1. The goalie you want the Devils to get isn’t out there
Sorry guys, but the Armchair GM CapFriendly era of Devils goalie trades is pretty much over.
Connor Hellebuyck isn’t on the market anymore, and neither is Juuse Saros. Some people counter with Yaroslav Askarov, but he’s a 21-year-old with one season of North American hockey under his belt. He’s also 0-1-0 in his NHL career with a .886 save percentage.
If the Devils are to compete for a Stanley Cup this year or the year after, Askarov isn’t the guy you want. Conversely, that also puts the onus on the Devils to go out and draft their franchise goalie if they’re convinced Akira Schmid isn’t that. Again, Schmid is only 23 and had one year of AHL seasoning prior to last season. There’s a reason the rumor of keeping him in the AHL this year was out there.
The Devils’ system calls for a goalie that can make saves when the defense whiffs and the opposing offense yells ‘jailbreak!’. Vanecek and Schmid have done that. The problem is Vanecek has a .900+ save percentage in only a third of his games this year, whilst Schmid’s confidence probably took a hit after being foolishly played in both games of a back-to-back last week.
So, if/when Dougie Hamilton goes to LTIR, the team gets $9 million in cap space. Out of the realistic options left that might give New Jersey what they’re looking for, you come up with John Gibson and Jacob Markstrom. The problems with them?
Markstrom is 33, signed at $6 million until 2026, has a no-movement clause, and was terrible last year. Gibson is 30, signed at $6.4 million until 2027, has a modified no-trade clause, and is having his first decent season since 2018-19.
Basically, the two guys that can play at the level the Devils need are 30 or older, carry huge money for long terms, carry huge risks in terms of performance, and might not even agree to a trade in the first place. Plus, New Jersey would probably need to get both at half retained, and that’s going to cost them a lot.
Right now, the New Jersey Devils just don’t have many options, especially after shipping out Mackenzie Blackwood for peanuts. Barring something crazy, this is the bed they made for themselves.