Back in June, I wrote an article predicting ten things Sunny Mehta would do this offseason, his first one as Devils general manager.
At this point, the offseason is basically over. Next week will be the start of September, and while its possible a late move could come in that impacts the Devils roster one way or another, odds are the team that we have now is the team we will see Opening Night against Philadelphia.
So how did I fare with these predictions? Let’s go over them one by one and see.
Prediction #1 – The Devils and Nico Hischier Agree To a Contract Extension
The Devils
did indeed agree to a contract extension with their captain. The deal was officially announced on July 1st, which was the first day he was eligible to sign.
Prediction #2 – The Devils Keep The 12th Overall Pick in the 2026 NHL Draft
While I probably would have preferred trading the pick for a proven Top Six forward, I’m not really sure that trade was out there this offseason. The Devils weren’t on Brady Tkachuk’s list of preferred teams, and Jordan Kyrou was dealt to the Washington Capitals.
The smart move was probably keeping the pick and taking who the Devils think will be the best player, and the Devils certainly kept the pick and took a player in Alexander Command. I can certainly understand the appeal with Command, especially if he can ultimately develop into the Devils version of Anton Lundell. Either way, we start this exercise 2-for-2.
Prediction #3 – The Devils Don’t Trade Dougie Hamilton
Barring something completely unforeseen at this point, I think its safe to call this one. Dougie Hamilton will be on the Devils roster in 2026-27. And for an additional bonus, I think there’s a decent chance he’s on the team next year as well to play out the final season of his seven-year contract. Obviously, there’s a lot of external factors at play and whether or not the Devils feel the urge to redirect Hamilton’s $9M AAV elsewhere on the roster. Regardless, Hamilton will be on the Devils roster on Opening Night in five weeks or so.
Prediction #4 – The Devils Trade Simon Nemec for a Top Six Forward (Or the Assets To Go Get One)
The Devils did trade Simon Nemec, although they did not trade him for a top six forward. Instead, they got back two future first round picks, a second round pick (used on Matias Vanhenen after a draft day trade back), and prospect Etienne Morin.
It remains to be seen what the Devils eventually do with those first round picks, as they certainly could be assets eventually used to get a top six forward. So I don’t think I can take a full point for this one at this time. I’d go partial credit here, so let’s call it 3.5 out of 4. The general premise was that they would trade Nemec and Mehta did indeed make that move….its just that the specifics were slightly off.
Prediction #5 – The Devils Trade Dawson Mercer, likely with Nemec, to Upgrade at Forward
Here’s our first flat out miss. I still think Mercer is eventually traded in an attempt to upgrade his spot on the roster at some point, as he’s entering a contract year and the Devils will need to make a decision on his long-term future in New Jersey at some point. But that hasn’t happened yet.
Prediction #6 – The Devils Will Trade One Of Jonas Siegenthaler or Brenden Dillon
There’s two misses in a row, as Siegenthaler and Dillon are both still on the Devils as of this writing.
I didn’t realize when I wrote this initially that Siegenthaler was slated to get married over the summer. Not that I think that necessarily had anything to do with why he didn’t get traded, but there’s a little bit of awkwardness avoided there with Siegenthaler not having to deal with a trade while preparing for his wedding and honeymoon.
I still don’t buy the sentiment that Sunny is pleased with the D-corps as presently constructed. I wrote in the comments of Tim’s post that I think Sunny would ideally like to move off of a couple defensemen, but no-trade clauses, injuries, and poor play likely prevented him from doing so at this time. The Devils need another puck-moving defenseman, and as we approach training camp, it’s a need that still hasn’t really been addressed and probably won’t be at this point.
Prediction #7 – The Devils Buy Out Maxim Tsyplakov But Hold On to Stefan Noesen
Tsyplakov was part of the aforementioned Simon Nemec trade, so the Devils did find the ideal way to get him off of the roster. But they did not buy him out. The thought process still applies in that Mehta didn’t want to spend $2.25M on this particular player, so I think we can do a half point here.
As for Noesen, he’s still on the Devils roster. He hasn’t been bought out or traded as of this writing. I don’t know if he’ll actually make the Devils roster out of camp as they have a lot of depth forwards and Noesen isn’t a guy that Mehta picked to be on this roster. So for argument’s sake, let’s go 3/4 of a point here. Our running tally is 4.25 out of 7.
Prediction #8 – The Devils Sign LW A.J. Greer
Right church, wrong pew.
I was right in the sense that the Devils would bring in a few players that Mehta had familiarity with in Florida, which he did with the acquisitions of Evan Rodrigues and Jesper Boqvist. But I was wrong in which particular player it would be.
In fairness to me, I didn’t see Greer getting 4-years and $4.25M AAV from Pat Verbeek on July 1. And that’s a contract that was immediately pointed to as being a potential issue for them when the Flyers signed Leo Carlsson to an offer sheet, as it helped leave the Ducks vulnerable to an offer sheet in the first place. But a miss is still a miss at the end of the day, so I’ll own that one.
Predictions #9 and #10 – The Devils Add a Goaltender on July 1st | The Devils Utilize the Second Buyout Window to Buy Out Jacob Markstrom
Let’s start with the latter. I was ultimately correct that the Devils would move on from Jacob Markstrom. What I didn’t expect was that Mehta would be able to find a trade where the Devils got out of the ill-advised Markstrom extension pain-free.
I’m still stunned that not only was Mehta able to move off of Markstrom without retaining salary or attaching draft capital, he was able to get two useful pieces in return in Evan Rodrigues and Jesper Boqvist.
As for the other prediction? The Devils did add David Rittich, albeit on July 2nd. I think that’s close enough to count that one as a full point, so I’ll go a point and a half with these final two.
Final Thoughts
For those keeping score at home, I got 5.75 out of 10 correct. It’s better than 50%. It’s also still a failing grade in high school. But if this were baseball and I were swinging the bat, I’d be a first ballot Hall of Famer. So make of that what you will. I’ll try to do better the next time.
