New Jersey Devils: 5 Players To Target On TSN’s ‘Trade Bait’ List

The TSN Trade Bait list is out, and there are some intriguing names on it.

Twice a year, TSN comes out with their initial “Trade Bait” list. Frank Seravalli takes into account the rumors he’s hearing in the offseason and near the NHL Trade Deadline. This year’s offseason list has a lot of intriguing names on it, including the New Jersey Devils’ Kyle Palmieri. There are a lot of takes we have about Palmieri, but for now, let’s look at the positives.

There are a lot of really good players on the list that the Devils should be making calls on. The Devils need a lot after emptying their team during the trade deadline. Over the season, the Devils moved Taylor Hall, Blake Coleman, Wayne Simmonds, Andy Greene, Louis Domingue, and Sami Vatanen.

That leaves them with a team extremely devout of proven talent. There are plenty of young players that can fill holes, but it’s more likely they would do better with some seasoning. Joey Anderson is currently playing a second-line role. Miles Wood spent the end of last season as the first-line left wing. Quite the fall off from Taylor Hall. Mirco Mueller was the only defenseman that made any sense with P.K. Subban, and that’s not a great position to be in if you’re the Devils.

Looking forward, the Devils have a real opportunity to make some moves this offseason. They have $26 million in cap space. They do have to re-sign Anderson, Mackenzie Blackwood, and Jesper Bratt, but if that costs more than $8 million we’d be floored. With a flat cap for the next couple of years staring teams in the face, the time to cut payroll is here.

The Devils are going to push for more talent. They have a lot of prospects that are close to NHL ready and only so much space on the team. They need to turn some of these young players with upside into NHL players with consistency. These five players should be at the top of their ‘trade bait’ list.