New Jersey Devils: 5 Players To Target At Trade Deadline

Rickard Rakell

The Anaheim Ducks have a really, really good core of high-quality talent that’s going to be very competitive one day. Trevor Zegras looks like the real deal. Max Comtois has been a nice little breakout star this season, scoring seven goals to lead the team as a 22 year old. Jamie Drysdale has looked better and better and might be a legit top defenseman after just a few years in the league. John Gibson still has a star goalie somewhere in his bones despite a rough year.

Despite the talent, the Ducks have struggled this season. They are actually fifth in the West Division, but they needed 16 games to get there when everyone else played less than that. It seems like eventually, being under hockey .500 will lead to them falling out of the playoff standings.

We’ve already addressed the elephant in the room when it comes to all Ducks trades. Adam Henrique is likely very available, but that contract is never going to be worth trading for.

That’s why Rickard Rakell makes a lot of sense as a trade piece. He’s 27 years old, so he’s much closer to the Devils’ desired age range. He also has another year left on his contract paying him just $3.79 million per season. California is likely not going to open arenas for fans for a while, so the Ducks might want to get salary off the books.

He’s struggled to score this season, with only one goal in 16 games. Yet, he still finds himself as the second leading point scorer on the Ducks. It’s been a struggle to find the back of the net in Anaheim this season. His years as a 30-goal scorer might be over. Still, he’s much more talented than he showed this season. With the Devils dealing with a lot of pending UFAs this offseason, it will be nice to acquire someone who has another year left on his contract.