A left-handed defenseman could be a priority for the Devils this offseason
Corey Masisak of The Athletic: (mailbag) Believe that adding a veteran left-handed defenseman to play with either P.K. Subban or Damon Severson will be a priority for the New Jersey Devils this offseason. Ty Smith could end up being a good fit beside Severson, but it may not happen next season.
If the St. Louis Blues re-signed Alex Pietrangelo, they’d be more likely to trade a forward(s) as opposed to pending RFA defenseman Vince Dunn. Now if the Blues would move Dunn, what would the cost be for the Devils? Not sure if the Devils would be interested in moving Kyle Palmieri or Nikita Gusev or Ty Smith or Nolan Foote. The Devils don’t have a 2nd or 3rd round pick this year and they need to hold on to their future picks.
If the expansion draft was this year, the Devils protected list could look like:
Goalie: Mackenzie Blackwood.
Defensemen: Damon Severson, Will Butcher and P.K. Subban.
Forwards: Nico Hischier, Kyle Palmieri, Nikita Gusev, Jesper Bratt, Pavel Zacha, Travis Zajac, Janne Kuokkanen.
Exempt: Jack Hughes, Joey Anderson.
Red Wings could look at the free agent defenseman market
Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: The Detroit Red Wings have used 14 defensemen so far during the 2019-20 season.
The Red Wings have four defensemen under contract for next season – Danny DeKeyser, Filip Hronek, Patrik Nemeth and Alex Biega. GM Steve Yzerman could dip into the free agent market this offseason.
2018 first-round draft pick Mortiz Seider could be an option if they feel he’s ready.
The Red Wings currently have around $46 million committed for next season, so they have the option to take on some salary from teams that may need to shed some contracts.
For the Red Wings to land one of the better free agents, they would likely need to overpay. The top offensive defensemen that could be available of the free agent market this offseason: Alex Pietrangelo, Torey Krug, Tyson Barrie, Sami Vatanen, Kevin Shattenkirk, and T.J. Brodie.