The NHL has seen some intense deals happening a few days before the NHL Trade Deadline. The New Jersey Devils have the type of assets teams might be willing to overpay for because they all have term outside of P.K. Subban and Jimmy Vesey. Players like Damon Severson, Pavel Zacha, and Mackenzie Blackwood could reap a haul to the right suitor.
The Devils are in an enviable position as a seller with very good young assets that they are willing to move. In past years, the Devils only wanted to sell dwindling assets. Even the year they traded Taylor Hall, Blake Coleman, and Sami Vatanen, it seemed like they were all the right moves and they all provided the Devils with interesting assets for the future.
Looking at the moves already made around the league, teams are willing to pay handsomely for the right assets. The Tampa Bay Lightning just traded two 1st-round picks and two NHL players for Brandon Hagel. Many say this is their attempt to get another Blake Coleman, and they were willing to part with the right pieces to fend off the other teams in the league.
Then, there’s the Ben Chiarot deal. The Montreal Canadiens got a 1st-round pick, a 4th-round pick, and college prospect Ty Smilanic for the 30-year-old defenseman. Chiarot is someone that gets the analytics community going head to head with those analysts who still lean on the eye test. Either way, Chiarot got the Canadiens a haul, and it looks like some of the biggest names are still on the market.
This should be good news for the Devils, right? Teams are willing to make wild deals for players, and the Devils have players who are available. Obviously, Tom Fitzgerald hinted towards a quiet deadline, but the Devils can’t let deals like this go.
Here’s the issue; the Devils are dealing with a situation where they’ve only made one asset available, and it doesn’t sound like Fitzgerald is making his own calls to sell his guys. The Canadiens and Blackhawks were both actively trying to move their guys, so they got multiple offers for everyone. The Devils are taking a different approach. The front office seems like they are sitting back and waiting for things to come to them.
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The buyers market that is happening right now also might be teams trying to lock down their assets prior to the deadline. Florida’s big move for Chiarot might not be their only move, so they needed to know what assets they had left for Claude Giroux. The Panthers don’t have the rights to their 1st-round pick until 2025 (conditions hold up 2022, 2023, and 2024 picks). They need to find some kind of assets to put together a package where the Philadelphia Flyers are actually moving Giroux.
How many teams are willing to spend big to make something happen? Toronto seems like the obvious choice. They are looking to finally get over the hump, and getting the top seed in the Atlantic Division is incredibly important for them. If they don’t get it, they have to play the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs.
Another team that could go in big is the New York Rangers. The Devils aren’t making a trade with them again unless it is incredibly one-sided. They are especially not giving up an asset to the Rangers who has term.
The Devils are likely going to miss the boat this year. Their assets are a little too valuable for a trade deadline, and their contracts have a little too much term. The Devils will likely stand pat on Monday, and that will likely lead to a busy offseason.