NJ Devils TRADE Erik Haula & SIGN Juho Lammikko, Whats Next for Tom Fitzgerald to Do With Cap Space?
hey everybody welcome to Hockey Skate Down before we get into the video I just want to say thank you to all my subscribers if you want to join a hockey team it’s free click subscribe hit the notification bell to all thank you all so much and let’s get started so Tom Fitzgerald has been making moves you know today’s trade great trade for Tom Fitzgerald and what he did he was able to trade Eric Haller and pick up a pick and a prospect and get all of his $3.15 million cap hit off the books the Devils gain a bit more cap space to make some moves to enter into this uh to enter into this free agency period so um picking up Lamo earlier in the week this is a Tom Fitzgerald making some moves so I want to talk about that in this video i also want to talk about where the Devils may what the Devils can do with their remaining cap space and how their roster currently looks uh with with what to do uh for this upcoming season so please stay with me throughout so earlier in the week the Devils signed Uo Lamo to a one-year one-way $800,000 contract and then today they were able to trade Eric Haller and all of his contract his $3.15 million contract um to the National Predators for a 2025 fourth round pick and defenseman Jeremy Hanzel so um for me I don’t know too much about Lamo i don’t know too much about Hanzel for me Hanzel I think decisions will come later uh can he be bought out can he play in other leagues i don’t He’s not going to play in the Devils devils have their defense set up so the the the basic thing of this trade was to get Eric Holler’s contract off the books and Tom Fitzgerald did a great trade picking up uh defenseman and also picking up a fourthround pick so great trade by Fitzgerald in this and hopefully he can make some more moves going forward and also picking up Lamo i don’t know too much about him i know he played a little bit in the NHL went to play overseas put up some decent numbers the past couple of seasons and um you know is a fourth line grinder type of guy and he could play center and wing so I have him penciled in right now as our fourth line wing um you know for me it’s I don’t know which way Fitzgerald’s going to go with this roster going into this next season but you know to have a fourth line wing at 800K is not bad um it’s only a year so there’s no commitment to him going forward we’ll see how it works and see how he comes into training camp and see how he battles and competes for roster spots so in this video I want to talk about what the Devils you know have to do they have to make some moves to clear up some more cap space because the extension to Luke Hughes is going to take up a huge chunk of it so you know let’s look at where the Devils are right now um looking at you know um what they can do you know I have the first line in question you know with Jack Hughes and Jper Brat you need another winger for that line so that’s where you need to clear out some more cap space you know this second line I I I have what I’ve liked to see from these guys with Heir Meyer and Nason i like the way that line looked so I have them in this line for now uh third line I have Carter i have uh Mercer there still for now and he’s definitely one of those names that can be traded to uh carries a $4 million cap hit so maybe we see something with Mercer but if you trade him out you have to have a piece that’s better coming in and that’s what uh is going to be a question mark to see what Fitzgerald does then I have our Sydney Gritzuk on that wing for the third line and the fourth line I have Lamo i resigned Cody Glass and I also brought up Halin for me Halen I like what he did last year he put up some really good numbers playing with the Yoduka Comets um you know he’s been one of those players that he’s come up here and there not not played too much in the NHL but he’s put up some good numbers in the AHL where I feel like if you give him a good shot on the fourth line maybe he can prove himself maybe he’d definitely be better than what uh Nathan Bastion uh Dowling and all those players brought last year so maybe it’s time to give Halen a shot to see what he could offer or the Devils can look elsewhere you know there’s a lot of names out there that are potential free agents or players that might be bought out from their teams to create some cap room to make uh signing so there’s going to be a lot of possibilities that happen this summer there’s a lot of cap space out there that’s been increased for each team and uh you know we’ll see what happens with Fitzgerald and what names he wants to bring up there or sign but in this case I just brought up Halin just to play for uh now just to see how it looks on this um you know and then the defense I have Segan Thaylor and Hamilton on that first pairing then the second one I resigned Luke Hughes um you know with Peshi and then you have Dylan and Shimon Nemitz uh Kovase has stated in his uh exit interviews that he was dealing with an injury he had surgery and he’s not going to be ready for the start of training camp so you have him on the IR to start the year or LTI or whatever uh so his $4 million uh contract doesn’t not going to go against the books and then I have Sheamus Casey as the extra in McDermott so um and in net you have Marstrom and Daws and that’s a question mark to me are they going to bring back Allen who says he wants to come back or do you keep Daws and have him be that backup for the Devils going forward and give him the shot to be the backup for Marstrom so you know in this situation