Jan 9, 2015; Newark, NJ, USA; New Jersey Devils coach Scott Stevens (L) and Adam Oates (R) confer with general manager Lou Lamoriello (C) against the New York Islanders during the third period at the Prudential Center. The Islanders defeated the Devils 3-2 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
As the 2014-2015 NHL regular season gets closer and closer to ending, the New Jersey Devils once again have found themselves on the outside of the playoff race. This is a team that never truly got things going in the right direction on a consistent basis which was due in large part to a flawed roster that was full of forwards that were too old and defensemen that were too young. While it has been evident for some time that change is needed, what isn’t quite clear is how GM Lou Lamoriello and the rest of the organization will accomplish that seemingly monumental task.
This off-season will be very important for the organization as they are set to have a large amount of unrestricted free-agents and are expected to have a high (potential 1st overall) draft pick in a draft that is considered to be one of the deepest in recent years. With the potential for a lot of free-agency activity and some good draft picks, trading could also be a way for the Devils to start turning things around. The other writers and I have already discussed who we would trade the Devils 1st round pick this year for, but now we want to focus on which Devils we feel can be considered “untouchable” via trade.
The rules for this were simple, each writer picks only one player they feel is “untouchable” and no player can be picked more than once. Each player picked has been chosen for a specific set of reasons (leadership, scoring, potential, value to the team, etc.) and each writer was asked to explain in his opinion why that player fits the term “untouchable” in their eyes.
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