5 Reasons New Jersey Devils Could Trade For William Nylander
By Nick Villano
Devils Have The Picks Toronto Will Want, Mostly
The starting negotiations will have the Maple Leafs asking for the Devils 1st-round pick in this year’s NHL Draft. Kyle Dubas will call Ray Shero, argue that Nylander is a former 8th-overall pick who’s beyond proven himself. They’ll say if he was in this year’s draft, he would be a top-five pick. Therefore, he should be worth the Devils top-five pick.
That’s not going to fly with Shero. Dubas is a good GM, but he’s not good enough to fleece Mr. Shero.
The Devils have a lot to offer the Maple Leafs. They have a lot of good prospects who have immense upside. The Devils also have a few roster players on really solid deals. Most importantly, the Devils have a lot of draft picks in this year’s draft.
The Devils have six picks in the first three rounds of the draft, including three 2nd-round picks. They’d likely be willing to part with two of those picks, and then some, to bring Nylander into the fold. Sure, the Leafs won’t get that one big piece from the Devils, but they will get controllable assets. They desperately need those with Matthews, soon to be Marner, John Tavares, Nazem Kadri and Morgan Reilly all signed through at least 2022.
The Devils will never give them an offer they can’t refuse, but they could easily give them an offer they can live with, and at the end of the day that might just be enough.