Devils Wrap Free Agency Opening Day with Flurry of Moves | FEATURE

The Devils wrapped up Day 1 of the NHL free agency with a flurry of activity. Some of which took place prior, and some of which came in the form of trade.

All in all, the Devils have acquired in the previous few days:

• F Evan Rodrigues
• F Jesper Boqvist
• F Ben Steeves
• F Ryan Tufte
• C Barrett Hayton?
• D Etienne Morin
• C Amadeus Lombardi
• D Declan Chisholm
• D Vladislav Kolyachonok
• 2027 or ’28 first-round pick
• 2028 or ’29 first-round pick
• 2026 second-round pick (Matias Vanhanen)

The Devils have departed with:

• G Jacob Markstrom
• D Simon Nemec
• F Maxim Tsyplakov
• F Angus Crookshank
• F Paul Cotter
• F Evgenii Dadonov
• F Dylan Wendt
• F Brian Halonen
• F Ryan Schmelzer
• F Mike Hardman
• F Zack MacEwen
• D Calen Addison
• D Colton White
• G Tyler Brennan
• D Dennis Cholowski
• 2026 fourth-round pick
• 2027 fourth-round pick

On top of all of that, the club agreed to terms with captain Nico Hischier on a five-year contract extension with an $11.7 average annual value and re-signed forward Arseny Gritsyuk to a three-year deal worth $3.25 AAV. They also signed Nico Daws, Xavier Parent, Marc McLaughlin and Riley Tufte to contracts.

The Devils also tendered qualifying offers to goalie Jakub Malek and defenseman Topias Vilen.

That’s a lot to unpack, but let’s get started!

CAPTAIN STAYS HOME

Of all the moves made above, no doubt the most important was locking up the captain and franchise pillar to an extension. The five-year deal with Hischier will kick in for the 2027-28 and will keep Swiss native in Black and Red until 2031-32.

“For me, it was important to show my teammates that I want to be a New Jersey Devil, and I want to turn the ship around here and I don’t want to leave,” Hischier said. “I want to be part of the solution with Jersey, because I still do believe we have a great team, we have great foundational pieces and, in this level, it’s sometimes just little details that matter and that can turn a whole season around.”

Hischier has made his commitment to the Devils – the team that drafted him first overall in 2017 – and the Devil have made their commitment to Hischier – investing $58.5 million worth in him.

“Jersey’s been home for me,” Hischier said. “I’m super excited that we got to an agreement here, and now we’ll get back to work.”

NEW LOOK UPFRONT

The Devils added two key pieces in Evan Rodrigues and Jesper Boqvist (a former Devil) to the mix with the trade of Jacob Markstrom to Florida. Rodrigues was a part of Florida’s back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2024 and ’25, while Boqvist won a Cup with the club in the second championship season.

Rodrigues played a pivotal role in both Cups for the Panthers, tallying 15 points in each of the two playoff campaigns. He scored three goals in two games against the Edmonton Oilers in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final to help Florida take a 2-0 series lead.

Rodrigues, 32, said he was excited at the news of joining New Jersey.

“I think this is a group that has a lot of guys right in their prime and a group that could be very dangerous and very scary for opponents to play against,” said Rodrigues, who knows exactly what a championship team looks like. “It’s an extremely talented group, and I think just finding consistency day in and day out is going to be key for us.”

It’s a homecoming for Boqvist, who was drafted by the Devils in the second round (36^th overall) in 2017. He played four seasons with New Jersey but returns a different player.

“Playing in Florida for two years, I’m a little bit more physical game than I’ve been playing before,” he said. “That’s something extra that I will bring with me.

“Obviously, playing those big, high-pressure games, you learn a lot from that and for me in Florida, they’d been through it before. I learned a lot from those guys. Just keep that patience in the game, trust what you do, trust what you can do and such an unbelievable experience. And all the hard work you go through makes it so much better, too.”

THE AGGRESSIVE PLAY

Devils general manager Sunny Mehta has a gambling background. And he pulled a crafty move to cap Wednesday’s opening day of free agency, tendering an offer sheet to Utah center Barrett Hayton at one-year, $4.775 million.

The 26-year-old former fifth-overall pick (2018) had 25 points (10g-15a) in 67 games last year with the Mammoth, who have seven days to exercise its right of refusal. If Utah does not match, the Devils will surrender a second-round draft pick as compensation.

Obviously, some time will tell how exactly this will play out. But the addition of a young and gifted center would be a great asset to the team’s depth down the middle.