The New Jersey Devils have been haunted by goaltending since Martin Brodeur decided to leave the franchise after the 2013-14 season. Sure, then President Lou Lamoriello thought it was a wise move going after goalie Cory Schneider in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks. We all saw how that panned out on a team that should have been thinking rebuild through the draft rather than retool. Since the 2014-15 season, the Devils have had arguably the worst goaltending in the NHL. Below is a look at the list of New Jersey goalies in that span.
The best is obviously Schneider, who played well in his tenure in New Jersey. Unfortunately, the team around Schneider was pretty awful thanks to the departures of Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise following a 2012 Stanley Cup run. The Devils hadn’t been very good at drafting forwards and that reared its ugly head for most of the mid-to-late 2010’s. Schneider would eventually reach the end of his career as a starter and the team was prepared to transition to Mackenzie Blackwood in net. Again, we all saw how things went there.
You can’t blame these goaltenders entirely but the franchise hasn’t been able to find a solid replacement in net since Brodeur and Schneider left. Vitek Vanecek showed some promise last season in helping the Devils advance to the second round of the playoffs. Vanecek would regress in 2023-24 before being dealt to the San Jose Sharks for Kaapo Kahkonen before the deadline. Jake Allen would be brought in to finish most of this season but the veteran is being viewed as the backup for next season.
We could go into why this may have more to do with coaching than personnel. Instead, we’ll look forward to 2024-25 and the Devils’ goaltending options via the trade market. We already know GM Tom Fitzgerald has plans to revamp the roster and goalie will be at the top of his to-do list. Below we’re going to rank the goaltending options available to Fitzgerald and the Devils this offseason.
Ranking Devils goalie options
Elvis Merzlikins, Columbus Blue Jackets
We’re going to go over the top-5 options and Merzlikins is at the bottom of the list. Personally as a Devils fan I want nothing to do with Merzlikins. He’s 30 years old so at this point he isn’t getting any better. In his rookie season, he was voted All-Rookie, finishing 31-13-9 with a .923 SV% and 2.35 GAA in 33 games for a surprising Jackets team that advanced to the Conference First Round (remember it was the COVID shortened season).
How has Merzlikins done since being All-Rookie you ask? I’ll preface this by saying the Blue Jackets have been pretty bad over this stretch. But Merzlikins has regressed big time. He’s a collective 55-70-22 in 158 appearances with a .901 SV% and 3.38 GAA. Again, I know Columbus is bad but Merzlikins’ numbers have declined in every season since he was a rookie. Plus, his contract isn’t great. He’s owed $5.4 million on average through 2026-27. If Fitz deals for Merzlikins and it doesn’t pan out, it could set the franchise back another handful of season.
Jacob Markstrom, Calgary Flames
You’re probably surprised to see Markstrom at No. 5 on a top-5 but let me explain a bit. The other three options are better just maybe not as attainable depending on the price or if that team wants to make a move. Markstrom feels sort of like the default setting for the Devils in the goalie market. The easiest path appears to be Markstrom since Fitz tried to get him during the season. Fitz has also dealt with Calgary previously a few times.
Markstrom would be a fine addition, however, just not the best in my eyes. He’s signed for two more seasons at a $6 million cap hit. Chances are the Flames take on some of that salary and the Devils are hit at around $3-4 million per season for two seasons, which is fine for a starting caliber goalie. Markstorm is 34 years old but has really only been a starter the past seven seasons. In 2012-22, the Flames won the Pacific Division with 111 points thanks in large part to the play of Markstrom, who finished second in Vezina Trophy voting that season. He wouldn’t be a bad stop-gap while the Devils look for a legit-long term option. New Jersey could also just jump from one goalie to the next so long as the forwards and defense are playing at a high level.
Filip Gustavsson, Minnesota Wild
The Wild just re-signed Marc-Andre Fleury for 2024-25 and have 2021 first-rounder Jesper Wallstedt waiting in the wings. With teams not taking as much time to develop goalies, Wallstedt could start 2024-25 with Minnesota in a tandem with Fleury. If that’s the case, the Wild could look to shore up other positions by moving Gustavsson, who is 25 years old and signed at $3.75M through 2025-26.
