New Jersey Devils: Best Addition And Worst Subtraction Of The Summer

Now that the off-season seems to be slowing down, we have a pretty good idea of every team's roster heading into this upcoming year. In this segment, we will be going over the best addition and worst subtraction for each of them. Something important to note is that players who were re-signed or given extensions will not be eligible for the "best addition" section. The same applies for picks from this year's NHL Entry Draft.

In this piece, we will be focusing on the New Jersey Devils. They had themselves a wonderful off-season, as they brought in a number of good players. As a result of this, they look a lot more competitive heading into this upcoming season and should not be near the bottom of the league again. They will be a very entertaining team to watch because of not only their summer transactions, but also their youth. Things should get better for New Jersey from here.

Best Addition: Dougie Hamilton D

Ryan Graves, Jonathan Bernier and Tomas Tatar are all very good additions, but Dougie Hamilton is clearly the best of the bunch. The 28-year-old defenseman was the biggest free agent on the market and the Devils should be thrilled to have him. With the Carolina Hurricanes, Hamilton not only improved offensively, but also defensively. Now, he's a legitimate top-pairing defenseman and they have him locked up for seven years. This past season was a very strong one for him as well, as he had 10 goals and 42 points in 55 games. This signing perfectly shows that the Devils are looking to get out of their rebuild.

Worst Subtraction: Ryan Murray D

One player who the Devils may miss is defenseman Ryan Murray. In 48 games this past season with them, he recorded 14 assists. The contract he signed with the Colorado Avalanche is very cheap, as it is just $2 million for the season. The 2012 second overall pick could have been nice to re-sign for the bottom-pair. He has the ability to play top-four minutes as well because of his strong defensive play. If they kept him around, their blueline would have looked better on paper.