Three Too-Early Offer Sheet Targets for the New Jersey Devils

After Tom Fitzgerald's comments about offer sheets, let's take a look at who the Devils could have on their radar.

In a recent article from The Athletic, written by Michael Russo and Chris Johnston, New Jersey Devils’ GM Tom Fitzgerald was quoted as saying that the Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg offer sheets were “smart and probably an eye-opener.” He also said that “You’re betting on the upside and future with restricted free agents versus you’re betting on the past with unrestricted free agents.”

No kidding, right? It feels like most people have been begging for hockey general managers to become more creative with the things they do and the acquisitions they make. St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong took a huge step in the right direction with the dual offer sheets last off-season. Contending GMs generally did a good job at the trade deadline, sacrificing their futures for win-now pieces, which is what every contender should be doing. Perhaps a new leaf is turning and NHL GMs are becoming fun — and, with Fitzgerald’s quote, maybe the Devils have something creative up their sleeves.

With that in mind, let’s look at my top three offer sheet targets for the Devils (in no particular order). It’s important to note that offer sheet compensation prices have not been announced yet and will not be until late June, but one can still discuss potential fits:

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JJ Peterka

First on the list is 23-year-old left wing JJ Peterka of the Buffalo Sabres. He’s in the midst of what should be his second consecutive 25-plus goal season and has become a top line caliber player this season. He’s upped his playmaking aptitude this season too, already logging a career-high 37 assists and 60 total points.

His defensive game certainly lacks polish, but he is a dual threat from an offensive standpoint. He shoots well more than average and is has scored well above expected since he broke out — the Devils could certainly use a plus-finisher in the top six and Peterka scored 28 goals on 22.11 individual expected goals (ixG) last season and has scored 23 on 17.19 ixG this season so far.

From a playmaking standpoint, Peterka excels at finding high-danger opportunities, and it’s a direct result of his elite vision. He has a fundamental understanding of the game and knows where his teammates and opponents are at all times. This lets him execute passes to the slot at high efficiency and operating on a no-look capacity at times as well. In transition, the puck is likely better suited on the stick of better playdrivers, but Peterka is still a plus in that regard even if it isn’t necessarily his forte. He would be the perfect player alongside Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt.

via AllThreeZones

There’s no reason to believe that the Sabres wouldn’t want to keep Peterka on their roster — Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams has been on record as saying there were no trade discussions revolving him, but I don’t believe that’s true. The Sabres are in a bit of a predicament next season, though, with $23 million in cap space but several key players looking for contract extensions (Peterka, Ryan McLeod, Bowen Byram, Jack Quinn, and Devon Levi) plus a couple more the year after that (Zach Benson, Peyton Krebs). This can easily be exploited by a team willing to be creative. Peterka would be at the top of my list if it weren’t for those circumstances, but the existential cap crisis looming in Buffalo definitely makes it all the more appealing. I would send a max-term, $8 million offer sheet to Peterka without thinking twice — that would cost the Devils their 2026 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, assuming that still is the case when prices get announced closer to July 1.

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Gabriel Vilardi

Next up is 25-year-old Gabriel Vilardi, who is in the midst of a career season with the Winnipeg Jets. The right-winger has logged three consecutive 20-plus-goal seasons and is quickly closing in on 30 in 2024-25.

There are some concerns with Vilardi’s game — I don’t think he is a particularly capable playdriver at 5v5 and 12 of his 27 goals have come on the man-advantage. Still, he has shown to be a plus-finishing winger who can keep pace with higher-octane players — the same sort of guys the Devils already have (Hughes, Bratt, Meier, Hischier).

He, like Peterka, has defensive deficiencies, but those are largely erased by the offense he contributes to. Vilardi is a career 18.2% shooter — one of the more efficient numbers in the league in that regard — and has scored above-expected in every season of his semi-short career. Over the past three seasons, he’s scored 23 goals on 17.02 ixG, 22 on 19.62, and, this season, 27 on 19.89. He gets himself in prime scoring positions in open ice in the offensive zone, and largely capitalizes on his opportunities. Again, seems like the perfect fit in New Jersey.

via Evolving-Hockey

The Jets have north of $36 million in cap space next season, but outside of Vilardi, have some key players to re-sign. Neal Pionk is due for a large pay-raise, as are Nikolaj Ehlers and Dylan Samberg. Past that, they will also need to extend (or let go of) Alex Iafallo, Brandon Tanev, Mason Appleton, Morgan Barron, and a couple of other minor pieces. After 2025-26, Kyle Connor and Cole Perfetti are looking at massive raises and the bulk of their team will be expiring too. It might be worth a flier for the Devils to send a mid-term (3-5 year) offer sheet worth $7-ish million to the Jets for Vilardi. Assuming that the compensation brackets are different, whatever the max-value deal for the compensation that includes a 2026 1st and 3rd should be a reasonable deal to send to the up-and-coming goal-scorer.

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Marco Rossi

Finally, there is Marco Rossi. The Devils are in dire need of a legitimate third-line center who can play meaningful time in the top-six should injuries plague the team again, and Rossi would be the perfect addition. He finally came into his own last season, with a 21-goal, 40-point campaign before really breaking onto the map this year. He’s played in an exclusively top-six role, playing a significant amount of time on Minnesota’s top line and scoring 23 goals and 56 points so far as a result.

Rossi has been an incredibly effective player on both sides of the ice. Offensively, he is and has been one of the Wild’s best playdrivers, excelling at passing while in transition and generating high-danger looks while in the cycle. He is superb at extending possessions with active and efficient forechecking, playing like someone a foot taller than his 5’9 frame. From a defensive standpoint, Rossi excels at puck retrievals in the zone, being quick to swoop in and bring the puck through the neutral zone with great success. He positions himself well and pushes play to the perimeter of the zone.

Rossi is third on the team (among uninjured players) in xGF% with a solid 53.38%. His defensive metrics are middle-of-the-pack relative to the rest of the Wild, but

via Evolving-Hockey

Despite reports that Wild GM Bill Guerin has regained his acceptance of Rossi in his roster, I still have a hunch that things are rocky on that front simply by proxy of how many trade rumors there have been and the fact that there have been no reports on contract extensions picking up. The Devils would be extremely smart to take a flier on a player who has been dragged through the mud a bit during his tenure, and largely for no reason at that.

I will note that it’s likely that the Wild match whatever offer the Devils send toward Rossi unless it’s excessively high. They have plenty of cap space (~$22 million) with most of their core locked up. Still, if I were Tom Fitzgerald, I would certainly send a max-term offer sheet worth around $8 million to Rossi — that would likely result in a loss of their 2026 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rounders, which is more than reasonable for the Austrian-born center.

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Hopefully, the Devils pull off something creative, in the form of an offer sheet. They’re extremely effective tools and it’s much better to pay that salary to a player in their early-mid 20s than their early-mid 30s. Past these three, there are plenty of intriguing options: Kaapo Kakko, Matthew Knies, Evan Bouchard, Noah Dobson, Dmitri Voronkov, Mason McTavish, Fabian Zetterlund, Ryan McLeod, Morgan Frost, Tyson Foerster, Cam York, Connor Zary, Jack Quinn, Alex Laferriere, and Will Cuylle just to name a whole bunch. While the three I listed above are who I’d prefer of the bunch, any of those names would be productive additions.

This off-season should be an incredibly fun one for the Devils and their fans, and I hope more than anything else that Fitzgerald has the cajones to pull off an offer sheet.