Devils Scored Big to Kick-Off NHL Free Agency: Signed Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon, & Stefan Noesen

Devils Scored Big to Kick-Off NHL Free Agency: Signed Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon, & Stefan Noesen

the floodgates are officially open when it comes to free agency and the devil’s got to work does the organization ever sleep we have a lot to break down in today’s episode of Locked on Devils buckle up everybody you’re locked on Devils your daily podcast on the New Jersey Devils part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hi this is Bryce Salvador and you’re locked on devils not scores oh Steven stepped up nailed RoR got the one a shot the Devils winley all righty now what is up New Jersey welcome back to lockon Devils podcast here on lock on network I’m your host kge hockey public play announcer Del R Puck pitchforks and also parttime credential meia member Trey Matthews am I safe to record are the Devils done damn I just got back from Vegas which first and foremost thank you for your support none of what I accomplish is possible without your viewership on YouTube or your listenership on podcast streaming services I am thankful for the devil’s discourse I can’t thank you guys enough all right on to business I knew I was in for a very busy July 1 but Alit I didn’t anticipate for it to be that busy the free agency flug Gates have officially opened and it’s time to break it all down Tyler tley surprisingly signed with the San Jose Sharks for six years I honestly thought that t Foley was going to go to a playoff caliber team but I understand that he probably wants some stability ever since being a part of the LA Kings he’s been a bit of a journeyman and he’s had success in California before he won a Stanley Cup with the Kings back in 2014 but this time instead of being in the City of Angels he’s now in the Bay Area Tomas noac is heading to South Florida to play for the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers Adam Henrik will stick with the runner-up Edmonton Oilers best of luck to Rico and Nashville what more can I say about them Stephen Stam Co Jonathan marcheso and Brady Shay oh boy watch out for Nashville I’m telling you but what I saw trending on social media were the moves made by the New Jersey Devils Tom Fitzgerald you crazy son of a gun you filled all the needs for the devils and more I have a lot to go over in today’s episode and honestly this is Uncharted Territory for me I don’t think I’ve ever had this jam-packed of an episode in which I have to break down all of the recent moves made by the Devils let’s focus on the two big defensive signings in the first seg segment then in the second segment the Devils reunited with a familiar face and sometimes I don’t like to brag but considering the fact that I was given some crap on Twitter for my opinions back in late May early June about the devil’s reuniting with a particular player I just have to say this I Told You So that goes out to a couple trolls on Twitter but I will talk about that in the second segment and then in the third and final segment a aside from Brett pesy and Brendan Dylan the Devils got another defenseman to replace the services of Kevin ball this time they made a trade with the Montreal Canadians and they get more depth and then I will talk about how all these players tied together because like I said Tom fisherald was able to fill a lot of needs for the Devils he’s stuck by his guns and said that he wanted to go big game hunting and on the first day of free agency that’s exactly what he did let’s talk about probably the biggest signing that happened with the devils and that was them getting Brett pesi from free agency he signed a six-year contract worth $33 million with an annual average value of 5.5 million peshi had played for the Carolina Hurricanes for the past nine seasons and is coming off a year in which he averaged about 20 minutes of ice time with 13 points three goals 10 assists in 70 regular season games he stands 6 fo three weighs 205 pounds he also had 113 blocks which ranked second on the Hurricanes roster this past season while his average time on the ice ranked fourth on the team peshi earned a career-high 25 assists and 30 points during the 2022 2023 season peshi has played in 57 career Stanley Cup playoff games throughout his five postseason appearances between 2018 and 2024 his 21 career postseason points five goals 16 assists ranked second all time in Carolina’s history for defenseman while his 57 contest ranked fifth alltime for Hurricane’s blue liners pesi helped Carolina advance to the Eastern Conference Finals in both 2019 and unfortunately at the expense of the Devils 2023 and logged a career high six points all of them assists during the 2019 postseason all right I think we all know why pesi is here but I had the chance to attend his media availability and I asked him for people who are unfamiliar with his style play could he go into a little bit more detail and what Devil’s fans could expect out of him on a nightly basis here’s what he told me Brett welcome to New Jersey once again uh I only have one question uh for people who might be unfamiliar how would you describe your game specifically what can Devil’s fans expect from you on a nightly basis yeah just a um I think I’m just a defensive minded defenseman um you know I’ll I’ll join the rush when I can but I know my role um I I love I take a lot of pride in and playing against other teams top lines and do my best to shut them down so um you know I’m probably not going to wow you with these crazy plays but um just to to