Devils Should Pursue Maple Leafs Forward

The New Jersey Devils training camp opened today, under the guidance of their new bench boss, Sheldon Keefe.

The former Toronto Maple Leafs coach is ready to get things underway in New Jersey. However, he will be doing so without one of his favorite forwards.

Calle Jarnkrok could be on his way out of Toronto due to their tight salary cap situation.

Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving will need to make a move before the end of the pre-season to become compliant with the NHL salary cap rules, and there is a strong possibility it could be one of Jarnkrok or David Kampf.

If Jarnkrok becomes available and the Devils have the cap space to make the deal work, they should. During Keefe's time with the Maple Leafs, he would use Jarnkrok in just about every situation.

First it was Alex Kerfoot, and once he left and signed with the Arizona Coyotes, now Utah Hockey Club, Keefe quickly had Jarnkrok as his go-to guy.

At times, Jarnkrok would play on the top line with Auston Matthews, be an additional shooter on the top power play unit, and would be a mainstay on their PK unit.

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If he joined the Devils, he would be an Ondrej Palat 2.0 and be used in all the same situations as Palat will be. The only difference is that Keefe would know what he would get from Jarnkrok on a nightly basis.

At just $2.1 million, Jarnkrok is a good versatile option for any NHL team that can afford him. He can play down the middle or on the wing. He can be on a PP or PK unit; he forechecks hard and has a ton of speed.

He could easily slot into the Devils' top nine and be an effective player. Also, the asking price would likely be cenered around draft capital, which is doable for New Jersey. It's a win-win for the Devils.