Devils deals- Add Vanecek, Haula

    The first day of NHL free agency arrived and left with the New Jersey Devils swinging big for the top player available for the second year in a row but this time settling for a consolation prize.

I'll be writing about that signing later but for now I'll finally get around to discussing the Devils draft day trade and their free agency day swap with the Boston Bruins.

On the second day of the NHL draft last week, New Jersey hopes to have solved at least some of their problems in net with the acquisition of Vitek Vanecek from fellow division member Washington.

The teams flipped second-round picks and New Jersey sent Washington a third-rounder for the signing rights to Vanecek, who is a restricted free agent.

The Devils had massive problems in goal last season with Mackenzie Blackwood looking like he had never played before, Jonathan Bernier played in only ten less than effective games, and a parade of players either too young, too old, or vagabond types that were incapable of patching the hole even temporarily.

The 26-year-old Vanecek won twenty games for Washington last season with a 2.67 GAA, a .908 save percentage, and four shutouts in his second season with the Capitals, sharing the position with 

Vanecek is hoped to team with a revitalized Blackwood as the Devils goaltending tandem as no one knows what they would receive if anything out of Bernier this season. 

Is Vanecek the long-term answer? I doubt it but he seems at least capable of producing similar statistics to his two seasons in Washington and I think the Devils would be pleased with those results.

On the first day of free agency, New Jersey traded former 2015 first-round pick Pavel Zacha to Boston for veteran left wing Erik Haula in a deal that spelled the end of high hopes for Zacha, who did a little of everything as a forward but not enough of anything to be special.

Zacha scored 15 goals with 21 assists last season but was an awful minus twenty-one and scored two fewer goals than in 2020-21 in twenty more games played.

The time may have come to cut Zacha loose and see if he needed a change of scenery.

As for Erik Haula, he's 31 and has one year remaining on his contract, which is worth 2.3 million to Haula and is coming off his second-best season in his career with 18 goals and 26 assists in his first and only season in Boston.

I wonder about older players that exceed their normal statistics playing with a strong team and then move to a lesser one and that's my concern on Haula.

Haula should help the third line a bit but while I understand moving Pavel Zacha might be best for both parties, I'm not sure that I'm expecting Erik Haula for perhaps only one season to be worth Zacha's chances of putting it all together.

As the weekend approaches, I hope to have a look at the Devils free agent signees and the one that got away. 

Devils double Sabres 6-3

  The New Jersey Devils scored three third-period goals to break open a tie game and defeat the Buffalo Sabres 6-3 in Buffalo.

Pavel Zacha scored two power-play goals ( 9, 10), and the line of Jack Hughes (8), Yegor Sharangovich (9), and Janne Kuokkanen (6) each scored a goal with two assists.

Jesper Boqvist scored his first goal of the season to finish the New Jersey scoring recap.

Aaron Dell finished with 24 saves in an unexpected start to grab his first win as a Devil.

New Jersey will play Pittsburgh Friday, unsure what I'll be watching then for recaps...

Hell Raisers

1) I wonder if someone didn't see Aaron Dell tonight and consider trading for him as playoff depth in the net?

Dell did allow three goals, but all three were on rebounds and he hasn't played in over a month, so he was acceptable to me, but this could have been a showcase game for an interested team.

2) Pavel Zacha's two power-play goals bring him to three on the season, but considering Zacha's assists and the team has only sixteen PP goals on the season,  Zacha has points on half of the Devil's power-play goals- Stat credit- All About The Jersey.

3) This is shorter than usual due to time constraints, but you had to enjoy the game by the Jack Hughes line.

Hughes at his core is a pass-first center and the key to his growth will be to have finishers on each side of him.

Perhaps the Devils are onto something...

Devils select Pavel Zacha with 1st pick

The New Jersey Devils had the bad luck to hold the sixth pick in a draft that possessed five exceptional prospects.
However,the draft is thought to be a deep one and the Devils hope to still have landed a prime player in the selection of center Pavel Zacha.

The 18 year old center is from the Czech Republic,but played last year with the Sarnia Sting in junior hockey.
Zacha is 6'3 and over 200 pounds and scored just under a point a game in his year with the Sting.

I don't claim to be nearly as knowledgeable about the NHL draft,so I won't offer too many opinions on Zacha,so I'll use this scouting report from EliteProspects.com for a few words on Zacha as a prospect.

Pavel Zacha is an offensively dynamic center with the size, speed, and skill to make a significant impact on the game. He can play physical, but is at his best when using his high-end offensive abilities, such as his shot, stickhandling, and footspeed, to generate numbers in the opposition's end of the ice. All-in-all, Zacha is a lethal weapon that can be depended upon to create, and finish, dangerous scoring chances whenever he is on the ice. (Curtis Joe, EP 2015) - See more at: http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=130786#sthash.7RkbysFf.dpuf

Zacha has a chance to make the Devils next season,but is more likely to return to Sarnia for another term with the Sting....