New Jersey Devils: What Would Make This Trade Deadline Successful?

Ever since Brian Boyle was traded, the New Jersey Devils have kept a relatively low profile with the trade deadline quickly approaching. That changed this morning when General Manager Ray Shero sent defenseman Ben Lovejoy to the Dallas Stars.

As we all know, the Devils are sellers, which makes most fans think Shero’s objective is to trade as many of his pending unrestricted free agents as possible for prospects and draft picks. Despite being in selling mode, even teams like the Devils who are implementing fire sales at this stage of the season can still acquire assets that make immediate impacts on their team and become mainstays for future plans.

With that said, it begs the question—what would constitute a successful NHL trade deadline by Shero?

To partly answer this question, we have to look at two things—the deals Shero has made so far and New Jersey’s remaining trade candidates. As previously mentioned, he has so far been successful in trading away two of his top trade chips in Brian Boyle and Ben Lovejoy, for whom he respectively received a 2019 second-round pick and a 2019 third-round pick, along with depth defenseman Connor Carrick.

These returns have reached or exceeded expectations, which we can consider a success on Shero’s part, but has also heightened expectations on what the Devils will receive in a potential trade for his most valuable trade chip, winger Marcus Johansson.

Although Johansson only has 27 points in 48 games this injury-riddled season, he’s tallied six of those goals and 12 points in his last 14 contests. Prior to his time in New Jersey, Johansson established himself as a reliable top-six forward capable of scoring at a 20-goal pace in the right situation, so any interested teams know what they’re getting. When looking at what Shero obtained in exchange for Boyle and Lovejoy, many Devils fans and analysts have speculated (or outright expect) the return to be greater for Johansson, who is likely being viewed by most teams as a fallback option in case they miss out on bigger fish.

In the right situation, a true success for Shero would be obtaining a return that ranges anywhere from a package equivalent to what he dealt when originally acquiring Johansson—a second and third round pick—or an NHL-ready prospect. Anything else is an overachievement.

Shero’s other viable trade candidate, goaltender Keith Kinkaid on the other hand, has not done much to broaden his appeal in recent weeks. This, along with a relatively bleak market for goaltending, will make moving him a steep uphill battle. At this point, Shero ought to try and move Kinkaid solely for the sake of moving him, unless a team—like I mentioned in an earlier article—sees value and potential in him, based on his play last season. If Shero manages to move Kinkaid at all, it should be considered a massive accomplishment in itself and Shero’s biggest hurdle, regardless of the return.

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Other names that have been tossed around like Andy Greene and Travis Zajac are definitely possible, but ultimately shouldn’t be moved unless it makes absolute sense. The contracts for both of these longtime Devils veterans extend beyond this season and the only way trading either of these two would help make this a successful deadline for Shero is if he receives an offer that he cannot refuse.

The trade deadline always has a few surprises up its sleeve, where players who aren’t even on the radar get moved, which is why it’s worth mentioning these two. To reiterate, the trade has to be purposeful to move Greene or Zajac, as Shero isn’t the kind of general manager to make an unexpected splash in the market solely for the sake of making a trade.

Lastly, there’s the possibility Shero swings a deal to acquire players that can make an immediate impact on the team and serve as building blocks for the future.

Next. Does Boyle Trade Raise Expectations on Return for Marcus Johansson?. dark

While a deal of this nature is more than likely to be made during the offseason, Shero isn’t one to sit back and wait to tackle such opportunities. Shero will certainly pull the trigger if he can make that kind of deal between now and Monday and while it would most certainly make this trade deadline all the more of a success, such a move would ultimately be a convenient (but massive) bonus on Shero’s part.

To summarize, Shero is having a good trade deadline so far based on what he has available and the returns he’s gotten for his trade candidates. His biggest objective is to get the best return possible for Johansson and see if anyone will bite on Kinkaid. Anything else like a trade for a player signed beyond this year or acquiring outside help that can be used to build for the future would be complimentary bonuses and Shero going beyond—if they are deals that make sense and help the Devils build for the future.

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