The New Jersey Devils have acquired Patrick Maroon from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a 2019 3rd round pick and prospect Joey Dudek.
Maroon is a solid middle-6 winger who has tallied 41 goals and 72 points since the beginning of the 2016-17 season. He will provide scoring help and grit, both of which the Devils could use. The price seems quite affordable, too.
In saying that, I'm not sure I'm in love with trading a 2nd, 3rd, Yegor Rykov and, to a much lesser extent, Dudek, for two rentals given where the Devils are at. They're a pretty good team but they're not serious contenders.
I understand trying to get into the playoffs – it'd be a great experience for the kids and you want to keep Taylor Hall happy – but I don't think they needed to add Maroon to do that.
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Trade deadline day is finally here.
There figures to be a lot of activity league-wide but I'm not sure the New Jersey Devils will be involved in much of it.
With Michael Grabner now in the mix, the Devils look to be set up front. Their current 12 is fairly solid, Brian Gibbons should be back sooner than later, Marcus Johansson will hopefully return this season, and John Quenneville and/or Nick Lappin could also be recalled and play in a pinch. They're pretty deep at forward so I don't see them doing much there.
It's more of the same on defense. The Devils may not be overflowing with top-end talent but there is some depth as they have eight guys, four of which are 23 or younger, who have played meaningful minutes at the NHL level.
There aren't many clear upgrades on the rental market and I doubt Ray Shero wants to part with more futures for a very short-term fix.
The big names that are available (Ryan McDonagh and Erik Karlsson) will be very costly. Given the Devils are just starting to come out from a rebuild, I don't think it makes sense for them to sell the farm in order to seriously get involved.
I think it's *possible* they acquire a more established goalie for cheap if there are still injury concerns with Cory Schneider. It seems like he'll be ready sooner than later, though, and the worst appears to be over so they may just ride it out.
Relatively speaking, I expect the Devils will be pretty quiet. We'll see if that's the case.
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