Today is the NHL “soft” trade deadline slash Olympic roster freeze, with the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline coming up in a little over a month.
The New Jersey Devils have had many issues this season, including but not limited to, poor management from the top down, poor coaching, poor goaltending, the regression and/or underperformance of several key skaters, an offense that can’t score, a defense that can’t keep the puck out of the net, and a wide variety of injuries.
Other than that, things are going great
in Newark.
The result of all of the factors I listed above has caused the Devils to squander a good start to the season and fall out of the playoff race. They’ve shown since the middle of November that they’re incapable of stringing together a solid couple of weeks of hockey. Any progress that is made on the ice is almost immediately followed up by a four or five game losing streak, and they’re losing because of one or many of the reasons I pointed out above.
Tom Fitzgerald’s job as the general manager is to ultimately make whatever moves he can to put the Devils in a position to win. Fitzgerald is in a tricky spot where he might feel the proverbial hot seat is indeed warming up and that he might need to do something now to ensure that he continues to be employed as the general manager of the Devils next season and beyond.
But part of what comes with being a general manager is swallowing your pride and knowing when to cut your losses. Part of the job is not chasing short-term results, but looking at the bigger picture.
I don’t believe there is a move or moves out there that, at this point, can position the Devils to make the playoffs. Never mind winning a playoff series. Never mind winning a championship. We’re getting to the point of the season where the Devils are almost out of runway to make up the ground they’d need to make up and get in. With it looking like the Atlantic Division will get both wild card teams, the Devils would need to finish Top 3 in the Metropolitan just to get into the playoffs. And while I’m ever the eternal optimist that once you get in, anything can happen, I have to be a realist as well. The Penguins and Islanders might be “catchable” in that I think someone can chase them down and take their spot, but why would I think the Devils would be that team? Have the Devils done anything this season to show they can beat the Penguins or Islanders in a Best-of-Seven series, let alone a Carolina team that has owned them the last several years?
The answer to those questions is no.
Fitzgerald might want to buy at the deadline and give the Devils a slightly better chance in the here and now. But if the idea is to build a team that can sustain long-term success, he’d be better off taking a step back now, admitting defeat, cleaning up some of the mess that he created in the first place the best he can, and looking towards next season.
The Devils have already gotten a start on this by moving out Ondrej Palat for Maxim Tsyplakov. I don’t know what Tsyplakov will be as a Devil, but I do know moving off of the final season of Palat’s contract at $6M AAV is a much needed start. I do know that the Devils have a little more flexibility now than they did prior to this deal.
The Devils would be smart to continue to move out older players on unsavory contracts and give themselves more flexibility down the road, rather than double down on this particular group and buy.
Now, some might view this as calling for a rebuild. That’s not what I’m doing.
For starters, trading a so-called core piece away from the Devils is a seismic move, and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. I’ll touch more on why this is a bad idea next week, but it’s the type of move I’m not sure I would trust Tom Fitzgerald to even do in the first place. It’s the type of move where the Devils are probably losing said deal because you’re not getting equal value for said player. There’s a reason why those types of moves should be viewed as a last resort type of move. It’s the type of move that signals a full-blown rebuild.
Let’s put Nico Hischier aside as he’s entering a contract year next season. Suggesting the Devils tear it down to the studs, trade everyone, and commit to another prolonged multi-year rebuild is not only foolish, but it’s not necessary. And it’s certainly not the type of move that should be rushed into in the middle of what is shaping up to be a lost season.
But I do think looking up and down the rest of the roster, it makes sense to explore the market on veteran players that aren’t considered to be “core” pieces.
Brenden Dillon is 35 years old. He’s signed through next season at $4M AAV. He has a full NTC this season that becomes a 10-team list on July 1st. I like Dillon as a player, but let’s be realistic….even in the best case scenario where the Devils bounce back next season, is Dillon part of the long-term plans for the Devils? Probably not. Would you want to be in a position where we are giving Dillon another contract that approaches his age 40 season? Absolutely not.
