Nico Hischier’s Commitment to Devils Remains Unwavering
When Nico Hischier put pen to paper on a seven-year contract extension in October 2019, the New Jersey Devils were an organization searching for direction.
Video Transcript
Do you think that this is gonna be a good fit for the Devils and, and are you surprised that it took this long for Mantha to sign a contract?
I'm not surprised it took very, th- this long because I think there are a lot of doubters out there about Anthony Mantha, not, in his ability.
He's always had ability.
It's his availability.
It's the fact that, you know, he scored 25 goals, I think it was six seasons ago, and it took ano- it took six years h- for him to get up to a level where he scored his career high.
I, I, I think probably him and his agent were looking for a multi-year deal, probably f- three, four, five years, and that wasn't out there because nobody trusts that he can stay healthy.
He stayed healthy last year.
He had a great year.
But it was a good gamble on the part of K- Kyle Dubas and the Pittsburgh Penguins to sign him, and they got paid off, and now he's trying to get paid off, and he got a decent deal, but I think had he not had the record of being injured as much as he has had been in the past, I think he would've been able to have a bigger payday.
As for the Devils, they, you know, they added Evan Rodriguez.
They, now they add Mantha.
The problem is they don't have a goaltender.
They have three goalies.
When you have three goalies, you don't have a goalie.
So I would be surprised if you're not, i- if they were not in the Hellebuyck sweepstakes, but if they're gonna go with Nico Dawes and, a- and, David Rittich and Jake Allen, they're in trouble.
They're not a playoff team.
