New Jersey Devils: Would They Make Michael McLeod Available?

The New Jersey Devils are looking to revamp the roster this offseason. We’ve heard a million trade proposals for the second-overall pick. We’ve seen other teams target Dawson Mercer and Alexander Holtz. There have been proposals looking for the Devils to dump the salaries of Andreas Johnsson and Tomas Tatar. There have been a million proposals through the weeks since the season ended. One name that seems to be creeping up in trade talks is Michael McLeod.

None of these talks are substantial or with real merit behind them. He’s just a name coming up in talks from Devils fans or other fanbases. He seems to have interest from other fanbases after a decent two seasons.

McLeod is a success story overall for the Devils. After a failed development under John Hynes, Lindy Ruff came in and found a secure role for McLeod that he can hold for a long time. He can kill penalties while also having the speed to push the puck the other way. His offensive attributes didn’t show this season like they did in 2021, but he still had 20 points in a fourth-line role.

He started to hit his stride after the Devils welcomed back Nathan Bastian. McLeod started the season without Bastian or Miles Wood, his two main linemates from the season before. Bastian was taken in the expansion draft, and Wood injured his hip in the preseason. After the returned, he looked a lot better.

The former first-round pick now has some decent value. He’s just 24 years old, so he has some growing to do. Teams love to buy on players in this age group. There’s a belief other teams can develop them better, and therefore they like getting unfinished products. That is definitely McLeod. Could he be a second-line center one day? That’s definitely a possibility.

Teams will likely be interested in McLeod if he’s available, but would the Devils make that happen? We’re not saying McLeod is untouchable, but there’s a big difference between touchable and available. The Devils might not hang up the phone if a team asks for McLeod in a deal for a bigger piece.

There’s also the elephant in the room when talking about McLeod. He was on the 2018 Hockey Canada team that’s dealing with a sexual assault investigation. Right now, those names haven’t been and won’t be released, but it seems like only a matter of time before we know more. McLeod has not been accused of anything publically, and anything beyond this is just connecting dots without real evidence. He deserves the benefit of the doubt until there’s an actual shred of evidence naming him specifically, but any conversation surrounding him will bring this up. If McLeod was involved, he should be cut immediately. Therefore, a team will want to know about his involvement.

Beyond that, McLeod is a great candidate for a trade. The Devils aren’t going to be looking for a trade specifically. His contract is under $1 million, and he will be a restricted free agent next season. McLeod could be a really good trade piece for the right team.