New Jersey Devils notes: On Hellebuyck and contracts for Meier/Bratt

The Devils were mentioned as a possible destination for Hellebuyck in DailyFaceoff's trade board. Plus, notes on the Devils' star forwards in need of new deals.

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A few New Jersey Devils notes as we await the end of the season and the storm that’ll quickly follow:

Hellebuyck linked to Devils

Frank Seravalli released his first trade board of the summer on Friday, taking a closer look at 25 players who could be in play in the coming months.

No Devils players were featured on the big board (I’ll get to that shortly). In fact, the only time they were mentioned at all was in reference to star netminder Connor Hellebuyck.

Excerpt from DailyFaceoff.com:

Hellebuyck is coming off a season that rivaled only his 2019-20 campaign that garnered him the Vezina Trophy, and he was voted a finalist again this season for the third time in six years. He’s in his prime, under a manageable cap hit for one more year, and could vault a roster into serious contender contention. Los Angeles, New Jersey, Ottawa, Toronto, Carolina, Pittsburgh and Vegas all have openings based on play or contractual status.

It’s important to note this isn’t necessarily a report of interest, but rather speculation based on the team’s situation in goal.

The Devils do have three NHL goaltenders under team control but by no means are they restricted should they wish to make a move and chase an upgrade.

Vitek Vanecek appeared in 52 regular season games and posted above average numbers. He has two years left at a very manageable $3.4 million.

Akira Schmid showed well over 25+ regular season and playoff games and is dirt cheap.

Then there’s Mackenzie Blackwood. He is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights, although that wouldn’t scare anybody based on the numbers he’s put up the last couple of season.

The point being, the Devils could easily move on from any of those netminders if they wanted or needed to.

Vanecek is an obvious throw in if a Hellebuyck deal were ever to come about. The Jets would need somebody to play goal and, again, he was legitimately solid during the regular season.

Schmid has value as a dirt cheap who has performed well at the NHL level, albeit over a small sample. I don’t see him being traded – at all – but, again, he could be if needed.

Blackwood wouldn’t fetch much of anything at this point. The Devils could surely find a suitor, though, and they could simply not extend him a QO if it came to it.

So, the Devils don’t currently have an “opening” but it wouldn’t be hard to create one.

I’m still in favor of running it back with Vanecek/Schmid and making a move next deadline if necessary.

The possibility of an above average tandem commanding just over $4 million is simply too enticing when a) the Devils have some big names to re-sign now and; b) they need to keep the books as clean as possible for when Dawson Mercer, Luke Hughes, et all need new deals.

Having another big ticket – Hellebuyck would probably command $7-8M per long-term – would be tough to fit in. Goaltending is also a high variance position with little certainty, which means it’s the spot you’re least likely to get bang for your buck.

It’s not hard to come up with a package should GM Tom Fitzgerald really wish to go down this road. Vanecek + Alexander Holtz + something else would certainly get you a seat at the table in trade talks. I’m just not sure it’s a path they should take.

I’m guessing they won’t. However, Fitzgerald saying he’s happy with the team’s goaltending doesn’t guarantee anything. You’re backing yourself into a corner if you go public with ‘it needs to be addressed’ or ‘ Vanecek’s play was just not good enough.’

Fitzgerald was smart to say he’s content, even if a part of him didn’t mean it.

All quiet on the Meier/Bratt front

The good news is all is quiet with Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt. The bad news is all is quiet with Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt.

We know Meier’s negotiation is going to be tricky. His insanely high QO throws a bit of a wrench in things – the Devils aren’t going to want to pay that, even if they keep him on a one-year deal for now – and he’s a 40+ goal scorer looking to sign away a ton of UFA years. Jack Hughes contract be damned; Meier is clearing it be it in New Jersey or elsewhere.

As for Bratt, we all know the drill there. The Devils have had a miserable time getting him signed in each and every negotiation. It’s been messy. And now Bratt’s camp has plenty of ammo after back-to-back 70+ point campaigns with a sparkling underlying profile to boot.

That these negotiations are anything but easy and we haven’t heard talks of breakdowns, the agent/team leaking things and publicly voicing displeasure, or their names come up in rumors – like on Seravalli’s trade board – is good.

The flip side is the Devils have 13 players on expiring contracts. There are a lot of balls to juggle and it’s tough to do so without knowing how much money you have to work with.

Not to mention, the draft is in 3.5 weeks. If – and this is a big if – talks are going disastrously poor with either player, that’s probably the ideal time to make a change.

Negotations need to move rather quickly and we haven’t necessarily heard any whispers of significant progress.

I still expect both to be back in New Jersey when all is said and done – I see five years for Bratt, and max-term for Meier – but Fitzgerald has his work cut out for him here.