The New Jersey Devils are likely not buyers when it comes to the NHL Trade Deadline, but they could be looking to make deals that help them in the future. Hopefully, they learned from this past offseason when they couldn’t get the upgrades they were hoping for. They tried to get top-six upgrades across the trade market, but the best they could do was Connor Brown and Arseny Gritsyuk.
Both of those players added to the bottom six depth, but injuries all season made their addition moot. Just looking at who played with Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier this season, it’s clear that head coach Sheldon Keefe has been dealing with a shortage of top-six wingers.
Hughes’s most prominent line has been with Jesper Bratt and Ondrej Palat, playing 84 minutes at 5v5 according to Natural Stat Trick. Actually, that’s a lie. His most prominent line is actually when he played wing alongside Bratt with Hischier as the center. The Devils have even tried Evgenii Dadonov and Stefan Noesen with Hughes.
It seemed like the Devils had something with Hughes-Gritsyuk-Mercer, but Hughes immediately got hurt after they were put together. They had six high-danger chances together and zero such chances against. Gritsyuk was growing on Hughes’s wing, but it was short-lived. It’s a little crazy that the Devils haven’t tried this line much since Hughes returned from injury, especially with their inability to score.
Speaking of an inability to score, adding to the top six has to be a priority for whoever is in charge of the Devils moving forward. And one team is offering options to add high-quality forwards who are signed long-term.
We’ve talked about Jordan Kyrou in the past, but let’s talk about the other St. Louis Blues forward who is available.
Robert Thomas is a superstar worthy of being a top-line forward, if not a top-line center. The Devils don’t “need” a center like other teams need a center, but Thomas can play a very important role moving forward. He plays very similarly to Jack Hughes, so he’d be a natural replacement when he gets injured. He also plays like “old” Jack Hughes, mostly focusing on his puck distribution.
If the Devils acquired Thomas, they could pair him with Hughes, allowing him to be the distributor while Hughes focuses on his finishing. Yes, Hughes’s shot has been terrible since his hand injury, but that’s going to heal eventually.
We’re also thinking long-term here. The Devils need to give this roster something to get excited about, even if the season is essentially over at this point.
What is it going to cost the Devils to get Robert Thomas?
A report from Sportsnet says that the Blues are looking for something astronomical to get Thomas off their team.
Nick Kypreos: Re Robert Thomas: The price is astronomical, in the vicinity of something equivalent to three top-15 first-round picks. [Armstrong's] looking for cache in prospects and picks. I don’t know what team would do that - Sportsnet (2/2)
— NHL Rumour Report (@NHLRumourReport) February 3, 2026
To match the Blues' ask, the Devils would essentially have to give three of the following pieces: Dawson Mercer, Anton Silayev, Simon Nemec, their 2026 and 2027 first-round picks. Maybe they can argue that both Mikhail Yegorov and Lenni Hammenaho are playing like first-round picks, but it’s very unlikely the Devils want to trade either of those players in the situation they are in.
That’s an insane price to pay, but it would set the Devils up next year and into the future. Thomas is signed to a very reasonable cap number ($8.125 million) until 2031. If the cost is Simon Nemec, Dawson Mercer, and a 2027 first-round pick, it’s probably worth it. But we also understand the cost of doing business.
It’s more likely than not that Nick Bjugstad was the one add the Devils do this season, and the rest of the season is focused on selling to the highest bidder.