New Jersey Devils: Forward Trade Deadline Decisions

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 19: Travis Zajac #19 of the New Jersey Devils celebrates his goal against the New York Rangers at 32 seconds of the first period at Madison Square Garden on January 19, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 19: Travis Zajac #19 of the New Jersey Devils celebrates his goal against the New York Rangers at 32 seconds of the first period at Madison Square Garden on January 19, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
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The NHL Trade Deadline is quickly approaching at only two weeks away, and the New Jersey Devils have a lot of hard choices to make again. The rebuild has been up and down but as a whole the young pieces are starting to fall into place. The future does indeed look bright.

That being said, they have numerous parts that teams should be very interested in that are on expiring contracts and some that have just really turned a corner and would appeal to anyone on a playoff run. Things will happen early this season likely even more due to quarantine requirements. It will be a little harder to move players across a border, so if a deal is to be made to a Canadian team they should want it done as soon as possible to get him in the lineup and to get chemistry built.

New Jersey Devils center Travis Zajac (19): (Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports)
New Jersey Devils center Travis Zajac (19): (Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports) /

Travis Zajac

Travis Zajac is the longest tenured Devils player, a leader in the locker room, and the last player on this team from when they were truly a contender. Early on this season, he looked like he had little left in the gas tank and the numbers have been going down steadily, but he has seen a huge resurgence alongside Janne Kuokkanen and Yegor Sharangovich.

With 14 points in 29 games so far, he would be on a ridiculous pace in a regular season for his age and that is not the biggest attribute he brings. Zajac is such a strong defensive center and has been above 50% in the faceoff circle every season since his sophomore year. Players with those intangibles always command something at the deadline and quite frankly Zajac could be worth more than some fans think.

Obviously he should not be forced out the door and he does have a no trade clause so in the end it will be up to Zajac, but he has never won the Stanley Cup and this team will not be in the hunt for likely the rest of his career. Will he want to follow his dream or stay at home in Jersey?

Much like fellow long-term Devil Andy Greene a team that will likely be calling is the Islanders and Lou who know exactly what Zajac brings to the table. He would slide into that system with ease in all likelihood. The price for him will hopefully be the same and with a second round pick and perhaps something else small the Devils may feel it is a good deal.

Kyle Palmieri #21 of the New Jersey Devils (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)
Kyle Palmieri #21 of the New Jersey Devils (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images) /

Kyle Palmieri

Kyle Palmieri has had a rough year and his play with and without the puck has not been up to the standards he set for himself as a true first-line player the last five seasons. He does have 7 goals and 16 points in 32 games which would actually be only slightly behind his normal pace. Whether missing the normal training camp hurt him or perhaps  the odd and incredibly long offseason forced him to throw off his game, he needs to play more consistently.

If he did manage to, with the points he has acquired so far, this could have still been a huge season for Palmieri. This makes his value very hard to pinpoint. Goal scorers of this caliber are hard to find and he has low enough number on his contract’s cap hit that any team would easily fit him in. If he is moved, the Devils could eat half of the money making it a pro rated $2.3 million cap hit.

Another question for the team trading for him or for the Devils keeping him is the impending expansion draft. Does another team have room to protect him or is he a pure rental? The Devils if they do not move him would need to extend him and protect him because losing your best goal scorer over five years for nothing would be beyond foolish. As for the price of retaining him, which will be factored into if they keep or deal him, it is a tough nut to crack. Most players would be expecting a raise, but the Devils likely can not afford to get locked in long term. Would they be willing to pay him $5-6 million for 4-5 years? Would Palmieri be willing to take it?

All are questions that are going to hang over this team. At the age of 30, it is always hard to tell how long a player can keep up the high pace, a question that is harder to answer this season than last.

Palmieri should demand a high price at the deadline. The Devils should be asking for a 1st-round pick in this year’s NHL Draft. Teams should be willing to give them up in 2021 versus a future year due to some leagues only playing a small amount of games. A first-round pick for a solid goal scorer, especially if he slots into a middle six role on a good team, is a good move and if he did end up on a team like Boston or Pittsburgh, it might push them up the rankings in the league by a fair bit.

New Jersey Devils left wing Nikita Gusev (97): (Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports)
New Jersey Devils left wing Nikita Gusev (97): (Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports) /

Nikita Gusev has been bad this year to say the least. With 5 points in 20 games and both his goals coming on virtual empty nets with 10 seconds left in a meaningless game, he really has contributed nothing to the team all year. This is a far cry from last season in which he was a top 3-4 forward on this team and had an amazing 44 points in 64 games.

When trading for Gusev, a team will have to ask themselves which player are they getting and are they confident he can turn it around quickly. Moving forward on the wings, the Devils have no room for him and he will not be taking a spot in the NHL expansion draft with all the young players they would need to hold on to.

His value has to be low and the Devils will certainly not be recouping the second and third-round picks they traded for him, but if a team offers them a 3rd they should take it and run. A team might be willing to take a shot on Gusev and chalking up this year as a wash.

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Will a team pay the price for Gusev? Would the Devils be willing to give him away for almost nothing? The trade deadline comes April 12th, and there are a lot of questions that still need to be answered.

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