3 Ways New Jersey Devils Can Help Someone Get Jack Eichel

The New Jersey Devils aren’t getting Jack Eichel. It makes no sense for them to go after a center with questions surrounding his neck, and they aren’t in the position to trade four or five great assets for one player. A center does not get them into the perennial playoff conversation, so acting like Eichel to the Devils is even the slightest possibility makes no sense. However, the Devils could be a key player in a trade.

Rumors are swirling that the Eichel trade is back on the table, and it could happen any day now. Things could change to put it back on the ice, but with the season starting in a few weeks and teams looking at their possible training camp rosters, it’s no surprise that Eichel’s name is out there again.

The Devils aren’t going to be active in these Eichel talks, but once things start to get close to the finish line, the Devils might be the team that makes this happen. This could come in multiple ways, but it almost always turns into either a three-team trade where the Devils are the extra team, or it’s a completely separate trade where the Devils make a trade with the team acquiring Eichel.

It’s possible the Buffalo Sabres want one of the young assets on the Devils, or the trading team could send an expensive asset to the Devils to make room for Eichel.

Either way, the Devils should be game to make this work as long as they get future assets. This could be one of the biggest trades in a long time, and that usually takes a ton of work to make happen. The Devils could add to that work by making a deal happen right before training camp.

1. Devils Could Take An Asset From Vegas

The Vegas Golden Knights have been desperate for a center for a while now. After making the surprising run to the Stanley Cup Final in its first season of existence, the team has been making gigantic moves to try and be a champion. They traded for and signed Alex Pietrangelo, Max Pacioretty, Mark Stone, Tomas Tatar, Robin Lehner, and Evgeni Dadonov. That’s a ton of talent to acquire in just four seasons.

Vegas isn’t done. That last game of last season against the Montreal Canadiens, the Knights had William Karlsson as their first-line center and Chandler Stephenson as their second-line center. They added Nolan Patrick in the offseason, but we saw what happened when a team went into the season relying on Patrick to be the second-line center. The Golden Knights might NEED Eichel more than any other team. They can survive a few months while he recovers from surgery, but after trading away the reigning Vezina winner in Marc-Andre Fleury, if things go bad this season because they have no depth, some might start to question the front office.

The Knights need to go big, but what assets do they have that the Sabres might want? They have draft picks. They could also throw Patrick into the trade (he hasn’t signed his RFA deal yet). After that, it’s Peyton Krebs and a bunch of question marks. They don’t have the assets to make this trade work, but they could call the Devils, who have a deep prospect pool, and make an offer they can’t refuse.

If the Sabres trade Eichel for, let’s say, four 1st-round picks and that’s it, there’s nothing to get excited about now. Sabres fans have to wait four years to see if this is even close to worth it. Especially since the Golden Knights made one pick (outside the first one) ahead of pick 20 shows these aren’t going to be great. The Sabres need prospects.

So, the Knights could give the Devils the future draft picks for young players. There are too many to choose from to actually name any. It’s whoever the Sabres actually want. There are some interesting young defensemen the Devils might not have room for. There is also the possibility of adding Reilly Walsh to the team to bring a veteran scoring threat.

2. Take On Salary For Los Angeles

We all hate the Los Angeles Kings after 2012. That Stanley Cup Final ripped our heart out. It sucked, and it is not something we’ll forget. Don’t let that stop us from gaining an asset to help the Kings get Eichel.

The Devils have traded with the Kings in the past already. Less than a year after the Stanley Cup, the Kings traded Andrei Loktionov for a 5th-round pick. It looked like a good trade for the Devils at the time. They brought a Russian in to build chemistry with Ilya Kovalchuk, and they can see the lineup get younger. The two teams made two other trades since then (one which led to the Devils drafting Anthony Brodeur).

The Devils and Kings could come together for a trade again. Surprisingly, the Los Angeles Kings are just $2.73 million in cap space. Even if the Sabres inexplicably cover half of Eichel’s $10 million salary (which they won’t), the Kings don’t have enough money to fit him on the roster. Maybe there’s some LTIR chicanery the Kings could pull, but on paper, this doesn’t work.

The Devils could take on one of these salaries for a price. This player might not be in the plans for the Devils right now. They might even get immediately bought out similar to what the Carolina Hurricanes did with Patrick Marleau. It gets the Kings out of a bind, and this is a good draft to make it happen.

The most obvious candidate would be Dustin Brown. His $5.75 million salary coming off the books would really help the Kings’ situation. However, he has a modified no-trade clause that definitely would include the Devils. Other options include Olli Maatta who makes just over $3 million and is in the final year of his deal. There’s the possibility the Devils could even just take on some of the Eichel deal in a three-way trade, but that sits on the Devils cap for six more seasons, and with a lot of young players looking for new contracts, it’s not worth it. The Devils are looking for a shorter commitment, and the Kings could find something to make it work.

3. Make A Major Trade With Anaheim Ducks

The New Jersey Devils and Anaheim Ducks actually make a lot of sense as trade partners. They have a lot of complementary pieces, but they have been tied to a Jack Eichel trade for a few months now. They seem to be that “wild card” team that always pops up in these situations. Every so often, those teams actually make the trade happen.

The Ducks haven’t been good in a while, but bringing back Ryan Getzlaf shows they aren’t looking to completely tank this season. At least, maybe they are looking at the team’s options.

The difference with the other teams on this list is the Ducks have the assets and the cap space to make this trade work. All they’re really missing in terms of draft picks next year is their 3rd rounder. They have young assets like Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale, Lukas Dostal, Sasha Pastujov, Jacob Perreault, Mason McTavish, Olen Zellweger, and Max Comtois. That’s a ton of prospect depth.

However, the Ducks have some veterans who might not fit what they are trying to do, but these veterans might be the right pieces to help the Devils. The Devils have a huge hole at the third-line center, and they have some young assets who could step up. They need one of them to prove it, though, and if it doesn’t happen quickly, the Devils might be in trouble. Do the Ducks have a center who could play on the third line that the Devils might be interested in?

Yes, this is eluding to Adam Henrique. At this point in his career, a trade to the Devils makes sense. He has three years left on his deal, and the Devils didn’t claim him when he was on waivers last season, but that contract can be worked out. Henrique is coming off his best season in years. He would be someone who knows what the Devils are trying to build, and he could get a fresh start in a new role.

The Devils could also ask about someone like Jakob Silfverberg. He’s a winger who belongs in the top six and he might have worn out his welcome in Southern California. There have been rumors surrounding him a Rickard Rickell seemingly forever. The price on Rickell was pretty crazy last season, so it would be worth it to move on to Silfverberg and just put it all together. It would give the Ducks more draft capital to send to Buffalo, and it would give them some flexibility going forward to build around Eichel.