While the New Jersey Devils themselves don't have much cap space, they should be trying to capitalize on the similar plight of the Florida Panthers at the same time.
The Panthers did well this offseason to re-sign key contributors like Brad Marchand, Aaron Ekblad, and Sam Bennett, but all that business has left them $3.725 million over the NHL's salary cap ceiling.
They'll eventually need to shed some players to get back under the ceiling, while the Devils have to do the same to afford Luke Hughes's next contract.
At the same time, though, the two sides actually make for great trade partners at the moment.
Three players the Panthers might consider expendable, given their cap situation and contention window, include Anton Lundell, Evan Rodrigues, and Eetu Luostarinen.
Rodrigues and Luostarinen each make $3 million against the cap, are signed for two more seasons, and don't have any trade protection. The latter is also true of Lundell, but he's otherwise signed on in Florida until 2030 at a $5 million cap hit.
With uncertainty at a multitude of forward positions on the roster, all three Panthers players would make for ideal Devils trade targets.
Much of the offseason has been spent discussing how the Devils can get a No. 3 center and what options are available to them. Lundell would be the dream for New Jersey, but the asking price could be astronomical.
Parting ways with a player like Dawson Mercer would help the Devils approach that value, but his $4 million cap hit doesn't do much for the Panthers as it relates to making as much cap space as possible.
Rodrigues and Luostarinen, on the other hand, are older, less expensive on the cap, and have smaller upside as career bottom-nine forwards. The Panthers can trade one away to the Devils, for example, and assign one of their other 13 remaining forwards to the AHL to get below the cap ceiling ahead of October.
Luostarinen, 26, might be the preferable target for the Devils since he's five years younger than Rodrigues, even if Rodrigues has scored no fewer than 12 goals and 32 points in each of the last four seasons, with the capability of playing both center and wing.
At 5-foot-11, 183 pounds, Rodrigues might be a little too similar to a Mercer, for instance, which really leads the Devils to the younger, bigger (6-foot-3) Luostarinen.
The Finn has proven he can produce in an expanded role, too, having posted 17 goals, 26 assists, and 43 points in 82 games in 2022-23. Additionally, Luostarinen has played no fewer than 78 games in each of the last four seasons, and durability at the center position is key for the Devils for... obvious reasons.
What the Devils do with Mercer and/or Ondrej Palat to create money for Hughes's contract is secondary to the opportunity to truly, finally, solidify the center depth chart.
Panthers GM Bill Zito can drive a hard bargain, and who knows what he's thinking? But the Devils and Tom Fitzgerald would be foolish not to inquire about Lundell, Rodrigues, or Luostarinen this summer.