Four forwards the New Jersey Devils could pursue in free agency

GM Tom Fitzgerald feels the Devils are too vanilla up front. Let's take a look at a few players who could help change that.

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New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald has laid out his off-season plans very plainly in recent weeks.

He wants to go big-game hunting between the pipes, he wants to add something on defense, and he feels the team is too vanilla up front.

In other words, Fitzgerald feels the Devils have a lot of what they need in skill but are lacking in differing elements at forward.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few pending free-agents Fitzgerald could have an interest in if they make it to the open market.

Attached are the contract projections from AFP Analytics, which were referenced in DailyFaceoff’s top-50 free agent article.

Jake DeBrusk (5 x $6 million AAV)

If the Devils can get a starting goaltender at a reasonable price – perhaps getting the Flames to eat some salary on Jacob Markstrom – they could have the flexibility to spend ‘big’ on one free agent.

DeBrusk would check plenty of boxes in that he’s a capable goal scorer, he’d add more size and sturdiness to the lineup, and he’s young enough (27) that a lengthy contract wouldn’t be a ticking time bomb.

DeBrusk has averaged 26 goals and 49 points per 82 games over the past three seasons. That is not earth-shattering production but it is quite solid.

Plenty of it has come at 5v5 as well. He’s scored 49 goals at 5v5 in that span, which ties him with notables like Brandon Hagel and Nikolaj Ehlers for 49th in the NHL. Put another way, ~1.5 players per team have scored more 5v5 goals than DeBrusk over the past three years.

He’s found the back of the net more times in that game state than Bo Horvat, Kevin Fiala, John Tavares, Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Larkin, and Andrei Svechnikov, to name but a few. He’s a productive player!

It also stands to reason he could have a little more to give playing regularly with some combination of playmakers like Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt.

Now, DeBrusk is not a throwback in that he’ll score 25 goals and beat the wheels off anybody who gets in his way. He’s not a physical force or an uber-aggressive player.

He uses his frame to help win puck battles and get to good spots on the ice much more so than laying big hits or dropping the mitts (think Ondrej Palar).

It’s not like he’s allergic to contact, though. He ranks 142nd among 369 eligible forwards (1,500+ minutes) in hits the past three years.

He’s also drawn 12 more penalties than he’s taken, so he throws his body around a little while also playing with discipline.

If the Devils were to land DeBrusk, they could ice a top-6 something like this:

Meier - Hischier - Bratt
DeBrusk - Hughes - Mercer

Tyler Bertuzzi (5 x $6 million AAV)