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Offseason Rumors / Free Agency: UFAs - Miles Wood |
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Offseason Rumors / Free Agency: UFAs - Miles Wood
Good morning Devils fan. A lot of scuttlebut has been picking up as we approach the draft regarding trades and our pending RFAs. Per Elliotte Friedman, the Devils have been receiving calls regarding Yegor Sharangovich and, surprisingly, Mackenzie Blackwood. Maybe seeing a goalie like Adin Hill have off years and then bounce back in a new environment gives a team the idea that the same could happen with Blackwood. I’ll be the first person to say that Blackwood is no Adin Hill. But I could see a team with a strong defensive core help boost Blackwood’s confidence in play and make him a decent backup option. Sharangovich doesn’t surprise me at all. I can see him being dealt before the draft.
Some interesting names have been thrown our way as well regarding upcoming UFAs. First is Ivan Barbashev in Vegas. He put up good numbers both in the regular season (6G-10A-16P in 23 Games) and playoffs (7G-11A-18P in 22 Games). Also, Vegas will have to decide who to re-sign with a projected cap space of less that $4M and pending free agents Adin Hill and Brett Howden to name a few. Barbashev could be a great option to fill out our top or middle 6, gain depth, and scoring potential, particularly in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, Elliotte Friedman has reported that Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck, who is an UFA following this upcoming season, has the Devils as a team he wouldn’t mind coming to. The drawback: he’s looking for a long term contract at the end of next season and a big salary upgrade. Do I think GM Tom Fitzgerald takes the bait and makes a rental trade? I’m not sure. If it’s for the right price, I say take a shot, especially if Winnipeg is willing to retain some salary. But if the asking price includes Vanacek or Schmid, due to Winnipeg’s lack of goalie depth in their system, I’d be extremely hesitant. Don’t get me wrong, Hellebuyck has had some good years over the last few seasons and a good amount of steady playoff experience. However, besides the 2018 Conference Final year, he doesn’t have a ton of deep runs into the playoffs and struggled this year. I wouldn’t want to hedge our bets and future if it means losing an important player, particularly Schmid comes to mind.
Here’s to hoping the Devils can keep adding without taking steps backward.
Here are the UFAs currently on the Devils’ roster:
Offense:
Erik Haula - Suggest resigning at $2M for 2-3 years with bonuses to offset bidding war
Tomas Tatar - Let him walk
Miles Wood
Defense:
Ryan Graves
Goaltending:
Jonathan Bernier
Potential Leftover Cap - $10,532,500
Our next UFA to discuss is:
Miles Wood
Fun Fact: Miles Wood once sent a letter to Alexander Ovechkin as a kid, asking for an autograph on his Ovechkin card as a kid. Wood said if he didn’t get the card, Ovechkin would get checked. No one knows what happened to the card but Ovechkin signed a photo for Wood before their first game facing each other. Talking about Miles Wood in his youth, he also played on a pee-wee minor league team with future short-lived Devils teammate, Jon Gillies.
Player Profile and Season Storyline:
Drafted at 100 in 2013 (the same year and round as Ryan Graves and Mason Geertsen), Miles Wood has developed into a fast skating, gritty 2-way forward. After cutting his teeth in the New England region between high school and college hockey, Wood started his Devils tenure in 2016. He would carve a niche for himself as a bullet-quick bottom 6 forward who could create something out of nothing with reflexes and physical play. He’s been consistently on some variation of the BMW Line with Nathan Bastian and Michael McLeod. While McLeod proved to be a diamond in the rough during our playoff run this year, Wood showed his limitations, making poor penalty decisions and bad plays. He did score 2 goals but that shouldn’t overshadow his shortcomings in my opinion.
Stat Analysis:
This season, Miles Wood went 13G-14A-27P in 76 GP while recording 2 goals in 8 games this playoffs. Over the past few seasons, he’s proved to be a mid-20 point player. The downside is that he hasn’t grown his game much since then. Notably, his defensive play isn’t great with his plus minus rating ranging from a +1 to -21 since becoming an NHL regular. Meanwhile, he can be counted on to get called for a penalty, serving 76 penalty minutes in as many games.
Benefits and Drawbacks for Bringing Back:
Benefits - Speedy winger on the 4th line. You know what you are going to get from him.
Drawbacks - Hasn’t really expanded his skill set over the years. Lacks being a decent threat in the playoffs. Poor decision making and penalty liability.
Should we keep him:
Verdict - Let him walk. Miles Wood 5 years ago was exciting to watch. Fast, gritty, and constantly dangerous. Unfortunately, his NHL pedigree hasn’t matured much since. Teams have also figured out how to neutralize that threat, particularly in playoff situations. We can’t trust him not to take foolish penalties at crucial times. He was given a $3.2M contract following an arbitration and he hasn’t proved himself worthy of a new one.
That leaves our cap situation as:
Potential Leftover Cap - $10,532,500
Leave your thoughts or comments below. Raise Hell!
-Josh Biringer
New Jersey Devils Blogger • 
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