All Signs Point To Quiet NHL Trade Deadline For New Jersey Devils
By Nick Villano
The New Jersey Devils have been tied to rumors from everyone to obvious trade candidates in P.K. Subban and Jimmy Vesey to some not so obvious candidates like Damon Severson and Pavel Zacha. There have been trades all across the league over the weekend. 10 trades were completed since Friday, starting with the Brandon Hagel deal from Chicago to Tampa Bay.
13 teams took part in the trades, a little under half of the league. None of them were the Devils despite the team being one of the worst yet again. The Devils haven’t been competitive in a while, but they expected more from this season. Both goalies got hurt, and it’s led to this. The Devils are once again in last place in the Metropolitan Division despite one of their division rivals having two different 10-game losing streaks.
The Devils are in very few rumors right now, and all of them are based on rumors that came out before and nothing substantial happening now. Zacha’s name is still slightly out there. Mackenzie Blackwood rumors got loud on Friday but have quieted down since. The only thing people are holding on to in terms of rumors is the fact that thre Devils placed Christian Jaros on waivers on Sunday, but that could just mean Janne Kuokkanen or Miles Wood is ready to return to the lineup.
To be honest, it just seems like the Devils are going to stand pat at the deadline. They have less than 24 hours to get very complicated trades done. By the time you’re reading this, it’s probably getting intesely close to the trade deadline. It just seems improbable that Fitzgerald can make this happen at the deadline.
The Devils were already sitting back and letting people contact them at this deadline, but that strategy might not have been the best. Especially with Subban, it seemed like it would have been a better idea for Fitzgerald to actively shop Subban. This could have helped the process of finding another team who could have taken on extra cap space. Now, it looks like the Devils will keep Subban until the season ends or they terminate his contract.
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So, don’t expect too many fireworks on Monday. Then, expect a lot of fireworks from the Devils fanbase. It’s been the season from hell, and this will just be another blip on the radar. From all the evidence we have in front of us, don’t be surprised if we see a very early “Devils are done for the day”.