for a guy with the minutes played of a lower-end third-line center (13:40 per game).

The problem? Cody Glass is better than that.

Glass has only played under 22 minutes on the power play and a bit over 13 minutes shorthanded. For a guy shooting 16.5% since he got to New Jersey, it really seems like it might be a GOOD IDEA to put him in a shooting position on the power play. Maybe Jeremy Colliton could realize that before he is hopefully fired at the end of this season. On the other end of things, Cody Glass has the best defensive zone impacts of any Devils forward, per HockeyViz. This leads to HockeyViz estimating Glass’s true ability as that of a low-end first-liner. But with all of that defensive acumen, he does not play shorthanded.

In his entire career, Glass has played a tick under 109 shorthanded minutes (mostly in 2024-25 with Pittsburgh) and has been on the ice for only nine power play goals against. Those are elite shorthanded results. Maybe replacing Luke Glendening with Nick Bjugstad on the penalty kill is not the move to make. Give the minutes to Glass, and the team will do better for it.

Currently making $2.5 million, which was a deal he signed as a restricted free agent, I have no idea what Glass’s market will be in 2027. I look a bit to Pius Suter, who signed a two-year, $4.125 million deal with St. Louis in July after scoring 25 goals and 46 points in his age-28 season. Cody Glass will be turning 28 just a few months before hitting free agency, so they might be in similar boats. I would prefer to have Glass for longer, though.

After Nico Hischier hopefully signs a contract next summer, the Devils should give an offer to Cody Glass. With him not being as much of a scorer as Suter, perhaps he ends up at a similar AAV on a longer deal. I would think that $4 million per season for four would be good for both sides. Glass has true shutdown ability and is, I think, severely underutilized. He can also be that guy who frees Nico Hischier up to hunt for more goals. It just takes a good, flexible coach to make these kinds of matchups happen, and Glass is the perfect age to contribute as a third-line center for two more offensive top six lines.

Dawson Mercer — Third Summer Priority

Unlike Nico Hischier and Cody Glass, Dawson Mercer is still a restricted free agent in 2027. That makes him a lower priority than them, but it would still be tidy work to get that done sooner rather than later. This will be Mercer’s final restricted free agency contract.

Unfortunately for Mercer, he has played himself out of a max-term, high-dollar extension. That may, however, keep him affordable for the New Jersey Devils. It is not like he hasn’t shown flashes. If he could score 27 goals and 56 points with excellent defensive results as a second-year player for a Lindy Ruff team, he should certainly be able to put up at least strong defensive numbers for Sheldon Keefe. Early this season, he had another offensive flash, scoring eight goals and 15 points in the first 14 games, when the Devils went 10-4-0. Since then, Mercer has five goals and 15 points in 43 games, when the team has gone 18-23-2. His ice time has dropped, and he is clearly struggling. What once looked like a season that should have easily resulted in career high scoring for Mercer has turned into another middling year where it is now a question of whether he can reach 40 points.

He still works best as a right wing for Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes, with whom Mercer has his best shot rates, tilting the ice positively both on offense and defense. But Mercer is not signing to be a regular center for the Devils. He is playing there by necessity now, but should not do so after the Olympic Break. Here’s some breakdown of that, from Natural Stat Trick:

• Mercer with Hischier: 329:49, 140-146 shots, 10-12 goals, 50.13 xGF%, 45.04% offensive zone starts
• Mercer with Hughes: 73:00, 33-22 shots, 4-0 goals, 66.18 xGF%, 70.00% offensive zone starts
• Mercer at center: 381:25, 176-174 shots, 13-18 goals, 43.91 xGF%, 58.06% offensive zone starts

Mercer is tougher to project, but I do not think he has really earned a raise. I would be comfortable with something around the $4-5 million range across three to five seasons, which would set him up for another contract down the line while hopefully getting him to make the jump back to higher productivity as a winger. He showed it in 2022-23. He looked poised to do it this season. I just needed to see it for the whole year for me to say that I would want Mercer getting a max-term extension with a raise. As it is, Mercer seems like a fine second-line wing with disappointing scoring rates.

Others

The Devils have a few more unrestricted free agents in the 2027 offseason who become eligible for extensions this July in Stefan Noesen, Maxim Tsyplakov, Nick Bjugstad, and Brenden Dillon. Given their ages, current roles, and current contracts, I would order them as most to least likely to re-sign with the team just like that.