um you know bringing up Halin he has a 775K so that’s not a lot looking at capwise uh they brought in Lamo he’s got a a one-year deal for 800K that’s not bad for a fourthline wing uh Gritzia is 925K for this upcoming season uh I signed Luke Hughes to a six-year 8.3 million contract there was this thing going around social media about some analytic things saying that that’s what his projected contract may be uh a six-year deal for 8.3 million uh it’s a bit less than what Brock Faber got and you see the comparables between those two defenseman so kind of falls in line what he’s going to get you know I I think it’s anywhere from 7.5 to 8.5 in that range so um you know we’ll see what happens but I just wanted to just to put something on this uh on this graph of what the the the cap space for the Devils might be for the upcoming season i just put that contract in because it seemed reasonable and then um I signed Cody Glass to a two-year $2 million contract can he get more can he get less but I I figured two is okay he made three I think last year so two isn’t far-fetched to get um and plus he’s been in situations where he’s played in the HL maybe this is his last shot to play for the Devils and he takes less on his next deal so um yeah this is what you’re looking at with the Devils you know with this they have um 4.86 left in cap space um after the signings with Luke Hughes and the signing of Cody Glass and I also bought out Pott uh buying out Pot and I’m only doing buying outs because I don’t know if a lot of teams are going to want to bite on Palot’s contract uh that’s one contract I hope Fitzgerald can get off our books and trade off but it may take a sweetener to for a team to uh pick up a player like Palot who um you know uh of course you want to get him for a playoff push but you know a lot of teams that have the cap space some of them aren’t playoff teams so um you know you might have to give a sweetener to for a team to take him but you know looking at if you buy him out for this upcoming year it saves 3.53 million the following year it saves 2.53 million and the year after that it saves 1.48 million off the cap so um you know that’s that’s a decision that Fitzgerald needs to make um but I think we’re going to see something happen leading up to um free agency uh you’re going to see a lot of teams making these moves to see what happens but you know looking at this roster you know with just ressigning Hughes with um resigning Glass and bringing up Gritzuk and Halinin and Lamo and you know uh not making too much outside signings the Devils don’t have a lot of cap space so they have to make some moves will it come at the expense of trading Andre Pott would it come at the expense of trading Mercer or do the Devils go big and maybe Hamilton’s a player that that’ll be in play um you know it’s a lot of decisions to make but the big thing is there’s still that blank spot next to Jack Hughes and Jesper Brat and the Devils need another top six winger uh hopefully they could find it you know through free agency but we’ve seen the contracts be over inflated during free agency where the Devils have to always offer a bit more uh maybe maybe Fitzgerald goes the trade route and picks up a player from another team that needs to clear out cap space to make their decisions on their uh free agents they want to sign so yeah it’s a difficult decision for Tom Fitzgerald but you know it it’s something that um he has to decide you know does this team on paper whatever he’s going to make decisions going into this upcoming season can it compete with the Florida Panthers who just won the Stanley Cup that’s what I hope Fitzgerald’s minds at i don’t want it to be another year of oh we look better on paper but it’s time you know we don’t want to waste more years of Hughes in his prime and Brat in his prime and Ecohiria while we have them under these contracts that are good because once their contracts up they’re going to get paid a lot more and I know the cap’s going to go up drastically the in the next couple of years but you know you have them under these good contracts now where you know you don’t want to waste years of their prime and I hope Fitzgerald is looking at his his team on paper of what he wants to do and compares it to to can we take on the Florida Panthers if we’re playing them in a seven game Stanley Cup series which the Florida Panthers are a beast of a wagon you know they’re they’re a team that’s built from top to bottom and they got players who can score they can play physical and we’ve seen it the past couple of seasons and especially this playoff run they’re just a team that will beat you any which way and that’s what I hope Fitzgerald kind of decides with with the with uh fixing this upcoming year’s roster for the New Jersey Devils so comment below what do you think about this do you think it’s too difficult of a job for Fitzgerald to do heading into next season or can he make these moves and create some more cap space where he could bring some players in to help this team out comment below and let me know thank you all for watching i really appreciate your time smash that like button if you haven’t done so and subscribe to the Hockey Skateown free and join our hockey team thank you all so much have a great rest of the day have a great night take it easy stay safe [Music]
New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald has been making moves. Earlier this week The NJ Devils sign Juho Lammikko and today they Traded Erik Haula to the Nashville Predators to clear out some much needed Cap Space for future moves. What Will Fitzgerald do next?
