Likelihood 5 Prominent New Jersey Devils Players Could Be Traded

Mackenzie Blackwood
Likelihood he gets traded: 10%

This one really came out of nowhere, and it doesn’t seem like a smart idea for the Devils to trade their best option to be their starting goaltender of the future, but that rumor is out there and it didn’t come out of thin air. Mackenzie Blackwood is having just the season from hell. He drew bad headlines earlier in the season due to his hesitancy to get the vaccine. Then, he injured his heel in the preseason. It never heeled completely.

Now, Blackwood is on the shelf, but there’s a rumor he could be moved. The word is he could go to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are desperate for someone to take over the net. However, why would the Devils trade away Blackwood? They already have uncertainty with Jonathan Bernier, and while we’ve seen a lot from Nico Daws, we haven’t seen enough for him to be the starter full time. It’s nice that Daws gives the Devils a chance to win, but he still gives up too many bad goals and overall he’s an average NHL goalie. That’s good for 21 years old, but it’s probably best for everyone for him to spend another year in the AHL.

Blackwood’s trade is sitting at 10 percent because it just seems like almost an impossibility, but there is some smoke here. He’s not even back from injury, but people seem to want to tie him to rumors. Is it just people trying to put two and two together, or is there actually something here?

Blackwood isn’t going anywhere. The Devils won’t get the right value to trade him, and they don’t have the right players to fill his role if he does leave. We suppose it could come with a goalie in return, but anyone on the Maple Leafs would actually come with less value to the Devils and force the Maple Leafs to add more to the trade.