Daniel Sprong (© Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images)The New Jersey Devils are entering what should be a busy off-season. Management has confirmed that they will be making changes to their roster as they look to take that next step and become legitimate contenders.
The Devils are entering this off-season with several pending free agents. One of them is forward Daniel Sprong, and the Devils now must decide if they plan to re-sign him or let him leave through free agency.
Sprong has openly expressed the desire to stay with the Devils and had some high praise for head coach Sheldon Keefe at the end of the season. However, time will tell if he ends up getting a new deal with the Devils.
After being acquired by the Devils from the Seattle Kraken, Sprong was quiet offensively. In 11 regular-season games with New Jersey following the move, he recorded two assists. He also had a minus-1 rating in 11:07 of ice time in his lone post-season game with the Devils this spring.
While Sprong had a tough season split between the Vancouver Canucks, Seattle Kraken, and Devils, his past success shows that he could have the potential to bounce back if given another chance. During the 2022-23 season with the Kraken, he had 21 goals and 46 points in 66 games. He then followed that up with 18 goals and 43 points in 76 contests with the Detroit Red Wings in 2023-24. Thus, he has been impactful in a bottom-six role not very long ago, so it will be interesting to see if the Devils take another chance on him with a one-year, prove-it deal.
However, at the same time, it would also be understandable if the Devils went in a different direction with Sprong. As noted above, Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald plans to make changes to the team's roster, and one area he could look to switch up in particular is New Jersey's bottom six.
Nevertheless, it will be fascinating to see what happens between Sprong and the Devils from here.
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