#njdevils #erikhaula #juholammikko #nashvillepredators #nhltraderumors
8 comments
The first domino has dropped. Fitz now has to move Palat's $6 million contract. If Drury can do it, so can Fitz.
With the recent moves, Lammikko will likely be the expected replacement on the 4th line for Lazar as it's unlikely that he will be brought back. Hanzel is most likely going to be a Utica player at best so he's not really part of the Devils future. As much as we all want to see some fantastic Fitz maneuver to happen, we have to temper our expectations because he's not in a good position to do much unless he really rolls the dice and makes a big move for a notable player and give up guys like Mercer, Casy, Nemec, etc. Even though Drury was able to clear cap space with some of his guys, he moved players who were more likely to have a chance to make an impact where they got traded to. Palat… yeah I don't know if he's shown anything in the time he's been in NJ where a team is going to want to go after him unless they are trying to reach the cap floor or without a sweetener like draft picks or prospects. Free agency doesn't offer a hell of a lot, either, because unless they CAN get Palat off the books, there's just not a lot of room to get anyone significant. I expect small moves for guys to fill in holes in the bottom 6 and MAYBE a move to help the top 6 that would mean trading away Nemec or Casey. I also wouldn't mind seeing a guy like Sammy Blais get a PTO and see if he would be able to step into that 4th line as an agitator who will provide that aggressive hitting and snarl that they need. We'll see… it's going to be a tough offseason for Fitz.
Hate the scrub Swiss signing. Love the Haula trade. To get a quality prospect and a pick for a overpriced BUM like Haula was tremendous.
Nashville as an organization is a joke.
Fritz has some tough work ahead of him….. gotta find someone to take Palat – if not, buyout is option #2.. signing Luke is super important this off-season, and I don’t think it can be a bridge deal.. I think Hamilton is expendable, and I would hope a top 6 forward could be a return for him, or a mid 6 center – I dunno – that’s why Fitz makes the big $$…. If they do trade Hamilton, do they bring back Dumoulin? Not much offense there, but pretty decent D…. And how about Sprong? He never really seemed to fit in, but then again, his opportunities seemed to be a bit limited.. is he worth bringing back? I do think they can move Nemec or Casey if the return is worthwhile – not just a bag of pucks! I don’t know enough about Lammikko, but it looks like just a depth piece…. Hanzel will be at Utica…. LGD!
Good post. As a Devil fan I am concerned. I don't think that Fitzgerald has a clue on what he is going to do. This is the problem with the whole organization. We wasted a lot of potential in the past several years.
The biggest reason that the Devils created more cap space by trading Haula is because it will be easier to re-sign Luke Hughes.
Cody Glass will probably sign a contract that's MORE than $3M AAV. I wouldn't be surprised if the Devils trade his rights or a sign & trade with him.
If the Devils do get rid of Palat, I hope it's by trade & NOT by a buyout. A buyout would create wasted cap space.
I think Daws will be the Devils backup next season. Allen will sign somewhere else.
Great video! Only thing I’d have to add is I imagine if he’s still here that we start Mercer in the top six to at least give him the best chance to score a bit more and improve his value. I don’t see too many pathways for us to improve without moving Palat, and even if we do, it’s still pretty limited in what we can do. I do think we should bring back Glass, since acquiring centers is obviously not easy. Before we traded Haula, I thought those two with Gritsyuk or Bratt again may make a solid third line. The center market is pretty thin in FA, especially now that Duchene and Donato re signed. I hope Fitz has a plan (and several backups) to pursue likely via trade for another center (or two ideally). Can’t afford to “come in second” or overpay for another player whose best days are behind him.
The Scouching report for both Colorado (drafted him) and Nashville's (traded to) 2024 prospects lists Hanzel as a "maybe" guy. One tier above "everybody else" hopefully a 3rd pair D-guy if Casey is in Utica this season.