5 New Jersey Devils Players Who Could Be Available At Trade Deadline

P.K. Subban

Let’s start with the obvious. P.K. Subban is the one trade target that makes the most sense. He’s on the last year of his deal, he’s not on the same timeline as the other players on the team, and he’s lost a step from his previous Norris Trophy-winning seasons. However, Subban still has a decent amount of value around the league. The league will always put a higher value on a player with a pedigree. Subban has that, and he can still provide really good depth on a team’s blue line.

On top of that, he is right handed. That is huge for teams looking for defenders. There are a limited amount of superstar right-handed defensemen in the league. While Subban isn’t a superstar anymore, he can still eat a lot of minutes, he can play on the power play, and he’s someone who hasn’t lost too much on his shot (although, it could hit the net more often).

Subban is also prone to the big play. He’s made multiple stick-to-stick passes hitting a cutting offensive player in stride and leading a breakaway. He would be able to do that more for a team oozing with talent. There are multiple teams that could use someone with his ability in the passing game. The Devils have limited offensive weapons, so he only has so many opportunities to make these passes happen.

Subban still makes occasional mistakes, but the Devils can make it worthwhile for opposing teams. His $9 million salary is a lot to handle, but that salary is $4.5 million at this point. Then, the Devils can handle half of that, so a team really only needs to make $2 million available for a deal to work out. This seems like the most likely outcome unless the Devils think they want to re-sign Subban for future depth.