New Jersey Devils: Latest Rumors With Every Trade Deadline Piece
By Nick Villano
Wayne Simmonds
Wayne Simmonds was always going to be trade bait if the New Jersey Devils weren’t going to be fighting for a playoff spot. He signed a one-year deal with the Devils for $5 million. He wanted to prove last year’s issues were a one-time thing, but this season he just hasn’t been that good. Still, he provides something that’s desired among that top contending teams. He is a huge body that can park himself in front of the net and put the puck behind a goalie.
He only has 24 points this season, but he’s been alright in the month of February. In fact, if you take out a disastrous December, his numbers aren’t god awful. Taking out those 14 games, he’s actually been a half-point per game. Obviously, those games exist, but the point is he can get on a little bit of a hot streak and be a much more productive player.
The Vancouver Canucks seem to be the most logical team here. They’ve lost Michael Ferlund and Josh Leivo. They traded for Tyler Toffoli to replace the injured Brock Boesser. Now, they have to replace that toughness factor as they want to advance into the Western Conference playoffs. They’re already missing their 1st-round pick in the J.T. Miller trade.
The other teams in the mix aren’t really clear. It seemed like a done deal with Vancouver, but the latest rumors talk about the Devils lack of wanting to to retain salary. That might knock the Canucks out of the running, but we think if it comes down to it the Devils will fold on that front.
Other teams are going to call on Wayne Simmonds. When other pieces come off the board, Simmonds will be a cheaper fall-back plan. What’s the cost? There was a time that some experts floated the idea the Canucks would give up a really good defensive prospect like
Olli Juolevi or Jett Woo. We don’t see that actually happening. It’s much more likely they get something like they got for Ben Lovejoy last year. They will replace the 3rd-round pick they lost in the Nikita Gusev trade and add a roster player for the rest of the season like Oscar Fantenberg. They will retain salary if it means getting the deal done.