welcome back all right so as promised I want to talk about the New Jersey Devils today uh again just looking at what teams have done so far and in free agency and just with the off season and and not getting too in depth with it these aren't season previews for sure um once we get into season preview time I I get feedback from the channel where everybody thinks they're going to finish and obviously there's still time in the summer for things to happen and things to change that being said New Jersey looks pretty set and one thing that's going to make big difference for New Jersey is if douge Hamilton's back to full health they really missed Hamilton on the blue line so when we talk about how disappointing a season it was for New Jersey one thing to keep in mind is they were a bit of a surprise the year before when they were as good as they were that step back I mean we could have seen something of a step back but when they lost Hamilton that just made it that much worse now they currently have a cap space of almost $5 million so they have enough room that if they decide they want to bring somebody else in they can and we'll see whether or not they're actually done or not but there have been some notable exits already uh Holtz being traded was a bit of a surprise to me I thought they'd give him another year but maybe he will uh hit the ground running in Vegas uh Marino uh they had to change out the defense so Marino's gone uh Smith is gone uh ball is another one that's gone off the Blue Line uh up front they they tra they lose a couple depth guys in noek and tyy uh in goal both Schmid and kakenan who was brought in for van a check at the deadline those goenda uh but there's definitely some fascinating names that have joined the team especially on the blue line but we'll start with the forward group so team Meer has a contract that's that's pricey right through till 2031 but he did have a good year 69 games 28 goals 24 52 points and in his second full year with New Jersey I would expect him to stay in that 30 goal probably 30 maybe 35 goal range ni oeser who is becoming one of the best two-way forwards in the game 7 point 7.25 million cap hit till 2027 uh I played 71 games 27 goals 40 assists 67 points as long as he stays healthy that's important you'll notice there are a lot of players who missed time for New Jersey this past season sometimes just staying healthy makes all the difference in the world uh for brat that was certainly the case as he set career highs in a year that there were some disappointing numbers from New Jersey players uh brat was not one of those disappointments he has a cap hit of 7.875 million until 2031 uh 82 games 27 goals 56 assists for 83 points so Point per game player and likely to see that again one player that was spotlighted for poor play this past season was Andre poot uh $6 million cap hit till 2027 so that contract still got some time left in it he only had 11 goals in 71 games he did have 20 assists so 31 points overall they're going to be looking for a little more out of pallot and that's one that they they really need to bounce back uh Jack Hughes he had an injury riddled season two he played 62 games had 27 goals 47 assists 74 points good numbers we know Hughes can play better uh he has an $8 million cap hit until 2030 uh Dawson Mercer's a restricted free agent so he'll lead into some of that almost $5 million in cap space the team has uh played 82 games this season 20 goals 13 assists for 33 points so Mercer I I think is capable of getting back into the 40 plus Point range I think he gets back there this coming season uh they add n n of course I believe was in the New Jersey organization before uh he has a $2.75 million contract till 2027 Carolina really turned him into a pretty darn good top nine forward 81 games 14 goals 23 assists 37 points and I thought n was very good for Carolina last season uh Eric Howa seems to have found a home 3.1 won $5 million cap hit for two more seasons 76 games 16 goals 19 assists 35 points and then Tatar uh brought back to the team uh he has a $1.8 million cap hit for this season he had a rough year he did uh 70 games nine goals 15 assists just 24 points in 70 games so tatar's looking to bounce back but that's a pretty good top nine I think they should be able to score again uh keeping everybody healthy is going to be really important we'll see how that goes for him Paul cter added from Vegas I like cter I do uh $775,000 cap hit till 2026 he's a restricted free agent then so league minimum Carter is an absolute steal at league minimum uh his numbers almost the same as Curtis lazzar's next to him in 76 games he had seven goals 18 assists 25 points for Lazar he has a $1 million cap hit for this season and then he's an unrestricted free agent he played 71 games to get to seven goals 18 assist 25 points and then Bastion $11.35 million cap hit for one more year 54 games this past season five goals seven assists 12 points uh they have Wilman if you're looking for depth up front he's on league minimum for another year he played 18 games for them had three goals and an assist this past season mcdermid can play up front he can play on the blue line as well uh $1.15 million cap hit till 2027 because he he is useful on both the blue line and up front and he could drop the gloves uh he played 45 games just two goals one assist three points you don't