The New Jersey Devils made a few huge splashes in free agency this year. Dougie Hamilton was obviously the top prize. He was by far the best defenseman on the market, and everyone in the analytics community agrees he’s ready to be a top defender alongside this Devils team. Tomas Tatar was a great move to add some scoring to the top of the lineup. He has struggled in the playoffs, which likely scared off some teams, but the Devils have to make the playoffs for it to matter.
The real interesting piece was the price the Devils paid for Jonathan Bernier.