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Bahl's New Contract, Timo's Sweet Spot, and the Competitive Bottom 6 |
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Good afternoon Devils fans. As the summer continues on, the Devils confirmed another signing today, bringing back defenseman Kevin Bahl. After giving a qualifying offer at the deadline, GM Tom Fitzgerald and Bahl’s agent have spent the last month going back and forth, hashing out a new contract. What came out today was a 2 year, $1.05M AAV contract for Bahl. There are a number of benefits to both sides regarding this agreement. First, the Devils have brought back a good young defenseman who, in my estimation, has more than earned a slot on this team. Bahl brought physicality to all areas of the ice, shutting down rushes, closing out the peripheral areas, making the neutral zone harder to crack, and chipping away on the blueline while attacking to keep the possession dangerous. He also put up some modest numbers, going 2G-6A-8P in 42 GP with a +4 rating. Tough defenseman should not be undervalued, especially as we aim to be more clean with the puck and avoid sloppy giveaways and chances.
This contract also sets up Bahl to succeed in a number of ways. This keeps his cost to the team affordable, making him less likely to become a piece to be moved at a deadline while giving him massive room to grow financially at the end of his contract. He will be an RFA at age 25, giving New Jersey more negotiation room. This contract also benefits both sides because it can be considered a “prove yourself” agreement. If Bahl can establish himself even more and combine aggressive checking and shutdown defense with even more offensive production, that could earn him a massive pay raise down the road.
With Bahl resigned until 2025, this creates some interesting scenarios over the next few seasons cap wise. First, next season the cap will go from $83.5M to $87.7M, per a breakdown provided by the NHL regarding the most recent collective bargaining agreement between the league and players’ union. Combining that with buyouts of Cory Schneider and Janne Kuokkanen coming off the books, the Devils will have roughly $22M to play with while weighing the options of UFAs (Toffoli, Nosek, and Tierney) and RFAs (Mcleod, Mercer, Foote, Schmid) and possibly playing the free agency market with a focus on goalies (Hellebuyck, Samsonov.) While other players may provide opportunities for debate about whether to be brought, Akira Schmid and Dawson Mercer should, in my opinion, earn solid contract extensions, especially Mercer who will be looking for his first sizable extension. If he ends up with a 60-70 point season and Schmid becomes the goalie we hope he is, next summer could see us again invest our cap not in outside free agents, but familiar faces.
As we plan on how to gain further exposure and success this coming season, one area of focus could be capitalizing on Timo Meier’s strengths. Per the image link below this paragraph from Sportsnet, we can see where the majority of his goals came from last season. While he could find the back of the net from farther distance spots like the top or middle of the faceoff circles, Meier’s sweet spot seems to be as a net front presence with either tip-ins or picking off rebound shots close range. With that in mind, one way to unlock this is to have Timo as a screen player on top of the goalie during the powerplay. If the Devils can take this offseason practice schedule and find the right PP unit to form around Meier that can create tip goals and dangerous chaotic chances up close for the Swiss forward to capitalize on.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/meier_goals.png
Finally, as the team starts to finalize their roster, we have the ingredients formed for an incredibly competitive bottom 6. I think Devils fans can all agree that the top 6 should be some combo of Hughes, Hischier, Bratt, and Meier. Most likely, you’ll see Mercer and either Toffoli or Palat wrapping that up. Let’s assume for this argument that due to last season’s point production, Toffoli edges out Palat for the last top 6 position. (I know, financially it makes more sense to have the more expensive player up top and just because Toffoli did that well last season doesn’t guarantee the production of this season. Bear with me please.) This would leave the following players to fill out the bottom half of the offense: Palat, Haula, Mcleod, Bastian, Lazar, Nosek, Foote, Tierney, and Holtz. Assuming Tierney is only an AHL signing in the long run, that leaves 8 players with 6 spots. That would be a tough situation to earn a spot while not deserving it.
Nothing is set in stone. As we approach the preseason and full roster training camps, prospects and tryouts could impress Lindy Ruff and his staff. Graeme Clarke or Chase Stillman could end up as dark horse candidates for roster positions while current players could end up shuffled somewhere else entirely or healthy scratched.
What are your thoughts? How are you feeling about the Bahl contract and his future? Can Timo become a more potent power play threat? How would our bottom 6 stack up against competitors?
Leave your thoughts and comments below. Raise Hell,
-Josh Biringer
New Jersey Devils Blogger • 
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