New Jersey Devils: Latest Rumors With Every Trade Deadline Piece
By Nick Villano
Kyle Palmieri
It’s starting to feel more and more like a Kyle Palmieri deal is less likely than 50/50. There was no chance the Devils were trading him before his military ball this past Saturday, but if a deal was done, we figured it would be announced Sunday morning. Here we are, Sunday night, and it’s not there yet.
The price for Palmieri? A freaking ton. It sounds like to get Palmieri, it’s going to take this year’s 1st-round pick and a top prospect.
There are a lot of teams that have been tied to Palmieri is different rumors. The Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche have all been directly linked to Palmieri. They all have very different assets to propose in trades.
The Devils could try to get a young defenseman with major flaws, but ready to go right now (Noah Hanifin from Calgary). They could go after a package of prospects, without a draft pick to build around (Dustin Heinen or Urho Vaakanainen from Boston). There could be a major deal for a top defensive prospect AND a 1st-round pick (Philip Broberg from Edmonton). Then, there’s the team with the top prospects that make every other team salivate (Connor Timmins, Alex Newhook, Martin Kaut from Colorado).
Colorado seems like a perfect destination, with Joe Sakic coming out talking about doing a “hockey deal”. He doesn’t want a rental, and that’s going to cost big during the trade deadline.
Our gut says nobody is willing to match the price the Devils got for Coleman, and that leads to Palmieri staying. Reading the market, it seems the desperation of last week has gone by the wayside. Seeing what other players are commanding on the market seems to have scared away certain teams. Other teams are still in it, but if the Devils price doesn’t go down, it sounds like number 21 is going to spend next season in the Garden State.