Everything considered, the New Jersey Devils are going to be sellers at this year’s trade deadline. While the majority of their trade candidates are players with expiring contracts like Marcus Johansson, Brian Boyle, Ben Lovejoy and Keith Kinkaid, other players speculated to be available—for the right price—are veterans Andy Greene and Travis Zajac.As the deadline draws near, this year’s buyers and sellers are becoming more identifiable and while teams won’t be falling over each other for what the Devils have to offer, some teams will certainly find value in New Jersey’s trade candidates as fallbacks in case they fail to acquire higher-profile targets, along with more cap-friendly trade options that they can give up less to attain.
Taking their needs and current standing in the playoff race, here are five teams that can potentially be trade partners with the Devils at the trade deadline.
Anaheim Ducks
Since Ray Shero took the helm as general manager, New Jersey and Anaheim have formed a history of trading with each other. The Ducks have been a bubble team in the Western Conference this season and struggle mightily with scoring—currently 30th in the league in goals scored and 28th on the power play. Granted injuries are certainly factoring in Anaheim’s subpar performance, it’s opened over $7 million in cap space from LTIR designations, giving the Ducks enough flexibility to bolster up for a late-season playoff push.
If they’re going into the trade deadline as buyers, the Ducks could have considerable interest in New Jersey’s top trade candidate, Marcus Johansson. Capable of playing either wing (and center if needed), Johansson could slot anywhere in Anaheim’s top nine and help the team shore up on their offensive depth.
The Ducks may also be interested in someone like Brian Boyle. Although he is a few years older than Johansson, Boyle would bolster Anaheim’s already-strong face-off numbers and could even help improve their power play, where he’s scored six of his 13 goals this season. Boyle is renowned for parking himself in front of the net on the man-advantage, where he takes slot passes and buries rebounds. Both Johansson and Boyle stand over 6’5 and would be physically adept to the style and pace of play in the Western Conference.