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William Nylander And 5 Other Players New Jersey Devils Could Trade For Today

By Nick Villano

CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 24: General manager Ray Shero of the New Jersey Devils speaks on the phone during the 2017 NHL Draft at United Center on June 24, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 24: General manager Ray Shero of the New Jersey Devils speaks on the phone during the 2017 NHL Draft at United Center on June 24, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

GUSTAV NYQUIST

How many more times do I have to bring this up? Gustav Nyquist has needed a change of scenery for years now. He still has that talent in his system that helped him score 28 goals in 57 games back in 2013-14. Yes, that’s now five seasons ago, but last year he showed he could get back his scoring stroke pretty easily.

After hitting rock bottom in 2016-17, where Nyquist only scored 12 goals, he came back with 21 goals last season. This season, he’s off to a slightly slow start when it comes to lighting the lamp, but he’s been good at setting up his linemates.

He has just two goals, but recorded 13 assists early in this season. Those numbers won’t jump out at anyone, but Nyquist will fill some of the Devils most glaring needs. He provides them a middle six winger who can score consistently when he’s right. He would vastly upgrade the Devils second power play unit, even if most of his goals came at 5v5 last season. He could immediately go on a line with either Pavel Zacha and Jesper Bratt or Travis Zajac and Joey Anderson. That line would immediately see a major upgrade.

Nyquist is a free agent at the end of the season. That works for the Devils in two ways. For one, if he doesn’t work out they can move on with no issues. If he comes here, and the 2017 version of Nyquist shows up, then he is an issue for a few months. If the young, vibrant Nyquist shows up they can try to re-sign him. Also, that makes his price fall completely. He won’t cost nearly as much as the other players on this list.

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