The New Jersey Devils are out of the playoffs. That’s just the facts right now. There’s no route where they make the playoffs. They could win 15 games in a row and they would still not be in a playoff spot. They need to go something crazy like 21-2 down the stretch to make it into the postseason. It’s just something the Devils have to face.
However, we don’t think they will be sole sellers at the trade deadline. Don’t get us wrong, they will be selling multiple pieces by next Friday, but it won’t be the only thing they do. They are going to look at pieces that make sense for 2026-27 and beyond. There’s a real chance they trade a huge asset for another huge asset.
There have been more than a dozen names that have been tied to the Devils this season. They already unloaded some salary when they traded Ondrej Palat to the New York Islanders, but there are more moves on the horizon. If they trade Dougie Hamilton, which is expected at this point, they have money to spend for a big asset.
One name they’ve been tied to for a while was Steven Stamkos. The Devils tried to sign Stamkos in free agency when he was available, but he chose the Nashville Predators. That hasn’t worked out, and he was reportedly open to moving to another franchise, but the Predators have gotten themselves back in the playoff race, and Stamkos is ready to move this conversation to the offseason.
Report: Predators’ Stamkos says there’s ‘zero’ chance he’ll waive no-movement clause https://t.co/wMotFdCSiq
— Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) February 27, 2026
Were the Devils going to trade for Stamkos at this point? There were apparently still conversations, but it seemed unlikely. They would essentially be paying for a season where he was useless to them. He’d be moving to a situation where he was further away from a Stanley Cup.
There is a chance that Stamkos saw the forest through the trees and understood that a team with Golden Goal scorer Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier in their primes is a great spot to be as his career moves to a different place, and he could teach them to be winners. That’s what’s been missing in the room. They get these veterans who can’t do anything anymore. Whether it’s Palat, P.K. Subban, or Evgenii Dadonov, they need someone who is great on the ice and off of it.
It seems like if it were Stamkos, who still has two years left at $8 million per season, then it will be a trade that happens in the offseason.