New Jersey Devils general manager, Tom Fitzgerald, meant it when he said there were going to be changes. As such, Daniel Sprong needs to find a new home, and that might not be in the NHL.
The focus for the Devils GM this summer was to re-tool the bottom-six with the hope of acquiring depth scoring, and he now has Luke Hughes in focus as he works on an extension for the youngest Hughes brother.
As a result, essentially only a fourth of the bottom-six from last season remains in Paul Cotter and Cody Glass. The rest is seemingly new personnel after the additions of Connor Brown, Evgenii Dadonov, Juho Lammikko, and long-awaited arrival of Arseni Gritsyuk.
Despite Sprong’s lust to stay with the Devils, which he stated at exit interviews, it appears his next home could be in the KHL.
#KHL RUMOUR
Per @MikhailZislis report 👉 Avangard Omsk is interested in services of D Joseph Cecconi 🇺🇸 (Ontario Reign / AHL) & F Daniel Sprong 🇨🇦🇳🇱 (New Jersey Devils / NHL). CSKA Moscow wants to sign Sprong as well.
— KHL & EURO 🏒 TALK (@vorkywh24) July 13, 2025
It was just a small sample in New Jersey after playing the majority of the 2024-25 season in the American Hockey league. However, Sprong proved the doubters wrong. The concern when the Devils acquired the former 20-goal scorer was that his defensive game was lacking and he was susceptible to cheating in the neutral and defensive zones toward the offensive side of the ice.
However, Sprong believed Sheldon Keefe quickly got through to him as a player, and helped develop his defensive game in short order. As a result, Sprong crowned Keefe his favorite coach to play for, and reiterated his lust to stay with the Devils.
“Yeah, I loved it here. I love playing for him. I think he’s my favorite coach I played for in the NHL so far, and I’d really love to come back,” Sprong said at exit meetings.
Sprong made a believer out of himself and his teammates after proving he wasn’t just a one-trick pony. Unfortunately for the 28-year-old forward, it might have been too little, too late, for the 2025-26 season as he weighs his options in free agency.
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