New Jersey Devils: 5 Pittsburgh Penguins To Target After Their Sweep

The New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins have been trade partners in the past. GM Ray Shero should call his old friends against and see if a deal can be made.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were swept in the first round of the NHL Playoffs thanks to the New York Islanders. It was the first time in Sidney Crosby‘s career that his playoff team won zero games in the postseason, and only the second time he’s ever been swept. After that embarrassing loss, there’s no doubt the Penguins will look to make changes.

New reports say those changes mean just about everyone is open for business for the Pens.

So, basically the Penguins are willing to sell off anything that isn’t tied down. Only Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are “untouchable.”

Obviously, the Penguins had their most disappointing output in the postseason in recent history. Getting swept hurts, but if they are going to make rash moves this offseason, then the New Jersey Devils should be first in line to try and take advantage of the situation.

The Penguins are already over the salary cap last season if it doesn’t go up (it will, though). They have no chance to replace players on their team through free agency, a class that’s absolutely stacked with talent. They’re going to want to try and free up some cap space, which is something the Devils are flush with.

Beyond that, the Penguins are severely lacking in draft picks. They have one pick in the first 90 of this year’s draft. They lost a 2nd and two 4ths in the Nick Bjugstad trade with the Panthers. They lost their 3rd-round pick in the Derrick Brassard trade, which was then sent to the Panthers.

Right now, the Pens are in a bad way, and the Devils could help them out. It will cost them one of their very good players, but which ones fit the Devils today and in the future? We can think of a few.

Phil Kessel

Phil Kessel has been an interesting player to watch over the years. He completely flamed out in Toronto, even if that wasn’t entirely his fault. At first, his time with Pittsburgh seemed to be a perfect fit, but for the past year it seems he’s been in and out of trade rumors.

We act like he didn’t have a good season, but he had 82 points. He’s still an amazing player. He had 92 points last season, and what might be the most impressive part of his game is he hasn’t missed a game since 2009. He’s currently played 774 straight regular season games, 8th best all time.

Kessel would be a great first-line right wing alongside Taylor Hall. That would be that talent acquisition he was asking about at the end of the season. Kessel can still score at a high clip, and is one of the best distributors at his position. Just imagine this as your top six:

Hall-Hischier-Kessel
Bratt-Hughes-Palmieri

The best part is this wouldn’t cost the Devils that much in cap space or in trade value. Would the Penguins want more than the Boston Bruins 2nd-round pick in the deal? They are desperate for cap space and draft capital. The Devils could basically trade Marcus Johansson for Phil Kessel and a 4th-round pick.