provide a a reliable steady steady play play on the back end is really my uh is my game peshi is a defensive minded defenseman and that’s exactly what the devil’s need they needed to revamp their blue line and pesi is certainly a big contributor in that but he was also asked during his me availability what does the blue line and the team in general look like now that he’s added to the roster here’s what he had to share their talent level um to be honest they kind of remind me a little bit of the canes four or five years ago we were trying to just grind into the playoffs and you know we’re a young hungry team and um like I said it starts with the forward group um I think the sky’s limit for those guys up up front and um you know you bring in markam you have this young studs and on the back end you have douge you bring in Brendan Dylan like it it’s it just seems like a group that can win um and that’s that’s all I’m trying to do here you know it’ll be my 10th year next year obviously haven’t won so um um you know I’m obviously I have to pick a place where I think I have a good chance to do that okay I’ve talked about pesi in a prior episode and I said that I was open to the Devils pursuing him as long as they got a big contract off the table because that was my main concern and Tom fero was able to do that he got rid of John Marino in day two of the NL draft and that basically opened up some more finances for the Devils to work with peshy he’s not the most physical defenseman but he knows where to place himself and not only did the Devils add Brett pesy to their roster they also added Brendan Dylan he signed a three-year contract worth $12 million with an annual average value of 4 million here’s some background information on Dylan he played in 77 games with the Winnipeg Jets he averaged close to 19 minutes per night he played mainly beside Neil pan recording 20 points for the third straight season and posting a new career high in plus minus at plus 20 he finished a 20123 2024 season ranking second on the team in penalty kill minutes with 171 minutes and 51 seconds while leading the team in hits with 241 and he’s also former teammates with Team o Myer and Jonas segan thaler he has participated in the Stanley Cup Playoffs nine out of his 13 Seasons Dylan was a great ad as well for the Devils because similar to peshi you add more experience you add guys who have been around the block before but at the same time peshi and Dylan they’re not the oldest players on the rank but they’re certainly far from the youngest and circling back to what peshi said during his media availability when I asked him to describe his game I loved his answer and the fact that he says that he takes pride in trying to shut down any opponent’s Top Line that’s exactly what the Devils need when it came to defense too many of the devil’s blue liners were inexperienced and focused too much on the offensive end which resulted in Devils surrendering a lot of odd man Rush situations open breakaways and that was definitely a Hot Topic at the beginning of the season now that you add peshi and Dylan to the mix it certainly bolsters their blue line and I think the Devils can only go up from here all right we’re going to talk about another big move made by the Devils momentarily but before we continue let me tell you about FanDuel I love sports I love them so much I never want them to stop but as the playoffs wind down we get fewer games and the sports aren’t sportsing like I want them to FanDuel lets me keep the sports going whenever I want all I have to do is open the app and dream up any bets anytime time I’m in the mood and this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long so head over to fanduel.com logdon and start making the most out of your summer FanDuel the official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball visit fanduel.com to look at the odds and please remember to always gamble responsibly all right the devil’s reunited with an old friend and I want to play this clip from early June in which I talked about the Devils possibly reuniting with this said player take a listen I will say this out of all those three players I discussed Adam Henrik Tomas Shar Stephan n if I had to choose one of those players for the Devils to reunite I would choose Stephan n just because N is a pretty good player he’s not a to score but he’s capable of doing so and we saw that in the playoffs he appeared in 11 playoff games for the Hurricanes just a few weeks ago and he put up four goals I think he was a spark plug for the Hurricanes roster and he’s not afraid to throw his body around and that’s something that a lot of people have been complaining which is the devils in the words of Jersey Joe they don’t have enough Sasquatches out there and they just need someone who’s a bit more aggressive and they lost that in Michael McLoud they lost that in miles would and Curtis mcder he’s going to add a lot to the locker room and sometimes on the rink if the devils are good once again he’s not going to see the sheet of ice all that consistently and I think n can definitely be aggressive but at the same time he can play in most of the games and be efficient look I’m not trying to sound conceited cocky or arrogant but I just want to humbly brag and say I told you so what am I referring to well in late may I published an episode talking about potential options that the Devils could turn to Once free agency hit as you know Adam Henrik Tomas Shar and Stephen n were all pending ufas and I said like look I know the Devils need to revamp the roster a little bit they need to find a goalie but