New Jersey Devils notes: On Bastian, McLeod, and sitting out free agency

The only NHL contracts Tom Fitzgerald handed out over the last few days were to players already on the roster.

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Happy fourth to all my friends, readers, and neighbors south of the border. I hope you’re all greatly enjoying the holiday and some well deserved time off.

I’m here to bring you a few thoughts on the New Jersey Devils’ work through the first few days of free agency:

Bastian contract is tidy business

I think Fitzgerald did really well on the Nathan Bastian contract (what else is new). Bastian finding out the grass isn’t always greener via expansion – not that he wanted a new home – could have helped the cause in forgoing free agency.

That Bastian has strong relationships within the team, and the future is as bright in New Jersey as anywhere, surely helped as well.

But Fitzgerald still deserves a nice hat tip for this deal.

Bastian is a very good 4th line winger. Not a good one. Not an OK one. Not a reaplacement-level one. A very good one.

He has scored 17 goals in 103 games the past two seasons, which equates to 13.5 goals per 82 games. That is very strong production for someone stapled to the 4th unit.

In terms of efficiency, Bastian has averaged 0.80 goals per 60 minutes at 5v5 – more than Ivan Barbashev, Tyler Seguin, Patrick Kane, and Mika Zibanejad, among others.

I’m obviously not suggesting Bastian is that caliber of player or would maintain those outputs over a larger workload. I’m simply pointing out that he has made the most of his minutes offensively.

Bastian also has very strong defensive impacts – his even-strength defense has been worth +2.7 GAR in back-to-back seasons – and he is somebody you can play comfortably on either special teams unit.

On the power play, Bastian is a strong net-front presence who, for one reason or another, has helped the Devils score goals at a higher rate than without him two years running.

He hasn’t spent a ton of time killing penalties in his career but this past season he was one of six forwards the Devils used for more than a minute of PK work per game. Of the six, nobody fared better in terms of suppressing shots, chances, or expected goals – and only Mikey McLeod ranked higher in goal prevention.

And to the obvious. Bastian is a powerful winger who will lay the body whenever he can. Only 33 of 413 eligible forwards recorded more hits per minute last season.

A lot of players who play with Bastian’s edge tend to, well, not be good and struggle elsewhere – like helping control the run of play. That’s not an issue with Bastian, especially apart from Miles Wood.

In short, Bastian gives you the traditional physical presence of a 4th liner while scoring goals at a decent clip, providing strong defensive play, and giving Lindy Ruff another usable body on either special teams unit.

Evolving Hockey had Bastian projected for nearly $1.8 million per season on a two-year term, which I believe would’ve more accurately reflected Bastian’s value than the deal he received ($1.35M x 2).