The New Jersey Devils aren’t acting like this year is a make-or-break year, but it is. If the team doesn’t make significant strides into contention, it’s hard to imagine the current front office philosophy staying in place. The Devils are looking to be Stanley Cup contenders sooner rather than later with Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes entering their primes. They haven’t shown anything of the sort just yet.
That’s where a big move might change things. The Devils made a big move in 2023 when they traded for Timo Meier, and that helped them get to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It might be time for another one of those moves.
Many believe Quinn Hughes would be that move. After a week’s worth of quotes from Quin and Jack Hughes, it still seems pretty clear the Vancouver Canucks captain is spending his 2025-26 season north of the border unless something cataclysmic happens.
One move the Devils could make now is to get a top-six forward. There aren’t many available, but the rumors surrounding Jason Robertson and Jordan Kyrou will persist. However, the one rumor that’s relatively new but will be the biggest one in the league is the contract situation with Kirill Kaprizov.
According to multiple reports, Kaprizov has turned down a massive contract offer from the Minnesota Wild, and now he could be available.
Of course, most teams would want to trade for Kaprizov and sign him to an eight-year deal. The Devils couldn’t do that. The price it’s going to cost for the Hughes brothers and Nico Hischier will eat up any additional cap space. Adding Kaprizov’s extension would ruin any chance to sign depth on the roster.
Targeting Kirill Kaprizov could make sense for the New Jersey Devils
However, that doesn’t have to be what the Devils do. What if the Devils hire Kirill Kaprizov as a mercenary? It won’t be cheap, but mercenaries never are. What if the Devils put their chips on the table and go all in on 2026 before they need to pay Hischier and Quinn Hughes?
Kaprizov has a cap hit of $9 million this season. The Devils could easily match that in a trade. Even without giving up Ondrej Palat (which they should, but in a different trade), they can make the salaries work. We’d see former Devils great and current Wild GM prioritizing NHL talent as part of a package to keep his team competitive.
The Devils could build a package around Simon Nemec and Dawson Mercer. That’s just under $5 million there. The Devils could also add Brenden Dillon, who might be desirable to a team like the Wild. Just like that, the contracts are basically matched. There might be some picks and prospects added, but you get the general idea.
The Devils would be adding a player capable of putting up 100 points to pair with Jack Hughes, another player who should be getting the franchise’s first 100-point season any year now.
There would be no doubt that the Devils would be one of the top contenders in the Eastern Conference if they added Kaprizov. It would take a monumental level of guts to make this kind of move, but with the Florida Panthers already dealing with fatigue and injuries, the Lightning still in between eras, the Maple Leafs recovering from the loss of Mitch Marner, and the Metropolitan Division basically fighting for scraps, this might be the right time to strike.