New Jersey Devils: 5 Goalies To Trade For Not Named John Gibson

Filip Gustavsson – Minnesota Wild

This one might be a long shot, but Filip Gustavsson just filed for salary arbitration. Bill Guerin has been a GM who doesn’t deal with nonsense. If this negotiation goes bad, we can see the Minnesota Wild shopping for what they can get for him. The Devils are in an interesting position where they can afford to trade the Wild an NHL goalie, a prospect goalie, and another major piece for Gustavsson.

We don’t think the Devils would trade Vanecek and Schmid for Gustavsson, but they could trade Nico Daws or even Tyler Brennan in the deal for Gustavsson. It makes a lot of sense.

Gustavsson was surprisingly one of the best goalies in the league when it comes from a per start basis. He was fourth in goals saved above average at 5v5 (according to Natural Stat Trick) in the entire NHL. He was better than Saros despite having 25 fewer starts. The Devils prioritize those stats.

Gustavsson was even good in the playoffs. In five games, he had a .920 save percentage. The Devils would love to have a playoff performer like that. The Devils could pay the man, and then he could still fight for starts with Schmid. He’s just 25 years old, so it fits right in where the Devils want to be.