New Jersey Devils: 5 Reasons to Stand Pat at NHL Trade Deadline

For the second consecutive season, the New Jersey Devils are looking at the trade deadline as the climax of their campaign. The team’s 2019-2020 season has been less than stellar on all fronts, to say the least. This has led the organization to urgently trading their former face-of-the-franchise, Taylor Hall and axing former head coach John Hynes. Both were out of town well before the half-way point of the season.

The icing on the cake was when former general manager Ray Shero and the team “parted ways” just hours before the Devils hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 12. Looking towards the future, the 2020 NHL Trade Deadline looms on Feb. 24. The Devils’ ownership group has clearly shown that they are ready to make changes. At the same time, managing partner Josh Harris was adamant that the team is looking to win games now when he introduced Tom Fitzgerald as interim general manager.

So, what gives? Can the team as assembled, plus some offseason tweaks, be competitive as early as next season? Here are five reasons why the Devils should stand pat at the trade deadline and look forward to building a playoff contender next season.

1. The team has played better since the departures of Hynes and Hall

Former New Jersey Devils and current Nashville Predators head coach John Hynes’ last game here was a 7-1 road loss at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 2. The Devils were mercilessly trailing 5-0 heading into the first intermission. Since then, with interim head coach Alain Nasreddine at the helm, the team has a record of 11-11-6, good for 28 points in 28 games. In the 26 games prior, Hynes coached his squad to a record of 9-13-4, good for 22 points.

The numbers look a bit better following the Taylor Hall trade; with the team going a respectable 10-7-5 since the former MVP was dealt on Dec. 16. This isn’t a knock against Hall; he is an extremely talented player and there isn’t a doubt that he made the Devils’ roster better, regardless of the team’s play.

Hynes was well on his way to missing the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons as Devils head coach. In his four full seasons prior to this year, the Devils sat at the bottom of the Metropolitan division twice and are probably likely to finish there in 2020. Meanwhile, after the bad start this season, it became apparent that Hall was not going to sign an extension with the team nor would it have been smart for the organization to pay him top dollar to stay. There’s nothing to suggest that Hynes was a bad coach or that Hall was a problem in the room. However, their situations clearly made the team crack under pressure. Perhaps the Devils’ improved pace since their departures just displays that the organization was ready to move on from the duo.

2. Prime trade candidates are/could be core players moving forward

The Devils are undoubtedly in good hands with Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, and Mackenzie Blackwood as young, cornerstone players moving forward. That being said, guys like Kyle Palmieri, Sami Vatanen, and Blake Coleman surely have their place amongst the franchise’s hierarchy.

The bottom-line with these three players is that they are all very movable. There has been some noise around Palmieri since Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic speculated that the right-winger would be a good fit for the Boston Bruins’ trade deadline plans back in early-January. Palmieri carries a bargain cap-hit of $4.65 million and is signed through next season, making him a no-brainer addition for any cap-strapped contender. However, Pierre LeBrun followed up Shinzawa’s story a few weeks later and reported that Ray Shero, prior to being fired, was not taking calls on Palmieri. With Fitzergald at the helm now, it’s anybody’s guess if this is still true.

As for Coleman, he’s probably a longshot to get dealt, but it’s still worth mentioning his name as the 20-goal scorer is also signed through 2020-21 at an extremely friendly $1.8 million cap-hit. His contract is such a steal that it’s only common sense to believe that teams have at least inquired about his availability. Opposite of Coleman, Vatanen is probably the most likely to get dealt at the deadline, since he is set to be a UFA at season’s end. We know that the Carolina Hurricanes, amongst other teams, have inquired about the 29-year old right-handed defenseman, according to LeBrun.

Coleman and Palmieri have turned into consistent 20-goal scorers with the Devils. Vatanen is second on the team in average time-on-ice at 21:45, trailing only P.K. Subban by just a few seconds. These three players are just as important to the Devils as Hischier and Hughes are right now, so trading any of them would be a mistake if the team wishes to remain even somewhat competitive heading into next season.

3. Who’s making decisions on the team’s future right now?

Perhaps the most frightening thing for Devils fans right now is that it is difficult to gauge what direction the franchise wants to go. With Shero, there was at least an idea of what Devils fans could expect for the forward trajectory of the team. Now, with an interim GM at the helm, there’s no telling. They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and Fitzgerald has been Shero’s understudy for years now, so perhaps they have/had the same image for this team?

At the same time, the Devils’ ownership group seemed to have wasted little time in dismissing Shero once their visions for the franchise went in opposite directions. So, is the ownership so adamant on making decisions that Fitzgerald is simply acting as a puppet until the organization’s search for a permanent GM is completed? Regardless of who you think is making decisions, the Devils are without a doubt going down a slippery slope not knowing who their GM is going to be beyond the trade deadline.

Fitzgerald has been in the business for a while and it’s not like other GMs will answer, “Who?” when he calls. He’s been considered for some other GM vacancies around the league in recent years, so he clearly knows what he’s doing. It just isn’t a good look if the Devils make a ton of moves at the deadline under Fitzgerald and they end up hiring a different GM in the offseason. As a fan, it would be comforting knowing that the future GM of this team is the one who is making decisions on the current roster, and not somebody with the interim tag.

4. Two key pieces may be impossible to move

In addition to Palmieri, Vatanen, and Coleman, captain Andy Greene and veteran centerman Travis Zajac have also been at the center of trade rumors. Greene is on an expiring contract and Zajac has a year left on his deal. On top of their contracts, Greene and Zajac are both veteran players and may not fit into the Devils’ long-term plans, giving the Devils ample reason to move them at the deadline.

Nobody is acting like the veterans will provide good returns, but trades could provide Greene with a chance at a deep playoff run with a contender and some cap-alleviation in the case of Zajac. These seem like logical moves to make at the deadline regardless of their value, but can the Devils even do it?

A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece on some rumblings on Greene and Zajac. Not much has changed since, or at least that we know of, but Zajac has apparently already nixed a trade offer via his no-trade clause. At the time of that post, Greene only had preliminary discussions with Fitzgerald regarding his interest in waiving his own no-trade clause. Both players cited a desire to remain with the Devils beyond the deadline. If the two Devils veterans remain unwilling to waive their no-trade clauses, the organization will have no choice but to stand pat on moving them at the deadline.