Devils sign Ondrej Palat

     The New Jersey Devils wanted Johnny Gaudreau badly and between Gaudreau's growing up in New Jersey and the fact that the Devils could pay Gaudreau more than any other could, it wasn't unreasonable to think that the Devils could have been secure as the favorites to sign the high scoring and most coveted free agent.

Had you bet on that outcome, you lose (in my best Warner Wolf voice) as Gaudreau signed with Columbus, so Tom Fitzgerald needed a backup plan which proved to be Ondrej Palat as the Devils lured away the veteran left-winger away from his only NHL home in Tampa Bay with a five-year agreement worth thirty million dollars.

The thirty-one-year-old Palat was drafted by the Lightning in the seventh round in 2011 and has spent the last ten years with Tampa Bay, where he has received kudos for his excellent playoff production with three trips to the Stanley Cup finals, two of those resulting in two titles.

Palat scored eighteen goals with thirty-one assists for Tampa Bay last season and has been extremely consistent over his career.

The problem is that Palat may be too consistent as after Palat's rookie season when he scored 23 goals, Palat has scored between fifteen and eighteen goals in six of the next eight seasons, never higher and twice lower.

While there is something to be said for consistency, Palat's goal scoring doesn't seem likely to improve, and should it move higher, it is likely to be a career-best season.

Considering his age at the end of the contract (36) and his goal production, this is an overpay and likely a panicky move from Tom Fitzgerald, who must have had all of his eggs in the Johnny Gaudreau basket and was surprised to see Gaudreau slip away to Columbus, which forced Fitzgerald to do something fast.

Ondrej Palat is a fine player and I'm sure that he will produce for the Devils what he generally has over his career.

However, I'm not sure that the Devils needed a player of his skills, especially considering his age, length of the contract, and the price, so I am not a fan overall of this signing.

New Jersey also signed veteran defenseman Brendan Smith to a two-year contract worth 1.1 million per season.

The thirty-three-year-old Smith played forty-five games with Carolina, finishing with four goals, four assists, and a plus six.

He's a guy that is best used as a depth defenseman that can play on your third defensive pairing or ideally as Carolina (Or any good team) as the seventh defenseman that plays when someone is a little dinged up and needs a night off.

It's an average signing- nothing to get upset with, nothing to leap into the air in excitement over either.