2023 NJ Devils: NHL Trade Deadline Asset Management Pre-Deadline

After the 2022 NHL Draft concluded, Tom Fitzgerald and company found themselves with a superstar-caliber prospect in Simon Nemec. During the World Junior Championships, Nemec scored in all situations for Slovakia. He’s been a minute-munching defenseman for his home country. Having a bountiful prospect pool of solid players will garner a lot of NHL teams struggling to rebuild their foundation with new assets that will have to trade an asset or more high-risk high reward. This is great for the New Jersey Devils.

Fitzgerald has defensemen like Luke Hughes, Nemec, Kevin Bahl, Nikita Okhotiuk, and Topias Vilen in the present and future. Other players in the pipeline are a bit too far off from joining the NHL to really evaluate. It is a matter of time before the Devils’ front office goes gunning for a finisher on the wing, adds a few big bodies up front, and possibly adds a Tyler Toffoli-type forward to have in case of an apparent injury.

Tom Fitzgerald needs to bolster the power play for Andrew Brunette and give coach Lindy Ruff a few low-risk high reward players before the March 3rd trade deadline. It would be the first trade deadline that Fitzgerald would play a buyer and not a seller. It’s interesting to see where he goes from here.

Nathan Bastian’s injury was a big blow to the bottom six. The energy/impact line of Wood-McLeod-Bastian just isn’t the same without the third element of the trio. It will be interesting to see if the Devils add any heavy hockey bodies with grit, speed, and tenacity to help score in spots and take up the goalie’s sight.

With Ondrej Palat on his way back in the near part of the 2023 calendar year, this will allow Nathan Bastian time to come back fresh and healthy again. Teams going up against the Devils will now have two guys that need to be, defended clutch Palat is very sneaky in the high-danger scoring areas. Bastian is the type of guy who knows how to pound his opponents, looking to gain puck control and hits like a defensive tackle.

For those still skeptical about the Devils starting to break out of their funk, stability in the net is key. It is a work in progress where there are many pieces in place it is a matter of improvement via trading terms assets. We’ll see about Mackenzie Blackwood, but at least it’s good to see Vitek Vanecek back on his feet.