New Jersey Devils: Assessing Realistic Value For P.K. Subban

The New Jersey Devils aren’t dealing with a lot of obvious trade candidates as they sit near the basement once again. The NHL Trade Deadline is just one month away from Monday. While it’s less important to make things work than it has been in years past when there were obvious candidates to move like Kyle Palmieri, Taylor Hall (although he was gone by this point), and Dmitry Kulikov were on expiring contracts.

This season, the only obvious move is to trade P.K. Subban to the highest bidder. The Devils don’t need as many assets as they have in years past. They could put together a 2023-24 NHL lineup with their future assets right now. Luke Hughes is crushing it at the University of Michigan. Shakir Mukhamadullin has been pretty good for Ufa, and Arseny Gritzyuk looks like he’s building a star resumé. The Utica Comets are one of the best teams in the AHL. There is talent up and down the prospect pool.

However, there’s no point in keeping Subban on this roster. He’s very valuable to other teams because of his track record as a star in the past, his continued offensive ability, and the fact that he’s right handed. Subban is going to get the Devils an asset or two. The question is, what assets could they actually get?

It all depends on how many teams still need a right-handed defenseman once the Devils decide to make their move. The Devils need to get something from Subban because he is valuable and he’s going to leave for nothing in the offseason. He’s also not the right fit for the Devils moving forward. At one point, he might have been. However, keeping a big name like Subban just to play him on the third line doesn’t make a lot of sense.

When it comes to value, Subban might get more than others think. Are we talking about a 1st-round pick here? That seems like a big ask for Tom Fitzgerald, but for a team expecting to win the Stanley Cup, it might not be. The Ben Chiarot trade talk has the defenseman market off its rocker. Hopefully the Devils can take advantage of it.

More realistically, the Devils should be able to get something close to the Sami Vatanen trade from a few years ago. If you recall, the Devils got Janne Kuokkanen and a conditional 2nd-round pick. The Devils ended up fighting for said conditions when the league returned from its COVID-19 pause.

The Devils target should be a B-B+ type prospect and a 2nd-round pick. One of the other seems like not enough at this point. Anything more seems like way too much. Teams aren’t willing to lose something that’s a guarantee for Subban. They will take a risk on something that could develop for him.