5 players the New Jersey Devils could trade by the deadline
By Mary Clarke
The New Jersey Devils will be sellers at this year’s trade deadline, but what players could they ship off to other teams by the end of February?
It was not supposed to be like this for the New Jersey Devils this season. After an offseason touted by many as an all-in move for a team seen on the rise, the collapse of the Devils has been the main storyline of the 2019-20 NHL season.
From the firing of head coach John Hynes and the demotion of struggling veteran goaltender Cory Schneider to the AHL, to the trade of star forward Taylor Hall and the recent departure of general manager Ray Shero, this has been a season of upheaval and change in New Jersey.
The Devils’ aspirations for a playoff spot this season have been in the ground for weeks now, as the trade of the team’s best scorer in Hall signaled at the end of 2019. However, the Devils are still poised to make trades at the upcoming Feb. 24 trade deadline, where they will likely be this year’s big sellers as the team looks to start fresh in the 2020-21 season.
With Hall gone, here are five players the Devils may end up moving before the approaching trade deadline.
Honorable mention: Wayne Simmonds, RW
Wayne Simmonds is a prime candidate to become a short-term rental for a contending team at the deadline. His one-year, $5 million deal he signed with New Jersey in the offseason would be a hefty price for a player who has 17 points in 45 games this season, but he’s been a trade deadline rental before in his career.
His passion and style of play has been an NHL favorite since he entered the league in the 2008-09 season, and with his pending unrestricted free agent status, would be a solid rental for a team with the cap space to spare.
5. Sami Vatanen, D
As a right-handed defenseman, Vatanen immediately piques interest on the trade market. With right-handed defenders at a premium in the NHL, Vatanen would no doubt be an intriguing target for any potential contender in this year’s postseason.
This season, Vatanen has 22 points in 41 games for the Devils, leading New Jersey’s defense in points alongside his 17 assists that are third-best on the team. In his career, Vatanen has put up a career-high 38 points when he played with the Anaheim Ducks in 2015-16 and is well on pace to beat out his best numbers even in the shadow of New Jersey’s down season.
As for his contract, Vatanen has the rest of this season left on a four-year, $19.5 million contract that has a $4.875 million cap hit until July 1. Not a beefy contract by any means, but certainly a large enough one that would knock teams close to the cap from taking a run at him.
At 28-years-old, Vatanen is a solid rental player for a team looking for an extra boost on defense for a Stanley Cup run. Being saddled to nearly $5 million contract for the remainder of the season isn’t as tough a pill to swallow when Vatanen could very well test the free agent waters in the summer to come.