New Jersey Devils Should Not Go After Brendan Smith

The New York Rangers just placed defenseman Brendan Smith on waivers. While it is a position of need for the New Jersey Devils, they should still look elsewhere.

What a surprise coming from the other side of the Hudson River on Thursday afternoon. The New York Rangers waived defenseman Brendan Smith less than a year after signing him to a four-year deal. The big question now, should the New Jersey Devils make a move?

Smith’s current cap hit is $4.35 million for three more years after this one. That’s a hefty price to pay when you see Damon Severson, who is younger and has more upside, has a cap hit of $4.1 million. However, it’s hard to argue Smith isn’t filling a position of need.

Picking up Smith would give the Devils the flexibility to trade John Moore at the deadline. They could even try to trade away Ben Lovejoy’s contract as well. The Devils already have a logjam of defensemen now that Mirco Mueller has returned, and that’s with Steve Santini in the minors.

Claiming Smith on waivers would cost nothing but money and ice time. That has to be attractive for GM Ray Shero. Getting a player from your cross-town rival for free has to mean something as well.

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However, even with all these facts, it isn’t worth it. Smith isn’t the kind of player who’s going to immediately jump to the first line. He won’t play over the likes of Sami Vatanen or Will Butcher. He’s probably a third-pairing guy the way he’s played this season. The Devils already have that in Mueller, Lovejoy and Santini. Even if the Devils trade Moore, they still have the defenseman to put out the caliber of Smith.

Putting the biased hate against the Rangers aside, there’s not too much good that can come with claiming this player. It takes one of their biggest assets, cap space, and dwindles it. It wouldn’t kill them next season, but will probably hurt them when trying to sign their biggest players like Taylor Hall, Marcus Johansson and Miles Wood.

Smith is a decent defenseman, but he isn’t going to fix the Devils issues overnight. He’s an asset, but not one that will turn around this team’s blue line. Sure, he comes for free, but sometimes things seem too good to be true. The Devils should stay away and look elsewhere to upgrade the team.