The New Jersey Devils are expected to be one of the most active teams at the NHL Trade Deadline. With Jack Hughes’s injury on Sunday night, the pressure mounts further for Tom Fitzgerald, who is watching as the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers quickly creep towards them in the playoff race.
If Fitzgerald wants to hold onto the playoff spot the Devils have had all season, he needs to replace the production Hughes had on this team, which likely means he has to make multiple moves. One of those moves should be a high-end center, and he’ll likely want one with term to fix their third-line issue.
This is all going to cost assets. The Devils are already working from behind because they don’t have a first-round pick in this year’s NHL Draft. They moved that to the Calgary Flames in the Jacob Markstrom trade. However, they have a plethora of trade options to make these moves work.
Honorable Mention: Arseni Gritsyuk and Anton Silayev
We’re making Arseni Gritsyuk and Anton Silayev honorable mentions because we don’t think the Devils would actually make them available. Gritsyuk is very close to joining the Devils, as he’s said he’s coming to North America when he season in the KHL ends. Meanwhile, Silayev was just drafted by the Devils, falling into their lap at 10th overall last year.
Both of these players could be traded if that was the only option for a player the Devils considered perfect, but we feel like Fitzgerald could steer teams in other directions.