What will the Devils do with Nico Hischier?

The New Jersey Devils find themselves in an interesting spot with Nico Hischier. On one hand, the captain has been a staple on the team for the last nine seasons, and a big reason why the Devils are an imposing threat is the one-two punch they have down the middle with him and Jack Hughes. But on the other hand, with one year left on his contract next season, if there’s any sign that a deal can be done, do the Devils potentially explore the market for him and see what kind of return they get, instead of losing him for nothing?

Matt Larkin joined Daily Faceoff Live to talk about Hischier and how the offseason could unfold for the Devils with his looming contract talks.

Matt Larkin: New Jersey to me is one of the more confounding teams of the offseason because you’re coming off a playoff miss. When you bring in a new GM, theoretically, you get more of a blank slate and it’s more forgivable to go backward than to go forward. But there’s also this urgency with Jack Hughes on board and a team that’s expected to be winning now.

So I don’t know how Sunny Mehta is going to behave, even when it comes to guys like Dougie Hamilton. He was supposed to be a cap dump, and there was a blessing from his camp he was going to wave and he’ll go wherever he’s going to fit, where he can restart his career. But he was really good last year, analytically especially, and that’s someone that I think would appeal to a Sunny Mehta.

So with Nico Hischier as well, someone who’s got a great two-way game, I don’t know. I feel like, are all bets off and are things going to be completely revisited by this new regime? I’m not sure.

But with Hischier, I just think the demand for his services, similar to with Larkin, would be so high that you you have to at least explore it. And I know it was Pierre LeBrun who said it, but Montreal is an overwhelmingly good fit, in my opinion, for Nico Hischier.

You can watch the full episode here…