In the Devils' most recent blockbuster trade -- a quantity-over-quality unloading of a few pieces in exchange for all-world goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (who already looked fantastic in his first start), they let go of recent first-round selection Alexander Command.
Command, one of, if not the team's top prospect, had just been selected 12th overall in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft. He was the first-ever draft pick of the Sunny Mehta era, being generally regarded as a future middle-six center with immense physical upside -- a combination of Anton Lundell and Sam Bennett. Of course, the move was a signal of the Devils' overall desire to win now, being that Command is unlikely to see the NHL for a couple more seasons.
Now, the Devils have ties to former Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin, who would surely cost a piece or two of that caliber as well. It's been rumored that Detroit is looking for multiple high-end pieces for the perennial 60-plus-point-getter. For the Devils, that would likely mean one or more of Anton Silaev, Seamus Casey, or Lenni Hämeenaho.
Trading Tom Fitzgerald's old prospects won't hurt Sunny Mehta's future
Under Tom Fitzgerald, the thought of offloading several high-end prospects would have been a frightening one -- the reality is, the strong selections were fewer and further between than most NHL organizations. Under Mehta, though, the early returns on his first draft class have been promising enough to think that the Devils will be perfectly fine should they decide to unload the clip on another star.
Matias Vanhanen, for example, has played at a better-than-point-per-game clip in his first handful of NCAA games and is showing no signs of stopping. Nikita Shcherbakov has been one of the KHL's best rookies, Lavr Gashilov is tied for second in the MHL in scoring, and Daniil Rusakovich has been one of his league's most dominant goaltenders. It's obviously early in their respective trajectories, but whatever formula and process the Devils followed on draft day is looking like a good one, especially considering that this Devils' front office is all about repeatability. On top of that, a revamped Utica Comets team means increased development for everyone.
Being that it stands to reason that the Devils' pipeline should continue receiving legit pieces draft after draft, it should be almost of no concern if the Devils decide to offload part of their prospect pool to pursue win-now pieces.
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