New Jersey Devils: 5 Under-the-Radar Goalie Trade Options

The New Jersey Devils have been tied to just about every goalie who has come on the trade market. Connor Hellebuyck, John Gibson, and Jake Allen are just some of the options the Devils have been tied to. We’re not talking about them here. There will be no Juuse Saros or Jeremy Swayman. This is trying to find those trade options that can come out of nowhere.

Tom Fitzgerald shocked a lot of people when he traded for Vitek Vanecek last season. We actually suggested the Devils trade for Ilya Samsonov instead. We’re looking for another surprise. A player that hasn’t been outright in trade rumors but could still move now or in the season.

Marc-Andre Fleury

This one has been mentioned a little by fans, but there has been no actual talk of Marc-Andre Fleury going anywhere. He’s said he wants to stay with the Minnesota Wild, so a trade is not likely before the season starts. However, if Filip Gustavsson takes the net and Fleury becomes a true backup, he might be more open to a trade.

This is where the Devils can step in. Fleury would be more trustworthy in the playoffs. He can still hold starter minutes. The Devils really need a veteran who can hold his own in the playoffs.

Fleury wasn’t great in the playoffs. He was actually really bad, allowing seven goals against Dallas on just 31 shots against. However, that’s just one game. Fleury has a whole career of showing up in the postseason. In 2021, he had a .918 save percentage in 16 playoff games for Vegas. In his first season in Minnesota, he had a .906 save percentage in five games. This felt like a one-off, and he should be a trustworthy option.

Karel Vejmelka

We have to assume there is a chance everyone on the Arizona Coyotes roster is up for grabs. The player that makes the most sense for the Devils is their starting goalie Karel Vejmelka. The Coyotes have some exciting things happening, announcing a possible land buy to stay in the area. They also signed Logan Cooley to an entry-level contract despite what we thought was a confirmation he was going back to Minnesota.

There might not be a reason to trade Vejmelka right now. The Coyotes definitely aren’t competing for the playoffs, but maybe there’s value in showing confidence in the current roster. Trading away the starting goalie hardly does that.

The Devils would have to trade a decent package to get Vejmelka from the Coyotes, but he might be the best option out there. The Devils have a “future contenders” worth of prospects to offer without even dangling Luke Hughes or Simon Nemec.

The Yotes won’t want to trade Vejmelka, but if Vanecek has a rough start to the season and Schmid stays in the AHL, the Devils might pull the trigger on this trade. If they dangle enough prospects, it might move the Coyotes to make the deal.

Casey DeSmith

We interrupt your “savior” options to bring you a true depth piece/backup. Casey DeSmith was either the backup or the third-string goalie in Pittsburgh since 2017. He’s been around for the Matt Murray era and now the Tristan Jarry era.

He was just traded to the Montreal Canadiens as part of the Erik Karlsson deal. It seemed likely DeSmith was going to be the odd-man out in Pittsburgh. They re-signed Jarry and signed Alex Nedeljkovic as their tandem under new GM Kyle Dubas. DeSmith was leaving one way or another. It just worked out the Canadiens were ready for a salary dump.

The Canadiens will very happily get rid of DeSmith this offseason. It probably won’t even cost too much. They have three NHL goalies on the roster, so moving one makes sense.

DeSmith has had great numbers throughout his career. Last season was his worst, and he had a .905 save percentage. Prior to that, he’s never had below .912 over a full season. The Devils probably won’t get him to be the starter at any point, but it’s worth a shot.

Logan Thompson

This one is going to take some work and some convincing but follow along. The Vegas Golden Knights just won the Stanley Cup with Adin Hill in net. They then paid him close to $5 million per season on a new deal. Hill spent part of last season as the Knights’s third option, but he came up in the clutch.

That leaves a lot of questions in Vegas. Robin Lehner is the biggest question. The former Vezina Trophy candidate hasn’t played a game since the end of the 2021-22 season. He was out with a major injury last year, but he’s not likely to be one of those players who goes off in the sunset. He has some pretty well-reported financial issues, so he has every motivation to give it another go. The Knights will likely try to move that deal.

The Knights might be left with other options. Thompson has so much more value than Lehner, who is basically worthless on the trade market. If Lehner didn’t have that contract, he would be worth a flier. The issue is Thompson’s contract is basically a minimum salary for two more years. The Knights have no motivation to move that one.

The Devils can sweeten the pot by adding major assets while taking salary off the Knights hands. That would put the Devils in their own pickle since they have very little money left, but the Devils can afford to hold a little salary if they find another team to take a contract. The logistics are complicated, and the Knights can hold off for a season, so this is incredibly unlikely. However, the Devils should be calling everyday in case they change their minds.