expect points from mcdermid if he gets you a goal that's a huge bonus uh Beckman played 11 games had two assists he's a restricted free agent Nolan foot uh restricted free agent four games one goal for Nolan foot uh then you get into the blue line and this is really the meat and potatoes of this team now of the changes of what what New Jersey fans are going to hang their hat on is the defense and the goal tending should be much better right defense defense let him down the goal tending let him down some believe it was all on the defense some believe it was all on the goal tending some may think it's a little bit of both uh Sean ther staying healthy would help he only played 57 games due to injury one goal eight assists nine points he has a $3.4 million cap hit until 2028 uh then you've got douge Hamilton $9 million cap hit till 2028 20 games this past season five goals 11 assists 16 points so again douge Hamilton getting hurt played definitely a role in New Jersey fall out a contention for a playoff spot having him back and having those additions on the blue line should absolutely help this team stay in the hunt Luke Hughes in his first year played pretty well 82 games nine goals 38 assists 47 points uh $925,000 cap hit for one more year he's a restricted free agent next Summer Luke Hughes is going to get paid uh and Brett pesy added from Carolina I'm never going to say a bad word about peshi it's it's a shame it didn't work out for him in Carolina but it's New Jersey win here $5.5 million cap hit till 2030 70 games three goals 10 assist 13 points he doesn't provide you with the offense but just look at this now you'd have Luke Hughes with with peshi they didn't have anybody of pes's standing that was playing with Luke Hughes this past season that should free up Luke Hughes a little bit and peshy providing that cover for the offensive offensively minded defenseman who's learning the defensive side of the game uh then you got Dylan added from the Jets $4 million cap hit till 2027 played 77 games eight goals 12 assists 20 points uh solid player on the blue line I like the signing a lot and then You' got ntz so you want to talk about a defense that's got some pretty good star players and potential star players Nemitz is in that category he has a $918,000 cap hit for two more years he played 60 games with the Devils this past season three goals 16 assists 19 points he was overshadowed by Luke Hughes offensively I think he was a little bit ahead of L Hughes defensively uh it's a good situation the Devils find themselves in with adding Dylan and pesi a couple of Veteran defensemen and then you got kovich who they just added from Montreal $766,000 cap hit for one more year played 62 games in Montreal this past season six goals seven assists for 13 points D Simone one more year at league minimum for him he played 34 games two goals five assists seven points and hataka is there too he's a restricted free agent 12 games just the two assists but Haka is going to be a a call up and again that won't affect the cap space because if he's in the miners right uh then you get the goal tending goal tending is your story if you are the New Jersey Devils and suddenly that Log Jam clears up with uh the trading Advantage check and the trading of Schmid now that lock jams cleared as they've acquired markstrom the cap hit for the Devils $4.1 to5 million for two years uh he had a 905 safe percentage last season I I don't think the safe percentage tells you had just just how well he he played the advanced stats tell you markstrom was one of the I would say top 10 goalies in the league this past season I'm not going to say top five but I will say top 10 uh and Jake Allen $ 1.92 five million cap hit for one year uh 800 or 895 895 safe percentage for Jake Allen this past season Allen is a backup to markstrom there's experience there and in the event that markstrom gets hurt Allen can step in and then do can come up as the backup do is a restricted free agent as well uh 894 safe percentage for Nico do and I just feel like the New Jersey Devils are a much better built team right now than they were last summer and into the season uh where yeah last last October that was my pick for the Stanley Cup and then they missed the playoffs but I I think Tom Fitzgerald's done a pretty good job of pivoting uh he makes a change behind the bench as well so we'll see how it all factors in this this upcoming season and how much better New Jersey can get so the question I have for viewers is simple do you think New Jersey is going to be better if not why not and if so by how much uh they should jump back into the playoffs you don't acquire markstrom Dylan and peshy uh and and bring back to Tar thinking well we're not going to be a playoff team no you bring them back thinking this should get us to the playoffs so how dangerous do you think the devils are going to be I'm going to give a spoiler I don't think they're going to be my Stanley Cup pick again again you're welcome Devils fans uh but they could be dangerous and I think this is a team that should bounce right back into the 100 plus Point range and maybe be one of the top three teams in the Metro but let me know your thoughts in the comment section below as always don't forget to hit like And subscribe if you've not done so already thank you guys so much for all your support I will talk to you again soon