why not just entertain the thoughts of reuniting with one of those players because they might come at a cheap Penny and I said it wasn’t a fan service these are legitimate options and as we all know sometimes when you share your opinion you’re susceptible to trolls and I had a couple trolls called me out saying that I was a dumbass for thinking that well I guess this dumb donkey knows a thing or two because the Devils reunited with Stephen n and boy I took to social media to clown on them but hey you know I just had to take advantage of the opportunity and maybe they’ll think twice before questioning my opinions but like I said silly season is not meant to be taken seriously it’s meant to be fun and engaging and just have something to talk about during the off season and sometimes they do come into fruition and now there’s another example Stephen n is coming back to New Jersey and I love his game and I love his growth and development as a player he signed a three-year contract worth $8.25 million with an average annual value of $22.75 million and N spent parts of the last three seasons with the hurricanes and recorded a career-high 37 points 14 goals and 23 assists out of his 37 Points 11 of them came via the power play as I mentioned in my prior episode 11 postseason games four goals he was definitely electrifying he stands 6’1 weighs 205 pounds but offens aside he brings aggression he had 118 hits and a plus minus rating of plus 13 and those also marked career highs Nason spoke to the media and he talked about how he has grown and developed as a player he and his wife recently had two kids he feels like he’s a little more mature his game has developed because when he when he was with the Devils I think it’s safe to say that he was a raw talent or he just didn’t find his footing in the in the NHL right away and that’s okay that takes time and then when Nason left the Devils prior to the 2019 2020 season it’s safe to say that he was a little up and down between the NHL and the AHL and he didn’t really rejuvenate his career until the 2021 2022 season when he was playing with the Chicago wolves he appeared in 70 games he had 48 goals 37 assists for a grand total of 85 points and then the very next season 2022 2023 that’s where he saw his role increase with the Carolina Hurricanes talk about just making the most of opportunities that have come your way I’m glad that he was able to not only grow as a person but as a player and I feel like n was definitely one of my personal Targets this off season for Fitzgerald because we’ve seen his game before it is developed in more ways than one he’s aggressive he adds more size Bill Spalding of MSG asked Stephen a really good question which is how much does the locker room presence mean to him because I talked about it in Prior episodes when the Devils got Andre palot Eric kala and also Brandon Smith which by the way best wishes to Brandon Smith as he signed a one-year contract with the Dallas Stars it seemed like the culture in New Jersey shifted a little bit because you add guys who have been in the league for a good while you add guys who have Championship pedigree Andre pilot he won two Stanley Cups and you just add guys that maybe just need another chance or a new change of scenery erical sometimes he was given a bad rep in the NHL it it just really changed the locker room culture and N went into great detail and I want to play that sound bite take a listen particularly this offseason with so many veterans coming in as free agents how do you see your role with the younger guys that are already there in terms of like you know how you can influence the culture well obviously first and foremost I’m kind of you know I’ve kind of been around it in this case scenario so for myself in general I can speak to that regard is you know I’ve been I’ve been around it I was with these when they were just newborns coming into the league even though I kind of was in that same realm um but they were just so much younger than I was that you know again seeing them come into who they are and their form is a fantastic thing um so the respect factor is there and I think you see a lot a lot of times when they bring in vets it’s a lot of it is you know you you respect who they bring in and what they’ve done in their careers and all that stuff I’ll use Paul stazz as an example you know staz’s very he’s a very great human being but he was very quiet he was he was kind of a little bit more reserved because he wanted to see what the locker room was like uh because he’s coming from a whole different experience um where he was and it took him a little bit to kind of get going and us to really appreciate the type of thing that he did uh and brought to the team where I can again I’ll use myself is I’ve kind of been around these guys they kind of know who I am um I’ve been in the organization I have a I’d say I might carry a little bit more weight than you know a normal vet coming in um and then with that being said he use a guy like Brett pesi who’s you know he’s got 600 plus games in NHL guy like Dylan who’s got I think he’s over 700 now might be closing in on eight um you know but I know both of them as well and they’re just the best human beings in the world um you know Dylan comes from a great family he’s you know he’s got his uh his little girl and um you know Emma’s amazing human being same with Brett and Amy as well they’re just they’re good humans coming into a great organization in a great locker room where the Vets can kind of see that and when you know when you see Dylan drop his gloves for the first time for someone just getting