New Jersey Devils Trade and Offseason Ideas

Intro

Goaltending

Currently rumoured by The Fourth Period, Edmonton looks to be targeting him at this time for Jonas Korpisalo"s services.

I think it may be interesting for the Devils to make an important trade target before the deadline would be Columbus" very own Jonas Korpisalo. Korpisalo may not be dealt by the Columbus Bluejackets but will very likely be a hotly contested free-agent goalie. Going into April of 28th Jonas will be 28 years old and has a career record of 75-64-21 Win-Loss OT total over seven years in the NHL.

It"s been no secret that Columbus has been trying to move on from Jonas in favour of keeping Latvian netminder Elvis Merzlikins as the primary starter who has been the Latvian Gumby in the net making hard saves look easy.

Given the fact that Korpisalo carries a current cap hit of $2.8 million, he was signed by GM Jarmo Kekalainen for only two seasons. The Devils could offer him $3.00 to $4.00Million for two seasons on average like what Alex Nedeljkovic and Elvis Merzlikins were able to fetch.

Given fact that Tom Fitzgerald is looking to bolster the goaltending will likely help improve the goalie tandem if Mackenzie Blackwood‘s foot/heel problem gets solved, and have someone just in case Jonathan Bernier can"t return health-wise. The Devils have about another season or two for Nico Daws and Akira Schmid until they can take the reigns.

Left-handed Defense Pipeline Overload

As the New Jersey Devils have been overloaded on left defensemen like Shakir Mukhamadullin, Michael Vukojevic, Kevin Bahl, Nikita Okhotyuk, and Jeremy Groleau who are all near term defenders.

This kind of depth in the pipeline could easily be a nice situation for Tom Fitzgerald to acquire a right-handed defender and/or a forward wing player.

The New Jersey Devils are not going to move a guy like Luke Hughes who is analytically similar to Zach Werenski which is a huge draft day steal. Plus a kid like that on defence is so blessed skills-wise and potential wise shall and never will be dealt away.

The New Jersey Devils and Other Assets

Per CapFriendly.com the Devils have a Deadline Cap Space of $36,456,585 where the Devils can easily take in a sign and trade of a Brock Boeser type sign and trade at around $8Million. That would leave the Devils with over $28,456,585 before moving a guy like P.K. Subban or extending Jesper Bratt to 2-3 years likely around $3.2-4 Million per season similar to Pavel Buchnevich and Kevin Fiala deals.

Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald could dangle his 4th round picks which he has the Edmonton Oilers, Islanders, and his Devils pick that could fetch a lot of value due to the Oilers being very mediocre in the Western Conference. If things keep going the same with the Islanders and Devils then have the 4th and 8th best draft day slots in the 4th round.

That type of mid-round slotting for the Islanders and Devils pick will come at a premium for teams looking to make a swing on a pick. Fitzgerald and the Devils may want to take a gamble on one of the three picks and use it in a deal even after the trade deadline looking to sweeten a deal to add another right-handed shot, and maybe a veteran defender to replace P.K. Subban.

The New Jersey Devils could shop a few of their early-round picks looking to put conditions on them is a very likely outcome just in case the Devils bounce from Top 5 to out of the Top 15 based on the NHL"s Draft lottery rules of the 2 teams jumping no higher and lower by 10 slots maximum.

Conclusion

Tom Fitzgerald should be looking into adding potential players in a Brock Boeser trade like a Vasili Podkolzin due to his fast-paced winger game who could benefit from being around Yegor Sharangovich because Podkolzin is a high shot% shooter at 10.9%. Guys like Boeser and Podkolzin could benefit from being around guys like Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes longer-term think the game out very well and could help these types of wingers become even more dangerous in New Jersey"s potential Top 6 Forward grouping.

These are all hypothetical trades until a trade or acquisition occurs. Views and perspectives are my own.

main image credits:

Embed from Getty Images