Jonas Siegenthaler is 28 years old and signed for two more seasons at $3.4M AAV. He has a 10-team no trade list. I like Siegenthaler, but he like Dillon is very much a defensive defenseman who doesn’t move the puck. He’s also had a dreadful season. Wouldn’t the prudent move be to try to cash in on him rather than getting to a spot a year from now where we’re debating whether or not the Devils should hand him another contract? Some might say you’d be selling low on Siegenthaler, but I would’ve said the same thing a couple years ago with John Marino when he had a dreadful season and he fetched two 2nd round picks.
Stefan Noesen is currently sidelined after undergoing knee surgery, but he has a year left on his deal at $2.75M and fairly light trade protection (a 7-team no-trade list after July 1). If he’s healthy enough to play in the postseason (which is no guarantee as we don’t know his injury timeline), isn’t he the type of player a team would target as a depth forward? Evgenii Dadonov hasn’t really fit in with this group at all, and while he has a full NTC until March 1st, any team should be able to fit in his $1M AAV. He has enough of a track record of success elsewhere where someone should theoretically be interested, even though he’s literally done nothing as a Devil. Maybe the Devils aren’t all that enthralled with what Maxim Tsyplakov brings to the table either and would like to move on from the $2.25M AAV he’s slated to earn next season. Obviously that’s tough to say until we see a larger body of work. I doubt there would be much of a trade market for Jacob Markstrom given how he has played this season, but for what its worth, his no-trade list is 20-teams this upcoming season and 5 the following year.
Obviously, the Devils would need to replace all of these players on the roster. They’ve already begun that process with the recent callup of Lenni Hameenaho and the early returns there are promising. I don’t know if they’ll be able to fill all of those holes next season with internal options. I do know that for a team that is entirely too mediocre, there should probably be few so-called untouchables. I do know that for a team that is entirely too mediocre, guys like Paul Cotter, Juho Lammikko, or Luke Glendening shouldn’t have ironclad roster spots. We’ve seen enough where there’s no harm in giving someone else from Utica a chance.
I do know that for a team that is currently slated to have just under $14M in available cap space next season (according to PuckPedia), they should be more aggressive finding ways to create more space. Not because this team should go out there and try to buy their way out of this mess in a mediocre free agent class. They should do it because you have to have all options available to you. They should do it because you want to be in a position to reshape this roster on the fly. Moving out contracts now and picking up extra draft capital to use in potential deals will help with that.
I’m not saying there aren’t conversations that shouldn’t be had in regards to some of the bigger names on the Devils roster. When the team has been as average at best as they’ve been, they should at least keep an open mind. Dougie Hamilton’s $9M AAV is a big number and his recent hot streak and age aren’t enough to convince me the Devils shouldn’t look to move him if they get a good enough offer. Dawson Mercer being invisible for large stretches gives me pause when it comes to continuing to build around him. The same could be said for Timo Meier, who the Devils did pay. But I do think those are larger, big picture conversations that would probably be better off being had in the offseason, rather than making a knee-jerk reaction and selling low on players who aren’t easily replaceable and who are under contract for several more seasons.
The Palat trade has given the Devils some short-term maneuverability. Rather than rush out into the open market with money burning a hole in your pocket, the prudent move for now would be to sell off some of the obvious players you’d look to sell off on, give yourself even more maneuverability going into next season, and reevaluate everything else come summertime. That makes a lot more sense than doubling down on this particular group and trying to push for a playoff berth.
What concerns me is what Fitzgerald actually does.
As much as the team was a slog throughout the second half of last season, they managed to hold on to a playoff spot throughout. Fitzgerald didn’t go crazy at the deadline, but he did make some fairly minor moves on the margins to try to give the Devils a better chance. It didn’t work, but its not really worth getting mad at him for giving up a 2nd round pick for Brian Dumoulin. Or a future third round pick for Cody Glass when he’s been one of the bright spots with this team.