bumped and being like you can’t do that to them that’s where the whole entire locker room you know perks up a little bit more and um and respects this guy to a whole a whole another level so you’re seeing these guys come in and um you know I think they’ve done a great job bringing in some good some good vets overall and um you know hopefully to build off this I love n and I didn’t think the Devils were actually going to sign him but lo and behold he’s now back in New Jersey he seems very excited and I really hope he’s one of the people that changes the culture one of the issues that I think the Devils had last season was that there weren’t that many guys sticking up for their star players and sometimes you saw here or there but the Devils were not an aggressive team which made it easy for their opponents to just run over them because sometimes those players that laid big hits on Jack Hughes niiko heer Jer brat they never got their kupets but you add someone like n to the roster he can certainly ring some bells or Paul Carter he can ring some Bells Brendan Dylan he can ring some bells and I’m GNA talk more about that in the third and final segment but I had the chance to ask naon how much potential does this team have now that he’s added to the roster because like I’ve been saying he throughout the course of the episode n was one of my personal targets for the Devils to pursue take a listen thank you Stephan welcome back to New Jersey once again as previously stated one of the point of emphasis was to add more physicality in terms of fors you talked about your game the physical aspect but collectively how much more potential does this unit have now that you and a few other key assets are now on the roster officially I’m I’m yeah I don’t know I we’re just adding a different Dynamic to these guys you know they’re they’re high flying offense and they get up and down the ice extremely quick so um you know a guy like like pesh and Dilly who are you know very defensive focused and just will help shut down other teams offensive guys and get pucks and uh and those guys hands it’s kind of where the same Vibe with me is you know I I you know when I was in Jersey I was a i play mainly play the defensive shutdown role um and as I developed I developed into more of a power play offensive Ro as well while being able to do that so um yeah it’s again I I think you guys can speculate as much as you want I think the final product is going to be when we get through training camp and we get into the um this next little bit here and you see the kind of what kind of team we put forward and what Sheldon goes Nason also had a funny moment during his media availability in which he said that he would work his trying to think of a PG version because I don’t think the network would like it he said he would work his junk off let’s let’s just leave it at that if you want to see the full quote I actually posted about it on social media and obviously he said it during his media availability so you could check out the devil’s channel to to see for yourself but I can’t I don’t think I’m allowed to repeat it on this show Tom fisherald has done so well this free agency period And I still have one more player to talk about in in in a moment but I think fitgerald did one hell of a job getting someone like n added to the roster because similar to what I’ve been saying throughout the course of the off season you have to replace the productivity of a couple key players and N certainly fills that void but like I said bitsy he didn’t stop he kept adding more and more talent and I think this Devil’s team has improved the roster more ways than one okay the day before the start of free agency Tom fisherald made an underrated move he acquired defenseman Jonathan kovage from the Montreal Canadians in exchange for a 2026 fourth round pick Koval Savage completed his third year in the NHL he stands 6 fo5 and weighs 225 pounds he recorded 13 points six goals seven assists in 62 games last year he logged a career high 42 penalty minutes and had a plus minus rating of plus 11 additionally his plus 11 rating ranked first for all Montreal skaters during the 2023 2024 season Koval sage has one year remaining on a three-year 3.2 million contract that he signed on July 22nd 2022 which carries a cap hit this season of about $766,000 the reason I say that Koval sevich is an underrated get is because he’s sort of gonna replace Kevin Ball he’s gonna be like a bottom four defenseman but he can do the little things in order to make the devil successful my colleague over at Puck and pitchforks Joseph Stannis law AKA Jersey Joe actually texed me kovage numbers during the 2022 2023 season he recorded 86 blocks had 93 hits and 36 takeaways and here’s what he also added he said that kovage will bolster that five to six spot for the devil’s Blue Line we’re gonna see a lot of big hits and blocked shots from kov Savage so I think Tom feral really found a diamond in the rough and as we all know Jersey Joe loves SA s Squatch analytics and he loves it when the Devils add Sasquatch type players to the roster now will kovage shoot up in every single game probably not but he certainly adds more depth which is essential for the Devils especially on defense okay let me share my thoughts on day one of free agency for the Devils I just want to put this out there and say that Fitzgerald still has not done a media availability which leads need some to speculate that he’s not done making moves he might try to add another top six asset to play alongside Jack Hughes because I think it’s been evident throughout the devil’s discourse is