3. No useful trade activity in sight
The Hurricanes and Rangers both went for massive trade pieces in Mikko Rantanen and J.T. Miller to create offense for themselves. They aren't the only ones making moves. The Blue Jackets have been calling about Elias Pettersson. A first-round pick got the Canucks Marcus Pettersson and the Stars Mikael Granlund. The prices are interesting on the market, but it kind of puts the Devils in a strange spot.
The Devils have interesting pieces, but they don't have a first-round pick. They gave that to the Calgary Flames in the Jacob Markstrom deal. While nobody is taking that deal back with how well Markstrom has played pre-injury, it does limit the Devils' ability to make a move while teams look at teams that do have their first-round pick.
The Devils should go after a player like Ryan O'Reilly, but his value is probably sky high right now. They will ask for something like Simon Nemec plus a draft pick. It doesn't have to have logic. The Predators will see what Granlund got and ask for much more.
The Devils will eventually make a move. They have to hope the team doesn't wait too long. There's no reason this team should be in the Wild Card race. If a move should be made to avoid it, Fitzgerald has to figure out how to make it happen without losing Nemec.