New Jersey Devils Officially Sellers After OT Loss To New York Rangers
By Nick Villano
The New Jersey Devils blew a third-period lead to their rivals, the New York Rangers. The eventual loss officially made them sellers in this week’s Trade Deadline.
After a terrible first period, the New Jersey Devils made an amazing comeback on the hands of Kyle Palmeiri. He scored two third-period goals less than a minute apart to put them ahead 3-2.
Like what feels like every single Devils third period lead, the team blew it.
There was some bad luck again for the Devils, and this is the proverbial nail in the season’s coffin. The good news is this all happened before the NHL Trade Deadline. Now the team can build some of their assets for next season.
The team has some good assets for trade this season.
The team has a few players who are unrestricted free agents at the end of the season. The one player most people think is assured to be traded is Kyle Quincey.
The former Detroit Red Wings defenseman signed just before the season with the Devils, joining the team at the end of September. According to Cap Friendly, he is making just $1.25 million this season. Almost any team in the league would be able to fit his salary under their cap, and most teams could sorely use a depth defenseman.
More from Pucks and Pitchforks
- Should New Jersey Devils Try Load Management With Vitek Vanecek?
- New Jersey Devils Will Prove That Last Year Wasn’t A Fluke
- New Jersey Devils: Luke Hughes’ Playmaking Will Outshine His Mistakes
- New Jersey Devils: Chase Stillman’s Performance Causes Concern
- Can Devils Fans Separate Zach Parise Heartbreak From Achievements?
P.A. Parenteau and Keith Kinkaid are both unrestricted free agents at the end of the season, which probably means General Manager Ray Shero is shopping them to everyone who listens.
How much more the Devils will do is up for debate. What isn’t debatable is how much losing out on one point against the red-hot Rangers hurts. The Devils got lucky with the New York Islanders getting smashed by the Columbus Blue Jackets, but that isn’t going to do anything to erase a now seven point deficit with just 21 games left.
It is sad to say, but it looks like this will be the fifth straight season without playoffs. At least this year, the Devils did it in enough time to evaluate the team prior to the Trade Deadline.