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The New Jersey Devils haven't been very active in free agency but they did add one piece when they signed Brian Boyle to a two-year deal worth $2.75 million per.
I didn't get to write about the signing much at the time so I'm going to share my thoughts now.
1) Off the ice, I think Boyle is as good of an addition as a team can make. Anyone who has played with Boyle, coached him, covered him, or crossed paths with him, has nothing but good things to say. He works hard, he's a great team guy and will be a terrific role model for Pavel Zacha, Nico Hischier and any other young player who cracks the opening night roster.
2) Boyle wasn't brought in just to be a locker room presence, although that obviously played a role. Over the last three seasons, Boyle has averaged 14 goals per 82 games. Those are pretty good numbers for a guy who played a hair under 13 minutes per night in that span.
3) Boyle has averaged .73 goals per hour of 5v5 play over the last three seasons, which ties him with Nazem Kadri, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Marian Gaborik, among others. Boyle clearly isn't that caliber but he can play.
4) Boyle is primarily a center, and a pretty good one, but he can shift over and play left wing as well. The same can be said about several players on the Devils -- most notably Adam Henrique -- but it's always nice to have versatility. As a result of the center depth, the Devils will have two capable faceoff men on the ice a lot of the time. If someone gets tossed, they're still in a pretty good position to win the draw and get possession.
5) Over the last three seasons, 261 forwards have played at least 2,000 minutes at 5v5. Only 14 of them (5%) have started a lesser percentage of their shifts in the offensive zone than Boyle. Despite playing heavy defensive minutes, Boyle's teams allowed fewer shot attempts and goals per 60 with him on the ice than without. He is a very good defensive player.
6) Boyle's ability to handle tough defensive assignments will take a little of the burden off Travis Zajac (though his unit will still play some toughs) and free up the kid lines/offensive lines to play in more favorable situations
7) Boyle isn't as aggressive or assertive as you'd expect a guy his size to be, but he still has a little edge to his game. He'd have finished 2nd on the Devils in hits and penalty minutes last season.
8) Is $2.75 million per a lot for a depth forward? Sure, but the Devils still have a ridiculous amount of cap space right now so money isn't remotely important. In all seriousness, they could have given Boyle $5 million per and it'd make no difference. Management identified Boyle as a player who would help and (smartly) did what it took to get him.
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