2. Rickard Rakell should be off the Devils' trade board
The New Jersey Devils are going to be making many calls from now until March 7th. Fitzgerald will be asking about every available top-six forward to see if he can add goal scoring and situational offense to the lineup. The Devils are still playing with Ondrej Palat on the top six, and that experiment has to end. He’s been fine, but the Devils need better than fine.
One of the options to target on many lists is Pittsburgh Penguins forward Rickard Rakell. He’s been sensational this season, scoring 25 goals with 23 assists this season. He’s expected to be available as the Penguins evaluate their options this season, and it makes sense on paper for the Devils to be interested.
But when Rakell had a chance to play a best-on-best tournament, he was not good. He was originally named at the last minute to replace injured winger William Karlsson. It was a no-brainer at the time with how well Rakell was playing. He got into two games, and had no points. He was scratched from Sweden’s win against the Americans after he got sick.
We don’t want to write off a guy because of a mediocre two games, but the Penguins are going to ask for a big package for Rakell. This has Michael Grabner vibes, and we don’t want to be involved if that’s the case. There are other forwards on the market that make more sense for the Devils that won't cost nearly as much as Kyle Dubas is going to demand for Rakell this season.