Noesen, currently making $2.75 million and having a difficult season involving multiple surgeries, could certainly bounce back next year and play like a middle-six winger with special teams utility. Noesen, as one of the veterans on the team, is one of the few who also seems like a vocal leader. He will be 33 when he signs his next contract, so it should be another short one. I am usually a fan of players who make a living around the net and below the goal line, but I do not expect the Devils will be in a position where they can move on from someone like Noesen with that skillset within the next year or so. He just needs to stay healthy next season, and my current stance is to evaluate him for an extension offer (or not) around January 2027.

Tsyplakov, as a younger player, could stick around. He will still be in his 20s when he’s due a new contract, and he has shown signs of being productive in the NHL during his career. I am not sure that I really view him as a true fourth liner, but it seems like he has puck skills, especially protecting it against contact to make passing plays work around the walls. Currently making $2.25 million, I think Tsyplakov is playing towards making less money, but he could still turn it around in the next year or so. If he does not turn it around, I do not expect him to stay, even on fourth-line money.

I do not think Nick Bjugstad will be a Devil beyond the 2026-27 season, and that is mostly due to age. I like what he brings to the table, but he will be 35 years old when he gets his next contract. With his scoring rates already declining, Bjugstad is going to need to show some sort of bounceback ability in New Jersey over the next year for me to say that I want him signed into his later 30s. For now, I like him as a fourth-line center, but nothing really more than that. Like Noesen, though, it is hard to move on from players who have ability around the net, and Bjugstad will create chaos on the fourth line if paired with a competent net crasher.

Brenden Dillon started this season great. To date, he has the second-best expected results on the team, only behind Dougie Hamilton. He is capable of being a thunderous physical presence. I do not think he will be a Devil beyond next season, and he may not even make it through to the end of his contract. Let’s look at Dillon’s on-ice stats month-by-month, rating him among defensemen on the team by month.

• October: 155:24 (5th), 11-12 goals (3rd), 53.70 CF% (2nd), 54.21 xGF% (1st), 51.69% offensive zone starts (4th)
• November: 228:37 (4th), 6-12 goals (6th), 50.47 CF% (3rd), 52.44 xGF% (1st), 52.14% offensive zone starts (2nd)
• December: 226:19 (4th), 6-8 goals (4th), 50.12 CF% (6th), 50.22 xGF% (5th), 47.06% offensive zone starts (7th)
• Jan/Feb: 256:55 (4th), 4-13 goals (7th), 50.78 CF% (5th), 48.48 xGF% (5th), 48.92% offensive zone starts (5th)

Like Noesen, Dillon is one of the few vocal presences on the bench for the Devils. I would have a bit of a hard time seeing him go. But the defensive situation is much more stacked on the prospect pipeline side of things than up at forward. The Utica Comets currently have two left-handed defensemen who I think should get the next NHL call-up: Topias Vilen (10 points, +1 in 37 GP) and Ethan Edwards (14 points, -11 in 40 GP). In his three AHL seasons, Vilen has 63 points in 149 games and has not yet registered a minus season. He is just 22 years old, and previously played professionally in Finland. I would actually be interested in seeing him this season, assuming the Devils don’t come out of the break firing off 10 wins in a row.

Beyond those two, Anton Silayev looms. Silayev’s contract in the KHL expires this season, and he will likely sign an entry-level contract with the Devils. The Torpedo have, well, torpedoed his ice time this season because they know that. But the big man is only 19 years old, and he has still been strong on defense while taking only three minor penalties in 48 games this season. I expect Silayev should play a year or two in the AHL, but there is a chance that he shows NHL-ready ability when he signs his ELC. If he does so, it will not make sense to keep Brenden Dillon in 2026-27. Either way, it would only make sense to give Dillon a new contract at 36 years old if he is both willing to take a steep paycut and play in a seventh defenseman role. I do not know how he would feel about that, but I assume there will be at least a handful of teams willing to give Dillon more money to play more consistent minutes.

Your Thoughts

What do you think of the players whose contracts will need to be figured out over the next few months or the next year? How many of these guys do you think will still be Devils in 2027-28? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.