that that’s what’s next on their wish list for Fitzgerald this off season but with the players and assets that the Devils have now they certainly have bolstered their blue line Jonas seen thaler douge Hamilton Luke Hughes Brett pesy Brendan Dylan shimo nemit I talked about K Savage and when you add someone like Stephan n and also Paul cter to the mix the Devils got more physical when it came to Fords let me tell you guys some interesting stats Koval Savage 93 hits 2022 2023 the very next year 75 hits Stephan n 118 hits new career high Paul cter 233 hits Brendan Dylan 241 the record for most by a Devils player in a single season was Blake Coleman during the 2018 2019 season in which he had 225 hits and let’s just say that cter and Dylan are able to maintain that same hit trajectory this upcoming season they would blow Coleman’s record out of the water physicality was a point of emphasis this off season for devils and that’s exactly what Fitzgerald did I just want to make something perfectly clear I still think the devil sacrificed just a little too much to get CER but as long as cter is consistent I think all will be forgiven but for the time being I love what Tom feral has done with the Devils so far he heard the criticisms loud and clear he didn’t just blow smoke and say like yeah we’re gonna go big game hunting and he just ultimately settled no he got to work as soon as July 1st hit hell he got to work before July 1 hit he traded away John Marino to clear up some cap space he got another physical forward he got Brett pesy added to the roster Brendan Dylan two great defensemen who focus more on defense and the thing is all these signings or trades that the Devils have made it replaces a certain need all right so when we look at Dylan when we look at peshi who do they replace similar to what I’ve been talking about in Prior episodes The Devils got worse when Damon Severson and Ryan Graves left during the 2023 off season Severson and graves in their final years with the Devils were they the most impactful players did they always show up in the score sheet no but they made the smart defensive plays that made the Devils more efficient when it came to defense and they also had a decent amount of experience remember when Chico rash appeared on the show back in January and he said he loves Nemitz he loves Hughes but how do you give both those guys more NHL experience in just a short amount of time you can’t too much pressure was added to their shoulders and I’ll throw Kevin ball into the mix as well because he’s 24 years of age he was also relatively young and it didn’t help that the Devils dealt with a few injuries in douge Hamilton and jonis Sean thaler so Dylan and P F in that sort of need when you look at n when you look at Carter they replace the productivity of Milwood and Michael McCloud no one’s ever gonna replace Michael mccloud’s faceof ability he was just one of a kind and it’s unfortunate what’s been going on with that situation but focusing on the present moment cter and N they’re going to be more aggressive assets for the Devils on their bottom six and N is capable of being that sort of spark plug for the devils and he talked about how his game has developed ever since last putting on the devil’s uniform I think people should be excited for that and then when we look at the goal tending tandem I think for the most part people did not want feral to run it back with Jake Allen and kappo kinan both of them were solid but you need just a bit of an upgrade make Jake Allen the backup and find a better go-to player and they did that in Jacob markstrom Jacob markstrom is still a solid goalie and he came very cheap compared to some of the other goalies I’m I’m just putting that out there markstrom led the league in shutouts a couple seasons ago he finished runner up in the vzna trophy race a couple seasons ago he fell just behind eigor shurin the Devils have improved in all three assets offense defense and goal tending and they repl some of the productivity that was missing this past season what made the Devils so successful during the 2022 2023 season was the amount of depth that they had and when they lost those key depth assets you definitely saw it in the record injuries certainly did not help but make no mistake depth is essential if you want to be a Stanley Cup caliber team so once again Damon Severson Ryan Graves their productivity was replaced with pesi and also Dylan both guys who focus more on defense but are capable of getting their names into the score sheet but I would say their main focal point is to shut down some of those top lines and they add more experience because they’ve been in the league for a while Michael McLoud and Miles wood replaced by n and Carter we’ll see how that works out and hopefully the devils are done playing musical chairs when it comes to finding a new goalie I really hope Jacob marrom pans out these next couple couple of Seasons I think the Devils have done very well for themselves but I’m curious to hear your thoughts what did you think of Tom fisherald and some of the moves he’s been making the past couple days did the Devils get better obviously yes or did they get worse if you believe that why is that I’m curious to hear your thoughts once again leave a comment down below if you’re watching on YouTube if you’re listening on podcast streaming service hit me up on my personal xage app at treat 4 or the show’s xage app at lockon Devils as for episode that’s what I have for you continue to stay safe have a wonderful day in New Jersey go Devils I’ll catch you guys next episode thanks for listening once again

