New Jersey Devils: 5 Trade Rentals That Might Actually Be Worth It
By Nick Villano
The New Jersey Devils are looking to make a splash this season. After surprisingly playing themselves into a solid second place, the Devils are now one of the biggest players at the NHL Trade Deadline. The prevailing focus is on Timo Meier. Especially with Bo Horvat already going to the New York Islanders, Meier is the biggest piece likely to move.
With so much competition for Meier, and the Devils having pieces that might be a little too enticing for Sharks GM Mike Grier to accept anything less (Simon Nemec and Luke Hughes at the top of that list), the Devils may have to look at who’s next on the list. Tom Fitzgerald said he has little interest in going after a pure rental, but there are some players heading for unrestricted free agency that make a lot of sense for the Devils now.
There are three reasons a young team like the Devils make sense to make a trade for a rental. The first reason is experience. This team is early in its run of contention (hopefully), but if the goal is truly to win a championship eventually, they need to find a way to get proper experience in the playoffs. They are heading into a likely matchup with the New York Rangers in the first round. They went to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. To beat them, they need that experience.
The other two reasons are price and availability of prospects. The Devils have one of the best prospect pools in the NHL. It’s not only top heavy (Nemec, Hughes, Alex Holtz, Arseni Gritsyuk), but it has incredible depth (Shakir Mukhamadullin, Josh Filmon, Graeme Clarke, Nolan Foote, Tyce Thompson, Topas Vilen, etc., etc.). Eventually, the Devils will have a logjam in the NHL. They won’t have room to fit every NHL-ready prospect. Why not use that capital now to acquire an NHL guy?
Also, the price for a rental is going to be much less than it would be for a guy like Meier. The Devils could even keep their first-round pick to continue to bolster their prospect pool or make a draft-day trade. So, with all that said, who are the rentals that make the most sense? Let’s start with a player we’ve mentioned many times before.