New Jersey Devils: 5 Players Legitimately Worth Jesper Bratt Trade
The Jesper Bratt discourse has been out of control. The New Jersey Devils winger is coming into another offseason without a contract, his third in four years. After two harsh contract negotiations and a playoff no-show, fans are pretty fed up with the whole thing. Fans are fickle, so this isn’t unexpected. However, the suggestions for trade offers or outright releasing Bratt are beyond insane.
Yes, there have been fans that said the Devils shouldn’t even extend Bratt a qualifying offer. That’s ridiculous and would never happen. The trade options are just as wild. Maybe it makes sense in terms of talent acquisition to send Bratt to the Winnipeg Jets for Connor Hellebuyck. He is one of the better goalies in the league, but he has one year left and he’s about to turn 30 years old.
Other trades include adding to get Kyle Conner (which hurts the Devils defensively), trading Bratt for one first-round pick (oh), and many other terrible ideas. Tom Fitzgerald says the framework of a deal is already in place. That hasn’t stopped anyone from calling for Bratt’s head. So, to help you out, we placed the only five theoretically possible available players that would be acceptable in a Jesper Bratt trade.
1. William Nylander
This one is probably going to come up a lot, and it’s incredibly ironic. Toronto Maple Leafs fans have been giving William Nylander issues since he had a contentious contract negotiation in December 2018. He ended up being underpaid, and now he’s looking to cash in even further. He could want a deal in the realm of J.T. Miller (7 years / $56,000,000) or Filip Forsberg (8 years / $68,000,000).
It would help the Devils in the short and long term to replace Bratt with Nylander. They play a similar game, and they both play winger. Nylander is a little better than Bratt, too. Would the Maple Leafs do the deal one-for-one? Probably not, but the Devils wouldn’t have to add much. No other team in the Nylander sweepstakes could give an asset like Bratt, keeping the Maple Leafs’ window alive.
2. Mitch Marner
Sticking with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Mitch Marner is better than William Nylander. He, along with Nico Hischier and Patrice Bergeron, is a Selke Trophy candidate. On top of that, he is one of the best scoring wingers in hockey. The former fourth-overall pick had a career-high 99 points last season. Adding Marner would make the Devils a legit contender for an entire generation. He’s the perfect combination of age and need. He has the defensive responsibility required to excel in Lindy Ruff’s system, and he fills the need at winger to round out the top six.
Here’s the issue, Marner has a contract that would hurt the Devils. He’s making $10.9 million for the next two years. Then, he’s going to need another contract. Who knows what that one will look like when he finally hits 100 points.
Can the Devils afford his contract and still re-sign Timo Meier? It’s technically possible, but it comes at the cost of just about anyone else on this roster coming back. Maybe they can afford Erik Haula at like $2 million, but they can’t give a raise to Michael McLeod or Nathan Bastian. Signing UFAs is out of the question. It really hampers Tom Fitzgerald’s ability to make moves, especially during the NHL Trade Deadline.
Because of the contract situation, the Leafs would have trouble asking for more than Bratt for Marner. Bratt is a very good consolation prize if they truly want to make this kind of move as a reset.
3. Clayton Keller
The Arizona Coyotes are currently in flux. After the Tempe vote went sideways, nobody knows where they will play next. Is it Salt Lake City? Will Houston be their new home? Can they make Phoenix work? You know who might hate this most? The players.
Nobody is signed for longer than Clayton Keller, but one might think he would demand a more stable situation. The New Jersey Devils would make a lot of sense. They are at the beginning of their window, matching the 24-year-old’s prime with that of Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, Jack Hughes and others. Keller is the exact kind of player the Devils want but likely wouldn’t get in another circumstance.
Keller is coming off a point-per-game season, putting up 86 points. He’s a better player than Bratt, and the Coyotes would likely ask the Devils to add to the deal. The Devils could do that on the defensive end, helping the Yotes add to a terrible blueline.
The issue here is whether the Devils will want to do this to Bratt. Obviously, if a trade were to happen, things would go sideways in negotiations. However, sending someone to the uncertainty of Arizona because negotiations didn’t go well could scare players away in free agency. This would be a ruthless move that might have a ripple effect others don’t expect.
4. Jake Guentzel
Jake Guentzel’s name hasn’t been mentioned this offseason, but shouldn’t it? The Pittsburgh Penguins are making major changes, replacing their GM and president. Reports say multiple members of the Devils’ front office have been interviewing for the job. If one of the Devils brass gets the job, they would be first in line to get Bratt on their team.
The Penguins would need to give to get, especially since this is a trade with constant reminders (inside the division). This is a team that desperately needs a player like Bratt. Would they be willing to do it at the expense of their one true superstar winger under the age of 30?
What the Penguins really need is a hard reset, but that’s not happening as long as Sidney Crosby is in the lineup. Bratt could match Guentzel’s output with a much longer contract. Guentzel is signed for just one more year and will likely need another pay bump to stay in Pittsburgh. Can they afford to pay him $8-9 million per season?
This is a weird one, and maybe there’s a reason the rumor mill hasn’t mentioned Guentzel, but the situation makes sense. A new management group is coming to Pittsburgh. Guentzel could be flipped for a much younger asset. They could keep their “window” open with a Guentzel for Bratt swap. The Devils would need to sign an extension this summer to make it worth it.
5. Alex DeBrincat
Ah, this feels familiar. Alex DeBrincat could be available once again just one year after the Chicago Blackhawks traded him to the Ottawa Senators. The Sens failed pretty miserably in accelerating the rebuild. After adding DeBrincat, Claude Giroux, Cam Talbot, and Jakub Chychrun (which weirdly happened in the middle of the season), the Senators still finished sixth in the Atlantic Division, five points out of the final playoff spot.
The Senators won’t want to rebuild again. They are built to win as long as they get a goalie. Maybe the Devils could add Mackenzie Blackwood to a deal. That’s besides the point. The Devils sending them Bratt for DeBrincat allows both teams to move on from bad contract situations. DeBrincat is also a restricted free agent with an expected hard negotiation coming. However, new situations could benefit both Bratt and DeBrincat.
The one issue is DeBrincat’s lack of playoff experience. He only has experience from the strange 2020 bubble, but he was pretty good. He had six points in nine games. However, the Devils will want a little more. The others on this list (outside of Keller) can bring that playoff experience to the table.
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The whole reason for this exercise is to show how unlikely a Bratt deal is. The Devils are going to sign him. If these aren’t the players in your fake trade, then it’s not worth making.