Travis Zajac
Travis Zajac has been celebrated by his Devils teammates this season after breaking 1,000 games played. It’s quite the milestone for the lifelong Devil, but that moniker is likely to change this year. He’s watching the twilight of his career wasted on a middling team, and it’s probably best for all parties for Zajac to move on.
The Devils apparently had talks with the New York Islanders last season on a possible Zajac deal, but he used to his no-move clause to stay put. Reports said Zajac would wait until the offseason to make a decision on his future. Obviously, it appears he wanted to play out the final year of his deal in New Jersey.
Zajac has not been good this season, and the Devils are losing with him in the lineup. He has three points in 13 games, and he hasn’t been that defensive dynamo that he’s been in the past. He’s just been below average at aspects of the game he used to excel at.
Maybe Zajac is just going through the motions. Hopefully, Lou Lamoriello still has a soft spot for the last 1st-round pick he made with the Devils that actually worked out for the team (Pavel Zacha notwithstanding). Honestly, the Devils should do right by Zajac.
It’s clear the Devils do not have the tradeable assets they had last year. Nobody is getting them a 1st-round pick and a Nolan Foote-level prospect like Blake Coleman did. The Devils are just lacking talent, and the veterans they did keep fell off the map this season. Teams will still call, but the situation will probably lead to a lot of disappointing deals.