New Jersey Devils: 5 Edmonton Oilers Players To Target In Taylor Hall Trade

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

The New Jersey Devils are pretty stacked at center, so this one might seem to raise a few eyebrows, but Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is still just 26 years old, he has two years left on his deal, and the Devils could use him to provide flexibility in the top six. If Jack Hughes is having a bad night in the faceoff dot, just move Nugent-Hopkins there and let Hughes play wing for a night.

He scored his first goal of the season on Wednesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers. Despite failing to find the back of the net, he was still helping his teammates score on basically a nightly basis. He finally saw a breakout year last season, when he had a career-high 69 points while playing a full 82 games for the second time in his career.

He never really lived up to the hype that comes with being a first-overall pick, but we’ve heard that before when an Oilers’ player was traded to the New Jersey Devils. He’s finally scoring points on a great line, so he would be a great piece to add to the Taylor Hall trade.

Would the Oilers be willing to trade RNH? Well, if they are going to ask for a former MVP, they can’t just pull everyone off the table. There are going to be some hard decisions for GM Ken Holland. The Devils shouldn’t trade Taylor Hall without getting a legitimate NHL player in return. Nugent-Hopkins would bring them a player that still hasn’t necessarily hit his ceiling, while also giving us some guaranteed production on the NHL level.