RWJC Posted June 27 Share Posted June 27 Devils Notes: Smith, Necas, Pesce June 27th, 2024 at 9:45am CST • By Josh Cybulski James Nichols of NJ Hockey Now is reportingthat New Jersey Devils defenseman Brendan Smith will likely become a free agent on July 1st. Nichols added that a different source of his told him that if Smith reaches free agency, it will be his choice and not the Devils. Smith was a trade candidate at the NHL trade deadline but ultimately stayed in New Jersey, however, when the season ended, Smith told the media that he hadn’t discussed a contract extension with the Devils. The Devils have been busy as of late and are expected to make some major moves this summer, Smith has acknowledged that there is a pecking order to things, and it seems entirely possible that he is open to re-signing with the team. The 35-year-old has stated to the media that he loves New Jersey, but the most important thing to him is staying in the NHL. In other Devils notes: Frank Seravalli has linked the Devils to Carolina Hurricanes forward Martin Necas saying that New Jersey may have offered their 10th overall picks in this year’s draft in an attempt to acquire the 25-year-old. At this point, it’s almost a foregone conclusion that Carolina is fielding a ton of offers for Necas, while simultaneously trying to sign pending unrestricted free agents such as Jake Guentzel. Necas had a solid, but unspectacular year with the Hurricanes, dressing in 77 games while posting 24 goals and 29 assists. He is a pending restricted free agent and is due a $3.5MM qualifying offer. Rumors continue to fly about the Devils signing free-agent defenseman Brett Pesce. The chatter began when Elliotte Friedman of the 32 Thoughts podcast linked the two sides late last week. Devils’ general manager Tom Fitzgerald told The Jeff Marek Show that he was in the market for defensemen to add to his backend. Pesce is a defense-first rearguard who can play in a variety of roles, he posted a career-high 30 points in the 2022-23 season, but that dropped last year to just three goals and 10 assists in 70 games. https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2024/06/devils-notes-smith-necas-pesce.html#ref=home 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HKSR Posted June 27 Share Posted June 27 Really too bad NJ is playing hardball with Necas. He would be the ideal acquisition IMO. Still young, good size, plenty of upside. I'd include Lekkerimaki in a deal for Necas because let's face it, all we would really want is for Lek to turn into a player of Necas' ability anyways. We just fast forward several years in terms of development time to get a player we need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWJC Posted June 27 Author Share Posted June 27 13 minutes ago, HKSR said: Really too bad NJ is playing hardball with Necas. He would be the ideal acquisition IMO. Still young, good size, plenty of upside. I'd include Lekkerimaki in a deal for Necas because let's face it, all we would really want is for Lek to turn into a player of Necas' ability anyways. We just fast forward several years in terms of development time to get a player we need. $$$ saved in that same time period will be invaluable to this club though in a multitude of ways. Necas might be a nice fit but his price tag won’t be while we hopefully build on success and Lek’s development at a fraction of that expense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coconuts Posted June 27 Share Posted June 27 I think Carolina would opt for the 10OA over Lekkermaki, but that could also mean that it's a move that comes down to draft day. Who's on the board when could influence who Carolina trades him to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HKSR Posted June 27 Share Posted June 27 4 minutes ago, RWJC said: $$$ saved in that same time period will be invaluable to this club though in a multitude of ways. Necas might be a nice fit but his price tag won’t be while we hopefully build on success and Lek’s development at a fraction of that expense. We're spending that cap space anyways though. I guess the hope is Lek comes in as an ELC and performs well right away. I have my reservations about that... not every prospect is gonna make an immediate impact like Petey and Hughes did. Look how long Hoglander has taken... same with Podkolzin. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWJC Posted June 27 Author Share Posted June 27 25 minutes ago, HKSR said: We're spending that cap space anyways though. I guess the hope is Lek comes in as an ELC and performs well right away. I have my reservations about that... not every prospect is gonna make an immediate impact like Petey and Hughes did. Look how long Hoglander has taken... same with Podkolzin. That’s what I meant…Lek could become a top 6 too given opportunity and playing alongside some high level talent, and at his price point it enables other moves to use the cap space difference. In other words, we may “obtain” a top 6 talent and 1-2 other NHL pieces for roughly the same cost. That’s a solid way to approach depth. Would love to see Necas here especially if we don’t land JG, but given our circumstance some controls and prospect development need to be in place if we do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanOriginal Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanOriginal Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamonds Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 41 minutes ago, VanOriginal said: Ouch, I don't want any part of that if true. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekker Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 44 minutes ago, VanOriginal said: Holy crap, some ridiculous monies going to get thrown out and signed today. That's too much, to long. Love the player but the way he plays will be tough to sustain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucks curse Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 47 minutes ago, VanOriginal said: His handle doesn’t exactly make him sound credible 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 6 minutes ago, Diamonds said: Ouch, I don't want any part of that if true. Jersey gets the drunken sailor award of the day already. They just threw out almost 15 million on two players before free agency has even opened. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HKSR Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 52 minutes ago, VanOriginal said: Holy crap that's a high cap hit for Marchessault... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drakrami Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 Dont know what the Canes are doing. Lose Guentzel. Lose Pesce for nothing. Sign Orlov for no reason. Poor playoff performance the past few years and now they are a worse team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drakrami Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 59 minutes ago, VanOriginal said: Oh man if Marchessault can get a contract like that I cant see why anyone would hold back on Stamko's contract. They are paying 8.5million until Marchessault is 39 years old lol.... The Tanev contract is crazy too. The salary cap increase has gone out of hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWJC Posted July 1 Author Share Posted July 1 Dillon may be signing in NJD now too…? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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