New Jersey Devils: Value Of Likely Trade Deadline Deals

Marcus Johansson

Marcus Johansson is the New Jersey Devils best trade deadline chip. He was an even better piece before he got injured last month. He’s a player who’s capable of being a 30-goal scorer, but just hasn’t found the right fit at the right time in his career. This is a deal that might go down to the wire because Ray Shero will ask for a lot to get the Swedish forward off his roster.

The conversations likely begin with a first-round pick, but most teams will be weary of giving that up due to his injury history. He missed most of last season with concussion issues, and now missed a few weeks with an upper-body injury. He’s back skating, so he could be back in the lineup any day now, but that injury history has to worry some teams.

That being said, this is an extremely talented forward who is still just 28 years old. He was playing with Pavel Zacha to start the season while he dealt with a terrible scoring drought. That really hurt his overall point total. He was playing well, but nobody was on his line to bury the puck. Teams will see that, and understand that if he plays with better established talent he’ll be worth much more.

Johansson’s value: 2nd-round pick and above-average prospect, or top-notch prospect

It’s very possible that Shero trades Johansson for a prospect that’s close to NHL ready, rather than using Johansson for draft capital. He’s too valuable still to just move for picks, which take a few years to develop based on where you take them. Johansson could give the Devils a young player that could produce as early as next season.