The New Jersey Devils went “big-game hunting” on the first day of free agency. They improved their blue line by signing Brett Pesce and Brenden Dillon. Not only that, but they reunited with Stefan Noesen. Tom Fitzgerald wasted no time once free agency began and the roster has now improved in many ways. Physicality seemed to be the point of emphasis for New Jersey this offseason

Interview soundbite: Brett Pesce & Stefan Noesen (Courtesy of the New Jersey Devils)

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LODevils?sid=YouTube

Locked On NHL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Prospects & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNHL

Subscribe to Locked On Devils!
Follow me on the “X” app: @treymatt4
Follow the show on the “X” app: @LockedOnDevils
Listen to Locked On Devils: https://linktr.ee/LockedOnDevils

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!

eBay Motors: For parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.

Policygenius: Check life insurance off your to do list in no time with Policygenius. Head to policygenius.com/lockedonnhl to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save.

Ultimate Hockey GM: Ever dreamed of becoming an NHL GM and managing your hockey franchise? Well now you can with Ultimate Hockey GM. It’s completely free and Locked On listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo LOCKEDONNHL in the game store. To download the game just visit hockeygm.app or look it up on the app stores. Ultimate Hockey GM – Start your dynasty today!

Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase.

FanDuel: FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARENTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – win or lose! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Thumbnail credit: USA TODAY

#NewJerseyDevils #Devils #NHL #BrettPesce #BrendenDillon #StefanNoesen #JonathanKovacevic #FreeAgency