New Jersey Devils: 5 Surprising Veteran Trade Targets
The New Jersey Devils have a ton of draft and prospect capital along with loads of salary cap space. With the expansion draft looming, and the NHL entry draft on the horizon, there should be trades coming with some quickness. The Devils should be calling each and every team to see which players are available and how they can obtain them.
This Devils team needs veterans. It just is what it is. There are a ton of young players on the team. 20 players on the listed roster are under the age of 24. That doesn’t even include the players that are 24 years old including Mackenzie Blackwood. This team is incredibly young, and there are players like Nolan Foote, Alexander Holtz, Dawson Mercer, and Reilly Walsh still in the pipeline.
The Devils need a little age in the locker room. This isn’t a Duncan Keith situation where they overpay for a player simply because they are old and they were good once. There are veteran players on the trade market that can really help a team like the Devils without breaking the bank. The Devils could go after the stars on the market like Jack Eichel or Vladimir Tarasenko. They would cost a fortune, but the Devils have the fortune to pay. Instead, they should go after some veterans who could come for a little less.
These veterans might not be “on the market” per se, but surprising deals happen every offseason. No veteran is safe during a flat cap world. The Devils are going hunting, and they are going to come out with someone who will help them in the long run.
Reilly Smith
This isn’t the first time we’ve talked about Reilly Smith. However, now might be the least attractive time to acquire Smith. After a very good season where he scored 54 points in 71 games in 2019-20, Smith dropped off pretty hard this past season. He had less than a half-point per game.
It’s still worth it for the Devils to make a move on Smith. The Vegas Golden Knights don’t have to worry about the expansion draft because their players aren’t eligible. Still, the Golden Knights need help in a more traditional fashion. They are in salary cap trouble.
The Golden Knights only have about $6 million in salary-cap space and they desperately need a number-one center. They are one of the teams rumored in on the Eichel sweepstakes in Buffalo. He costs $10 million per season, so the Knights will need to make some salary-cap space.
Smith is making $5 million next season and then he becomes a free agent. The Devils wouldn’t have to pay a king’s ransom to get Smith. Other teams are trying to shed salary as well with a flat salary cap over the next few seasons. The Seattle Kraken will help with that situation, but they can’t help the Knights.
Smith deserves a shot to prove himself before he enters free agency next offseason. Playing next to Jack Hughes might put him back in the 50-60 point range. It shouldn’t cost the Devils much to trade for him, either.
Gustav Nyquist
Gustav Nyquist hasn’t been a great signing for the Columbus Blue Jackets, but it hasn’t really been his fault. He scored 42 points in 70 games in his first season with the team, then he missed the entire second season with a shoulder injury. He is coming back for his third of fourth season on his contract. The Devils could trade for the 31-year-old Swede and take on the final two years of his deal. The Jackets owe him $5.5 million per season.
The Jackets are looking to rebuild this season after moving on from head coach John Tortorella. They are also looking to trade Seth Jones, and they’ve already moved Pierre Luc-Dubois, David Savard, and Nick Foligno in the past year.
Devils fans will want Patrik Laine from the Jackets, but Nyquist is more their speed this offseason. The Jackets are probably going to lose him in the expansion draft for free. The Devils can keep a spot open if they decide not to protect Michael McLeod. Nyquist is a major risk like Tarasenko coming off a shoulder injury, but if he still has something left he brings a lot of what the Devils need.
The Devils need finishers. They need to put someone next to Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier that can put the puck in the net. Nyquist is a 20-goal scorer for most of his career. He’s no superstar, but he’s a massive upgrade to the Devils middle six.
Erik Cernak
Erik Cernak isn’t necessarily a veteran, but he’s now a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was really good at times, and the Lightning probably don’t want to lose him. However, they are already over the salary cap and they are losing Blake Coleman, Barclay Goodrow, David Savard, and both of their backup goalies. Ross Colton needs a new deal after scoring the game-winning goal in the deciding Game 5 of the Cup Final.
