New Jersey Devils Trade Deadline Profile: Chicago Blackhawks

The New Jersey Devils and Chicago Blackhawks could be trade partners now that the Blackhawks are back in the playoff race. There are a few players that could really fit their team, but cost could be an issue.

It’s been more than two decades since the New Jersey Devils and Chicago Blackhawks picked up the phone, assuming it was a landline back then, and ended up making a trade. November 18th, 1998, the Devils sent Bryan Muir for a 2000 third-round pick that ended up being Mike Rupp. The Devils and Blackhawks made three trades that year, so apparently they got all of it out of their system.

Well, this could be the year to break the drought. The Devils are one of the few real sellers at this NHL Trade Deadline, and the Chicago Blackhawks are surging, and are one of all the Western Conference teams that are still fighting to make the postseason. This makes them a match.

The only thing hurting the Devils chances of trading with the Blackhawks is they’ve been pretty active already. They flipped Nick Schmaltz for Dylan Strome and Brandon Perlinni. That’s a trade that really turned around their season. They also Slater Koekkoek from the Tampa Bay Lightning and Drake Caggiula from the Edmonton Oilers.

Obviously, they could still use another move or two to give themselves an advantage over the other Western Conference teams. The Devils could help them give them that extra piece.

So far this season, the Blackhawks have been making moves that help them now and in the future, but with Patrick Kane putting the team on his back and bringing them back to contention that might change. Either way, they will try to get a player that helps now and later.

The first ask they’ll make is Jesper Bratt. He’s very young, comes on a cheap contract and is once again finding his scoring stroke. Honestly, Ray Shero would ask them to wildly overpay for Bratt, making it not worth it for Chicago to even try.

Honestly, the Blackhawks will try to get all the big hitters. They’ll try to get Kyle Palmieri, Marcus Johansson, and they might even ask about Taylor Hall. The only thing that might hit is Johansson. He is a rental, but he could get them to the postseason. If Corey Crawford comes back and plays well, the Blackhawks would be a scary team in the first round.

The Devils could talk to the Blackhawks about an interesting deal, where they look to get Brandon Saad in exchange for Johansson. Since Mojo is a rental, the Devils would have to throw something else in, but it wouldn’t be a lot. Saad is still a really good player, and he’s just 26 years old. He is making $6 million per season, which is why the Blackhawks might look to move him.

That feels like an offseason move, however, especially since he’s performing for this team during their hot stretch.

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When it comes to draft picks, they’d be hard pressed to give up their first-round pick. They think this move could put them directly in a playoff position, but there’s always the possibility one injury could derail things again, and then the Devils have twice the capital in the lottery. If that pick ended up being in the top ten somehow, Blackhawks fans would be sick.

The Blackhawks would be more likely to give up prospects in return for Johansson. Adam Boqvist is off limits, as he’s basically this team’s version of Ty Smith. Dylan Sikura is another name that’s probably off limits. Henri Jokiharju is becoming an amazing defensive prospect, and someone the Devils would jump on in a Johansson deal, but again him and Boqvist will be able to help Chicago compete during the worst years of the Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith contracts.

Since Chicago is taking all the best prospects off the list, they will likely need to add multiple assets.

The two names popping out that the Devils would have interest in are Ian Mitchell and Evan Barratt. This could be a situation where the Devils accept getting less in terms of the top player in the deal if they get two players who have a high upside.

Mitchell is a former second-round pick who’s currently playing at the University of Denver. The Devils currently have Will Butcher on the team and Tariq Hammond in the minor leagues. Having two familiar faces could help the Devils bring Mitchell in now.

Barratt was playing for Team USA during the World Junors Classic this past season, and scored the game winning goal against Slovakia. Barratt is also playing in college, teammates with current Devils prospect Aarne Talvitie at Penn State. His numbers are very good, with 15 goals this year.

The Blackhawks are riddled with prospects, and just about everyone at the top is untouchable. That could force the Devils to make a move somewhere else, unless the Blackhawks make Saad available. If they do, Shero could make a move immediately for him. They might even throw in a middle round pick in the deal. Johansson would replace most of his production, but the Hawks probably don’t look to move him during this stretch.

The final trade has the Devils getting prospects Ian Mitchell and Evan Barratt for Marcus Johansson. There might even be a condition that the Blackhawks give up a third-round pick if they re-sign Johansson. It’s not the best deal the Devils could get for Johansson, but it might be the one they accept.