Gustavsson was acquired via trade from the Ottawa Senators in 2022. He wasted no time breaking out, going 22-9-7 with a .931 SV% and 2.10 GAA in 39 appearances in 2022-23 in a time-share with Fleury. Had Gustavsson started more games, he likely would have been a Vezina Trophy finalist that season. Gustavsson regressed a bit this past season but the Wild weren’t as good and had big issues on the blue line outside of rookie sensation Brock Faber.
Gutsavsson feels like the perfect combination of things for Fitz and the Devils. He’s young at 25 and signed short-term. If Gustavsson pans out then New Jersey can sign him long-term as the starter of the future. If things don’t work out, the Devils aren’t tied to Gustavsson and could easily move him after 2024-25 given his term and salary.
Linus Ullmark, Boston Bruins
If the Bruins decide to give Jeremy Swayman a long-term contract this offseason, it could mean the team moves Ullmark’s $5 million cap hit for 2024-25. It’s pretty remarkable given Ullmark won the Vezina Trophy in 2022-23 for that historic regular-season Boston team. Despite his numbers regressing a bit this season, Ullmark still split starts with Swayman, alternating games. Ullmark finished 22-10-7 with a 2.57 GAA and .915 SV%. The Bruins weren’t nearly as dominant but those numbers are still fine.
The thing I like about the Devils grabbing Ullmark is it likely won’t cost them much and is a one-season rental. Ullmark would be paired with the veteran Allen but should still be able to start the bulk of the games at 31 years old (Ullmark turns 31 this summer). The Devils aren’t tied to anyone long-term and can either bring back Ullmark on a short-term deal if he plays well or let him walk in free agency. This also lines the Devils up to make a run at the next goalie we’ll discuss.
Juuse Saros, Nashville Predators
Saros is entering the final year of his contract worth an average annual value of $5 million. The Predators have pending UFA Kevin Lankinen, who has been a serviceable backup goalie and 2020 first-round pick Yaroslav Askarov. Similar to the Wild’s situation, if Nashville doesn’t want to pay Saros a big contract in free agency next offseason, the team could opt to deal him this offseason or during 2024-25. It makes more sense for the Preds to deal Saros before the 2024 NHL Draft to recoup some assets. Either find a different goalie or re-sign Lankinen, and go into next season with Askarov as the top goalie.
If that’s the route Nashville takes, Fitzgerald should be doing all he can to bring in Saros and sign him to an extension. I’m sure there are a lot of people who are against signing goaltenders long-term for big money. We’re going to see that bite the Tampa Bay Lightning with Andrei Vasilevskiy. But it’s also worked out for teams like the Florida Panthers and Winnipeg Jets with Sergei Bobrovsky and Connor Hellebuyck. So with the Devils’ core of Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Dougie Hamilton, Luke Hughes and Timo Meier locked in, adding Saros could push the Devils into Cup contender mode for the rest of this decade.
Fitz would have some time to move things around before needing to pay Saros big money before the 2025-26 season. Saros spent time behind Hall of Fame goalie Pekka Rinne before becoming the full-time starter in 2021-22. Since that season, Saros ranks second in wins with 106 and seventh in save percentage at .915 among goalies with at least 100 games played. His GAA is 2.73 over this span but it was also during a transition period between head coach Peter Laviolette into John Hynes and now Andrew Brunette.
Saros’ next contract is key. He’s set to turn 30 during next season. If Fitz can deal for Saros and get him signed on a 5-6 year contract, that would be better than having to go 7-8 seasons. Saros has led the NHL in games played at goalie in each of the past three seasons. His miles are getting up there but he should still be in his prime through at least the next 3-4 seasons. Perhaps shelling out more money for shorter term is the way to go. If so, that gives the Devils a good window to compete for a championship with the core and Saros.
