The worst-case scenario officially arrived for the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday when it was revealed that Jack Hughes is out for the remainder of the 2024-25 NHL season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
This is a brutal blow for a Devils team that enters Wednesday's action just four points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets for third place in the Metropolitan Division. The playoffs are still a possibility with 19 regular season games to go, but the Devils' Stanley Cup aspirations took a massive blow with their best player sidelined.
While it would've made some sense for the Devils to shift their plans and sell off some assets ahead of Friday's trade deadline, James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now reported that the team is still expected to be buyers.
Per source, the Jack news does NOT change the #NJDevils status as a buyer.
— James Nichols (@JamesNicholsNHL) March 5, 2025
They are still going for it . https://t.co/rDDJIKy7Wq
Hughes officially going onto Long Term Injury Reserve gives the Devils an extra $8 million to spend this season. If defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler remains on LTIR for the remainder of the regular season with his lower-body injury, the Devils can have $13 million to spend, according to PuckPedia, giving them a slew of options to pursue.
4 players the Devils should target at trade deadline after Jack Hughes' season-ending injury
4. Casey Mittelstadt would be an ideal buy-low option
Even before the Hughes injury, the Devils needed a ton of help at the center position in their bottom six. Casey Mittelstadt would make a lot of sense as a buy-low option to fill that void.
Mittelstadt had back-to-back 45+ point seasons with the Buffalo Sabres before being traded to the Colorado Avalanche at last year's trade deadline in exchange for Bowen Byram. Parting with a talent like Byram showed just how promising Mittelstadt was in Colorado's eyes.
Unfortunately, the deal hasn't worked out how the Avalanche envisioned. So far this season, the 26-year-old has a pedestrian 11 goals and 34 points while playing in Colorado's middle six. Perhaps a change of scenery to New Jersey can help rejuvenate his career, and Mittelstadt being under control through the 2026-27 campaign at a reasonable $5.75 million cap hit should get Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald to seal the deal.
3. The Devils should see if the Kraken would part with Jared McCann after their recent blockbuster
The Seattle Kraken just made a massive trade, parting with Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand in exchange for draft pick compensation, waving the white flag on this season. Given that, the Devils should see if they'd move another one of their veterans, Jared McCann.
New Jersey's inquiry could go either way. On one hand, the Kraken are not a good team, so this could be an opportune time to sell high on a talent like McCann. On the other hand, McCann is under control through the 2026-27 season and is making just $5 million annually, so it's not as if they must trade him.
If the Kraken are willing, the Devils should be all over this. McCann has 15 goals and 44 points for an undermanned Seattle team this season while seeing time on both of Seattle's special teams units. He can help bolster New Jersey's center depth while playing in all situations while also making very reasonable money.
It'd cost a lot, but this is a player who can play a huge role for several years.
2. Ryan O'Reilly would be an ideal addition for the Devils
Perhaps the most disappointing team in the NHL this season has been the Nashville Predators, and they're set up to sell heavily at the trade deadline as a result. One player who could go is Ryan O'Reilly, who is owed $4.5 million annually through 2026-27 but is 34 years old. The Predators could choose to keep him around, but considering his age, they might want to trade him now before he regresses.
O'Reilly has 16 goals and 39 points in 58 games for Nashville, and like everyone else on this list, can help bolster the center position on the second line this season and third line next season.
Not only does O'Reilly have 81 games of playoff experience but he played part of the 2022-23 campaign with head coach Sheldon Keefe on the Toronto Maple Leafs, racking up four goals and 11 points in 13 regular season games. Small sample size, obviously, but O'Reilly having a similar kind of impact in New Jersey would drastically improve the team's playoff odds for this season and make them a major threat next season.
1. Mikko Rantanen should be New Jersey's No. 1 trade deadline target
Here's the big one. Is it likely that the Carolina Hurricanes trade Mikko Rantanen within their own division to the team that they'd play in the first round of the NHL playoffs if the regular season ended today? No. Is it likely that the Hurricanes would trade Rantanen at all less than two months after acquiring him? Probably not, but as long as an extension is not reached, it's a possibility.
I know, there's an inherent risk that comes from trading for a star rental, especially in a season in which the Devils will almost certainly not win the Stanley Cup, but this is Rantanen we're talking about here, one of the best players in the NHL.
To put it simply, if there's an opportunity to acquire him, you do it at almost any cost. Pairing Rantanen in the top six with the likes of Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, and Timo Meier would give the Devils a forward corps that few teams can match.
There's a real chance Rantanen will walk after the year, but hopefully, New Jersey being able to offer him an eighth year that no other team would be able to would be enough to sway him. Stanley Cups are not won without taking risks. Trading for rentals like Kyle Palmieri and Brock Nelson wouldn't make much sense without Hughes, but Rantanen is a player worth taking a huge risk to acquire and extend.