Pucks and Pitchforks
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5 Players New Jersey Devils Can Trade For Before Training Camp

By Nick Villano

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JANUARY 06: Max Pacioretty #67 and Marc-Andre Fleury #29 of the Vegas Golden Knights warm up before a game against the New Jersey Devils at T-Mobile Arena on January 6, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Golden Knights defeated the Devils 3-2. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JANUARY 06: Max Pacioretty #67 and Marc-Andre Fleury #29 of the Vegas Golden Knights warm up before a game against the New Jersey Devils at T-Mobile Arena on January 6, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Golden Knights defeated the Devils 3-2. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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New Jersey Devils
Andrew Copp #9 of the Winnipeg Jets. (Photo by Christopher Pasatieri/Getty Images) /

Andrew Copp

The Winnipeg Jets are surprisingly one of the teams that’s currently over the salary cap. Despite trading away key pieces like Jacob Trouba and losing Dustin Byfuglien’s cap hit, they are still about $650,000 over the $81.5 million cap. The Jets have a weird situation in terms of their contracts. 12 of their NHL contracts end after the season. The one restricted free agent most people will pay attention is Patrik Laine (who should still be a possibility for the Devils), but here let’s talk about Andrew Copp.

Copp is a very versatile winger that is very good defensively. The Devils are building a lot of really good offensive weapons, but if they end up losing Travis Zajac and Kyle Palmieri this season, the defensive side is going to lose a lot. Pavel Zacha can make up for some of it, but they need more defensive-minded forwards.

Copp can score too. He has double-digit goals for two straight seasons. He also scored at a decent clip at the University of Michigan.

The Jets may not want to trade away Copp, but they could be in a really bad spot come next season. They might be forced to expose him in the Seattle Kraken expansion draft, and the Kraken would love to have a player like this to build around. So, the Jets would rather get some value out of him before he might go. They really like him, so it’s going to be hard to pry him away, but the Jets need to make moves this offseason. If the Devils can offer a prospect that’s NHL ready and another that is a long shot, it could get the deal done and help the Jets with their cap issues for the foreseeable future.

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