This season is different. The Devils are closer to being a last place team in the Eastern Conference than they are being a true contender. There’s enough of a body of work to know that there is no trade Fitzgerald can make that will move the needle enough to catapult this team to the top of the division. They shouldn’t trade premium picks, players, or prospects unless they’re getting a true difference maker with team control back, and even then, that’s probably not going to be enough for this season.
The “Should Jack Hughes Go To The Olympics” Debate
Jack Hughes has missed the last two games for the Devils after sustaining a lower body injury last week against Nashville. He is currently day-to-day, and expressed a desire to return before the Olympic break. One game remains on the schedule prior to the break as the Devils are slated to host the Islanders tomorrow night.
Hughes may or may not play against the Islanders tomorrow. That remains to be seen. But as of this writing, he hasn’t been replaced on the Olympic roster. So there’s certainly a possibility that Jack misses the Devils last few games prior to the break before hopping on a plane, flying to Italy, and suiting up for the first Olympic game.
I get that playing in the Olympics and representing your country is very important to the players. I get that Jack Hughes has been one of the faces of USA Hockey since coming up through the National Team Development Program. I also get that I’ve made my viewpoint on this clear when I say that I’d rather see the Devils players stay home than play in the Olympics, so take that for what you will if you think I might be a bit biased on this particular topic.
With that out of the way, the optics on this situation are just dreadful.
Devils fans are already annoyed at how the season has gone. Whether or not you think the Devils still have a realistic shot at making the playoffs is up for debate, but the Devils are at a critical stretch of their schedule where they need every last point they can muster if they want any chance of playing playoff hockey later this season. And unfortunately, Jack Hughes isn’t available to play in these games because of the aforementioned lower body injury.
I don’t question Jack’s desire to play. The Devils are a better team with him than without. I’m also not questioning the legitimacy of this latest injury timeline. Jack has been skating on his own. He is indeed day-to-day. He’s doing what he can to get back as soon as he can. The problem is that with the way the calendar has fallen, there simply aren’t enough days between now and when the Olympics begin. I also don’t think its right or fair to expect Jack Hughes to pull himself out of the Olympics, even if it might be the wisest move of all and ultimately best for all parties involved. Players want to play and this matters to them.
There’s no way around it though. It’s a terrible look if Jack is missing key games for the Devils, but he’s all of a sudden good to go against Latvia next week. Even if that’s how the injury timeline worked out. It gives off the impression that the Olympics mean more to him than the Devils. Maybe the Olympics mean more to you than the Devils. They don’t for me. And as a reminder, USA Hockey isn’t paying Jack Hughes $8M a year. The Devils are.
I don’t blame Devils fans, who are already on edge given the current state of the team, for being livid if this happens.
This is where I wonder where USA Hockey stands with all of this.
It’s not like the US team is lacking center options, as Jack Eichel, Dylan Larkin, Auston Matthews, JT Miller, Brock Belson, and Vincent Trocheck are all on the roster and are options down the middle. It’s also not like the US team isn’t leaving some talented players at home who are healthier than Jack Hughes is at the moment. They could name Cole Caufield, Alex DeBrincat, Alex Tuch or Jason Robertson to the roster tomorrow and nobody would bat an eye.
If the goal of USA Hockey is to win a gold medal, and why wouldn’t it be, wouldn’t it be in their best interests to take healthy players? Wouldn’t it be in the best interests of the USA Hockey braintrust (of which Tom Fitzgerald is a part of, although Wild GM Bill Guerin is ultimately responsible for who is on the roster) to use the Olympic break to heal up and get ready for the stretch run? Especially when there has been plenty of debate as to whether or not Jack’s hand had been bothering him prior to this lower body injury?
Maybe this is much ado about nothing. It’s certainly possible that Jack isn’t ready to go this week, but he is next week because that’s how this particular injury timeline worked out. And if he is healthy, there’s really no reason why they should pull him off the roster other than “it looks bad” or “the optics are bad”.
That doesn’t change the fact that the optics are bad though. Especially if he doesn’t play tomorrow in a game the Devils “need”.