Cernak makes just under $3 million next season. That wouldn’t exactly solve the Lightning’s salary cap problems, but it would sure help. Maybe the Devils can agree to take on Tyler Johnson‘s contract as part of a deal in order to make the price come down. Say the Devils take $8 million off the Lightning cap, this would give Tampa a better chance at keeping its heart-and-soul players without having to trade someone like Steven Stamkos.
Cernak is a very important player for the Lightning, but they have to figure out what they are doing for the expansion draft. Trading Cernak allows the Lightning to go 7 and 3 in terms of protections. If the Lightning don’t trade Cernak (or another defenseman like Mikhail Sergachev), then they can only protect two forwards beyond Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. Brayden Point would be another one, so then the choice is between Alex Killorn, Yanni Gourde, Ross Colton, Ondrej Palat, and Anthony Cirelli. They’d have to protect just one of those five players.
The Devils can really help the Lightning here. Not only do they give them salary cap space, but they give them an opportunity to save its core forward group. Cernak would be a hard pill to swallow, but it’s better than giving up Cirelli for free.
Nino Niederreiter
The Carolina Hurricanes are another team that has too many good players. Nino Niederreiter is a player that’s already been in a Devils trade rumor that we started. The trade would bring the winger to New Jersey in exchange for Graeme Clarke and a 2nd-round pick. Carolina is looking to make moves this offseason to keep itself in the Stanley Cup hunt without losing too much for nothing in the expansion draft.
The Hurricanes have so much to do this offseason. Dougie Hamilton is an unrestricted free agent. They have three good goalies that are becoming free agents. This is leaving them without a goalie signed (although one is a restricted free agent). They have five NHL-caliber defensemen who are going to be targets of the Seattle Kraken. Andrei Svechnikov needs a new contract, and he wants to get paid handsomely. There are three or four other players that have deals ending that either need to be re-signed or replaced. That $29 million in cap space is going to disappear fast, especially if Hamilton returns.
The Devils could give the Hurricanes what they need now and will need in the future. They want flexibility. Niederreiter is in the final year on his deal paying him $5.25 million against the salary cap.
Niederreiter would be a great addition to the Devils. He has Blake Coleman vibes, which will make that deal from last year a lot easier to swallow. He will be playing for his next contract, and the Devils will put a reliable shot on the power play. Niederreiter only had one power play goal last season, but that was the outlier. He’s usually much better on that unit. This move makes a lot of sense for the Devils.
Tomas Hertl
This would seem preposterous just a few years ago, but Tomas Hertl is in the final year of his deal and he’s about to become an unrestricted free agent in 2022. Time flies when the San Jose Sharks absolutely stink (like we have room to talk). The Sharks aren’t going to be able to really turn this ship around quickly. Even with Erik Karlsson leading a veteran-laden roster, the Sharks just can’t find the chemistry to be a playoff contender. Hockey is weird and anything can happen, but if the Sharks are going into next season thinking they are contenders as currently constructed, it’s a mistake.
Hertl is making $5.625 million against the cap next season. He would bring size to the Devils lineup, and he isn’t too old that he seems out of place on the roster. Well, anyone who’s over 25 looks out of place, but Hertl is right in that age range that Tom Fitzgerald is looking for.
Hertl has quietly been really good despite the issues with the Sharks. He had 43 points in 50 games last season. In the last full season of NHL action, he had 74 points. Hertl is a monster on the ice, and he has a lot of what the Devils want. He stands at 6’2, he doesn’t let other players push him around, and he sometimes uses his above-average size to lead to goals.
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The Devils once again could use a goal scorer. Hertl is exactly that and then some. He would play on the wing of Jack Hughes for the foreseeable future. It’s going to cost the Devils more than any other player on this list, and Hertl is in the final year of the deal, but it’s worth it if the deal is at least understandable in terms of price in picks and prospects. If the Sharks want to build around the Islanders first-round pick or a B-level prospect, then sure a deal can be done. Asking for Holtz or Mercer plus in any deal is a non-starter.