New Jersey Devils: 3 Under-The-Radar Defensive Trade Targets

It has been as difficult a year as you could imagine on the injury front for the New Jersey Devils. No player nor position has been safe. The latest comes by way of a Jonas Siegenthaler broken foot. Add Dougie Hamilton's torn pec back in December, and the Devils defense is suddenly being stretched ultra-thin.

Between the two injuries, the Devils have lost over 1,000 games in NHL experience. Consequentially, Lindy Ruff will have to lean on his younger defenseman. Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, and Kevin Bahl have all put in solid efforts but lack the experience to spearhead a playoff push. Together, the three of them have a combined 161 games of NHL experience.

John Marino has suddenly been thrust into the de facto number-one defenseman role, and like it or not, Brendan Smith and Colin Miller will be playing a lot of hockey together moving forward.

However, the one saving grace for the New Jersey Devils and their fans is that Tom Fitzgerald is the GM. "Fitzy" has been no stranger when it comes to making a trade, and now is as good a time as ever. Whether it be for a goalie or a top-flight defenseman, the Devils have had their nose in almost everything.

One of Fitzy's calling cards is trading for players whose names are not thrown around in trade discussions. The Siegenthaler and Marino trades are perfect examples of players who were not being talked about before being brought in. While Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev are the two hot names in trade rumors, do not be surprised if Fitzy makes an outside-the-box trade.