Ever since the New Jersey Devils lost out on Barrett Hayton when the Utah Mammoth decided to match their offer sheet on him, fans have wondered where the team is going to go next. Today, I am going to avoid suggesting a big trade, even if there are some third-line centers out there on noncompetitive teams who I would love to see the Devils target. Instead, I have looked through the remaining free agents and tried to find players who fit a certain mold:
- They should have a positive analytical profile
- They should be above average or strong forecheckers
- They shouldn’t break the bank
With that in mind, here’s a handful of moves
that will improve the New Jersey Devils while leaving cap space on the table for midseason acquisitions, whether that be another scoring forward or a bigger-name goaltender than the Devils currently have.
Sign Danton Heinen
In free agency, everyone wants the big splash addition, but good players in the middle or bottom six are often not so flashy. Danton Heinen is a perfect example of this phenomenon.
Over the past three seasons, out of the 261 forwards in the National Hockey League to play 2,300 or more minutes, Danton Heinen ranks 58th in goals for percentage at 55.26 (105-85). He ranks 190th in offensive zone start percentage at 48.39. All the while, he has done this across four teams: Vancouver, Boston, Columbus, and Pittsburgh. I am genuinely confused why Heinen never sticks in one location. To me, he’s everything a team can ask for in a bottom six winger. The team continues to score when he’s on the ice, and the opponent tends to score far less than usual. Per HockeyViz, he has one of the best defensive impacts among highly played forwards in the NHL:
With the Devils’ current bottom six featuring some question marks and the top six having a hole on the wing, Heinen is a glue player that can help keep the Devils running. He’s someone who can take shutdown shifts with Nico Hischier or a bottom six defensive center, and he’s statistically extremely unlikely to hurt the Devils in any way. Heinen is also historically a strong forechecker in addition to his excellent defensive zone impact, making him a perfect fit for the new Devils approach under Sunny Mehta.
Sign Adam Henrique, Trade Nick Bjugstad
I am grouping this together as one move because I view it as a key money out, quality in situation. Throughout his career, I have thoroughly enjoyed watching Nick Bjugstad from afar. His shoot-heavy style down the right side has made him a good bottom six scorer throughout his career. Unfortunately, with age, that has dried up sharply, and he does not have the defensive or netfront acumen to make up for it. In comes Adam Henrique, who has spent the last two seasons toiling away in heavily defensive usage for the Edmonton Oilers. As it turns out, Henrique has been able to handle the defensive responsibilities of those minutes at the expense of his personal goal-scoring. From Evolving-Hockey:
In pairing Adam Henrique with defensive gem Danton Heinen, the Devils would be forging one of the best bottom-six shutdown lines in hockey. In trading Nick Bjugstad, the Devils would also be regaining $1.75 million against their cap ceiling, while Henrique may cost less upfront with the ability to give him performance incentives. You might be wondering: how would the Devils replace Nick Bjugstad’s penalty killing? Well, with Adam Henrique, who has seen the Oilers give up 6.52 power play goals against per 60 minutes over the last three seasons. Nick Bjugstad as a penalty killer, by comparison, is a very new development, and he was one of the worst in the league when used in a full-time role in Arizona in 2023-24. Adding on top of this, Adam Henrique has not had a faceoff percentage under 50 since 2017-18, while Bjugstad has not been over 50% since 2021-22. If you want a fourth-line defensive center, Adam Henrique fits the bill much better than Nick Bjugstad.
Henrique, despite his age, has remained an above-average forechecker per All Three Zones, and he even had decent transition tracking this season. If the Devils signed him, they might even benefit from a bounce back from a bizarrely poor-shooting season despite Henrique still generating chances at an above-average rate. He’s not a second-line winger at this age, but he still has specific skills to offer.
What about higher in the lineup?
Sign Michael Bunting
Yes, yes, Anthony Mantha is available. However, I have come to prefer that the Devils target Michael Bunting on a short-term deal because of three factors: his familiarity with Sheldon Keefe, his ability to play up and down in the lineup, and his far better impact on quality of possession. And if you want a fourth: I am not sure I would want to see the Devils be the team to pay Anthony Mantha after he hit a career high in points at 31 years old before pulling a complete disappearing act in the playoffs against a mediocre team.
I could see Michael Bunting being a fit on either of the top two lines for the New Jersey Devils, even if he’s not going to put up 50 or 60 points. Helping the pace of play from the wing, setting up Jack Hughes or Nico Hischier is more than enough contribution for me from a guy that does not need power play ice time. We’re also not talking about a notable physical presence in Mantha’s case, either, despite his size advantage on Bunting. Mantha is not a forechecker, and he is very poor in the defensive zone. Bunting might not be a defensive zone winger, but he is a very good forechecker who helps keep the puck in the offensive zone. I would be happy to see him help provide some support play in the Devils’ top six.
What the forward lines would look like if these moves were executed:
Gritsyuk-Hischier-Meier
Bunting-Hughes-Bratt
Mercer-Glass-Rodrigues
Heinen-Henrique-Brown
Noesen, Boqvist
To me, having that ability to insert Noesen (who I think can bounce back to a 30+ point bottom six forward, if healthy) or Boqvist into the lineup when players go through rough stretches would outweigh the value of having David Rittich ride the pine as a secondary backup goaltender.
Trade a Left-Handed Defenseman
With the Devils’ trade for Declan Chisholm, their signing of Vladislov Kolyachonok, and the arrival of Anton Silayev, the Devils have six left-handed defensemen who are either assured roster spots or can viably compete for ice time. With a lot of money tied up between Luke Hughes, Jonas Siegenthaler, Brenden Dillon, and Declan Chisholm ($18 million in cap hit, to be exact), they likely have to make a decision. Kolyachonok is waiver eligible, and I do not feel like the Devils signed him without reason. In 87 NHL games, Kolyachonok has tracked as one of the best depth defensemen in the NHL (currently estimated at first-pair quality of play), per HockeyViz, while Chisholm has been perfectly cromulent himself (currently estimated at second-pair quality of play).
