BLOG: Devils Tender Qualifying Offers to Five Players

On Wednesday, the Devils General Manager Tom Fitzgerald announced the club has extended qualifying offers to Mackenzie Blackwood, Jesper Bratt, Joey Anderson and Nick Merkley and Colton White.
Blackwood is coming off a banner year where he posted a 22-14-8 record, a 2.77 goals against average and a .915 save percentage. At just 23 years old, Blackwood took over the starting goaltending position during the 2019-20 season. He also finished 6th in voting for the Calder Trophy, as the league's top rookie, finishing with one second-place vote, 16 third-place votes, 15 fourth-place votes and 32 fifth-place votes. He also finished second in voting for the goalie of the All Rookie Team.

Bratt just completed his third NHL season, where he scored a career-high 16 goals in 60 games. He finished the year with his highest shooting percentage, with a 15.8 percent success rate on 101 shots. In 185 NHL games Bratt has 37 goals, and 63 assists, to reach the 100-point mark.
Over the course of those final 39 games this season Bratt became one of the most depended on and reliable players, with the third-most points (25), behind only Kyle Palmieri (26) and Nikita Gusev (30).
Anderson suited up for 18 games with New Jersey this past season, recording six points, including four goals. He spent the majority of the year in Binghamton where he had 34 points in his 44 games, which included a 15-goal output. He was also named to the AHL All Star Classic.
Merkley joined the Devils this past season as part of the trade for Taylor Hall with Arizona. Merkley played four games with New Jersey, adding a goal and an assist.
On defense, the Devils have tendered a qualifying offer to White. White played six games with New Jersey during the 2019-20 season and another 45 with Binghamton. While with Binghamton, the 23-year-old recorded 12 points (1g, 11a).
The club has not tendered offers to forward John Hayden and defenseman Mirco Mueller.