The New Jersey Devils made a shocking move right before the season began. With teams cutting final rosters to get under the salary cap and making things work with their 23-player max, teams have to cut players they’d really like to keep. That’s what the Dallas Stars did when they put goalie Remi Poirier on waivers. The New Jersey Devils made a claim on Poirier, with Nico Daws and Jake Allen already on the roster.
Poirier was a no-risk move by the Devils, but they didn’t really give him much of a chance to prove himself. When the Devils went back to Dallas last week, Poirier gave an interview where he made it clear he wasn’t sure of his role with New Jersey.
Poirier wasn’t getting much of a chance to prove himself, rarely even getting practice time. Even with Allen and Daws struggling, Poirier wasn’t getting an opportunity. Then, the Devils traded for Connor Hellebuyck.
That trade made Poirier’s future with the Devils essentially non-existent. He’s young, but the Devils still have Jakub Malek, Trenten Bennett, and Daniil Rusakovich in their system. That doesn’t even include Mikhail Yegorov, who has been incredible at Boston University and is expected to be the top guy for the Devils one day.
With all that, the Devils traded Poirier on Sunday to the Washington Capitals for a seventh-round pick.
#NEWS: We've acquired a 2027 seventh-round pick from the Washington Capitals for goaltender Remi Poirier.
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) November 1, 2026
This trade was about salary cap as much as anything for the New Jersey Devils
Prior to this move, the Devils were working on the margins of the salary cap. After trading two roster players (Daws and Dawson Mercer) for Hellebuyck, they couldn’t afford a short-term injury. After Anthony Mantha left Friday’s game with the Vegas Golden Knights, the issue popped up.
The Devils now have just under $950,000 in cap space to work with. That’s not enough to call Stefan Noesen back up, but they can call up Lenni Hameenaho, who spent the second half of last season with the Devils and has four goals and seven points in seven games. He has earned an opportunity, and now the Devils have a chance to give him that opportunity.
The Devils' situation with Poirier will remain a little bizarre just because he was never given a shot. It seems like it was an impulsive decision, but it is a decision that turned nothing into a draft pick. It replaces one of the pieces of the Hellebuyck trade, and it gives the Devils more capital to work with.
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