New Jersey Devils Trade Partner: Pittsburgh Penguins

The New Jersey Devils currently have the former Pittsburgh Penguins GM Ray Shero making moves for them. Surprisingly, we haven’t seen a lot of moves between the two teams, but that can change this offseason.

The New Jersey Devils are currently chasing the Pittsburgh Penguins, among other teams, for contention in the Metropolitan Division. Since they are division rivals, one wouldn’t think that many trades would go down between the teams, but as we saw in the past calendar year that isn’t the case.

The Devils made trades with the Rangers and the Capitals in recent memory. It brought the Devils the name player in both deals. Say what you will about Michael Grabner, but he was the best player in that trade at the time. Same goes for Marcus Johansson for two mid-round draft picks. Could the Devils make a similar move this offseason with a team Ray Shero is very familiar with?

It’s been three years since Shero joined the Devils as GM. Since then, the Pittsburgh Penguins look completely different. They’ve won two Stanley Cups with an ever changing roster. This season, they ran out of gas against the Caps, but they remain contenders on a high level.

The Pens will likely look to make a few changes this offseason. One rumor that was unexpected, and could be unfounded, is the team is looking to deal Phil Kessel. If that’s the case, the Devils should make a call quickly.

Since Kessel landed with the Penguins, he took whatever role they gave to him. He came in as a superstar, but accepted a role as a third-line scoring wing. While the rumors do stem from Kessel’s displeasure with playing away from Evgeni Malkin, he still contributed at a very high level.

Kessel’s cap hit looks bad at first ($6.8 million for four more seasons), but he scored 34 goals and added a career high 58 assists. He’s contributing no matter where he lands on the Penguins lines. The Devils could sorely use Kessel, but there are a few things that could get in the way.

First and foremost, Kessel has a modified no-trade clause. Nobody knows which teams are on the list, but that list may have changed with the success of the Devils and Kessel’s rumored dissatisfaction with the franchise. He may be more willing to wave that clause if things between him and head coach Mike Sullivan are as bad as they sound.

Also, it’s hard to put a price on Kessel. When the Penguins made the trade to acquire him from the Maple Leafs, they got Kessel, two prospects and a second-round pick for a late first-round pick, a third round pick, Kasperi Kapanen, Scott Harrington (who’s now on the Blue Jackets), and Nick Spaling (who’s now playing in Europe).

The Leafs did trade the first-round pick to acquire Freddy Andersen, who’s been great, but the deal on paper doesn’t look like a king’s ransom.

So, three years later and more issues with the franchise, how much is Kessel worth?

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He’s won’t come cheap, but the Devils could possibly get out of this deal without losing a first-round pick. I think the Penguins would love to have Blake Coleman on their team. He’s the type of player that would excel in that system. I also think they’d ask about Pavel Zacha, but one of the reasons you get Kessel is to build up Zacha. I think they’d try to push the Pens towards John Quenneville. If that’s the case, the Penguins may demand the team’s first rounder.

If the Devils make this deal happen, I think it would happen after the draft. That means were talking about 2019 draft picks. So, here’s how a deal can go down.

The Devils acquire Phil Kessel, the Penguins acquire Blake Coleman, John Quenneville, and the 2019 first-round pick.

Honestly, I’m not thrilled with that deal. It’s taking out a glue guy in Coleman, a prospect who could get a defenseman in Quenneville, and the first-round pick, which could be anywhere. Kessel would be a nice addition, but he doesn’t change the narrative completely for the Devils like a star defenseman would. It may not be the right move for the team at this point.

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