Statistically, Jonas Siegenthaler had the “worst” season out of the Devils’ left-handed guys in 2025-26, but he has the “best” season out of them in 2024-25. He also makes the least out of the Devils’ top three lefties at $3.4 million, and he is very close with Nico Hischier. This all makes me feel that, despite his struggles with consistency, he is not the likeliest to move on in a trade. That, I think, would be Brenden Dillon. He is much older, regularly has some of the worst expected numbers and chances given up on the penalty kill (going back multiple years), and makes more money than Siegenthaler does.
Despite being a physical defenseman, Dillon is also worse on zone entry defense than Jonas Siegenthaler is: and this is an area defensive coaching under Brad Shaw and Sheldon Keefe massively failed in 2025-26. Siegenthaler is an outstanding defenseman when allowed to be aggressive against the rush, but the Devils had a very passive neutral zone defense last season. Still, Siegenthaler was better at getting the puck out of the defensive zone and better at making passes in the offensive zone. A more competent team-wide approach in 2026-27 would have Siegenthaler potentially return to legitimate top shutdown level. From All Three Zones:
Yes, I would miss Brenden Dillon’s big hits. But, with the way things have gone over the last couple of years, I have found myself wondering too often how good he could be if he was a little more thoughtful with when to jump up and go for one. When he stayed by the net in October and November, I thought the defense was outstanding. As the season went on, it seemed Dillon was drifting farther and farther from the net, and the quality of possession went with it. The Devils may have been luckier with goaltending as time went on, but the inability to get the puck out of the defensive zone was a serious issue. Per Natural Stat Trick:
- Before December 1, Brenden Dillon: 26 games, 2.6 GF/60, 3.67 GA/60 (41.46 GF%), 2.65 xGF/60, 2.12 xGA/60 (55.57 xGF%)
- After December 1, Brenden Dillon: 56 games, 1.52 GF/60, 2.69 GA/60 (36.07 GF%), 2.46 xGF/60, 2.69 xGA/60 (47.69 xGF%)
And I do appreciate how Dillon is willing to stick his neck out and be a vocal presence on the bench, but, again, I found myself wondering if he was a bit too willing to spill the beans on locker room issues after the season had ended. For a veteran in the league, and one who has a lot of respect, he could have done a better job. Of course, he aired out the locker room just a couple of days after changing agents. I don’t know. This is the team that had this penalty spread when he was knocked out of his 1,000th game by a dirty punch on that very December 1:
- 3:58 2nd: Connor Brown Cross-checking against Zach Werenski served by Paul Cotter
- 3:58 2nd: Connor Brown Slashing against Adam Fantilli
- 3:58 2nd: Jonas Siegenthaler Fighting against Adam Fantilli (game misconduct)
- 9:22 2nd: Stefan Noesen Fighting against Dmitri Voronkov
- 9:34 2nd: Paul Cotter Fighting against Brendan Smith
- 19:42 2nd: Cody Glass Roughing against Sean Monahan (let’s be real, it was a fight)
Were any of these people the guys Dillon was talking about? No, surely not. But it was a locker room that had his back, despite its several apparent problems. All but one (Paul Cotter) of those players are still on this team. I loved Dillon’s pairing with Dougie in 2024-25, I thoroughly enjoyed what he brought to the team, but nearly two months later I still have a sour taste in my mouth from what he’s been willing to say in public.
And maybe Kolyachonok, being under the radar around the league, might be able to be snuck to Utica through waivers this season, making the point of shedding cap space on the blueline moot. But the Devils probably need cap flexibility this season, anyway (especially if they have a flurry of forward moves as suggested above), and a clear area of salary excess is centered around third-pair defense. (And, we cannot discount the possibility of Anton Silayev being ready this season). I would look at this as a money in, money out situation if paired with a pickup like Bunting.
Analytical Value of The Moves
Per HockeyViz’s Synthetic Goals model, this would be the net impact of these moves:
- Signing Danton Heinen: +3.5 sG (high second line quality of play)
- Signing Adam Henrique: +1.3 sG (mid second line quality of play)
- Signing Michael Bunting: +0.4 sG (low second line quality of play)
- Giving Vladislav Kolyachonok a regular role: +4.1 sG (first pairing quality of play)
- Giving Declan Chisholm a regular role: +0.0 sG (mid-second pairing quality of play)
While the players leaving have the following value:
- Brenden Dillon: -2.1 sG (low second pairing quality of play)
- Nick Bjugstad: -7.1 sG (low fourth line quality of play)
In total: Devils gain +18.5 net sG with the above moves. For what it’s worth, the Carolina Hurricanes forward lineup is made up entirely of players performing at a first or second-line quality of play under this model, while the Devils only had five (Hischier, Hughes, Bratt, Glass, Gritsyuk) meet that standard last season. Since sG measures quality of play over standardized amounts of ice time while adjusting for levels of competition and teammates, it generally follows that the best teams tend to accumulate players rated rather highly in what it values, where even third and fourth liners and third pairing defensemen are shown as valuable because they win their minutes.
And to caution on that thread, I do not truly believe that Kolyachonok is a secret first-pairing defenseman, but he and Chisholm can do what a third-pairing defenseman does for a lot cheaper than Brenden Dillon.
Your Thoughts
But what do you think of these ideas? Do you think Michael Bunting would be a good fit for the top six? Do you agree that the bottom six needs more tinkering after losing Hayton? What do you think Sunny should do about the defensive logjam? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.
