On the Lammikko signing and looming free agency for Allen

The Devils hope to have found a competent depth forward in Juho Lammikko. Plus, Jake Allen seems destined to hit the market.

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Let’s dive into some New Jersey Devils news and notes as we await the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final and the official beginning of the off-season:

Devils sign Lammikko

The Devils need to change the mix in their bottom-6 and they took a step towards (possibly) doing so in signing Juho Lammikko.

Lammikko put pen to paper on a one-year, one-way contract worth $800,000. That means he will be paid the same salary regardless of whether he’s in the NHL or the AHL.

Lammikko spent the past three seasons with Zurich of the Swiss League, where he won two titles.

He was quite productive there but it’s best to proceed with extreme caution when it comes to expectations for his offensive game.

We’ve seen this story before from him. He played 40 games with the Florida Panthers as a rookie and didn’t score a goal.

He went overseas and lit it up before returning for parts of two seasons, where he produced just 20 points over 119 games split between the Panthers and Vancouver Canucks. Lammikko left for Zurich following that underwhelming run of play.

He’s a north-south player who, at his best, can forecheck effectively and handle himself defensively against bottom-tier players. There isn’t much offense to speak of.

Put another way, he’s closer to a Justin Dowling or a Curtis Lazar than a needle mover who will help the Devils get a more offensive juice from their 4th line.

I don’t think he’s a lock to make the team by any means. This is just a flier on a guy represented by someone the team clearly has a great relationship with.

Why do I bring up the agent? Allain Roy just so happens to represent *checks notes* Nico Hischier, Jonas Siegenthaler, Erik Haula, Brenden Dillon, Jake Allen, Justin Dowling, and Dennis Cholowski, not to mention former Devils like Evan Cormier and Ryan Graves.

The Devils roster a lot of his notable clients and have consistently thrown darts on his lesser players.

If history is any indication, we shouldn’t be surprised when the Devils are the team to take a flier on Lukas Reichel.

Allen feels like a goner