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The New Jersey Devils will be active this summer. At least they should be.
They need to add a couple of legitimate pieces to help the team take a step forward and ensure there isn't (once again) an immediate step back that follows.
Drafting Jack Hughes is a great place to start. While he is years away from his prime, obviously, the three years of high-end hockey they'll get from Hughes at a near minimal cost only adds urgency for the team to upgrade the supporting cast and maximize the flexibility he provides them.
I very much doubt they do all their off-season shopping in free agency – that's generally a bad idea – so I thought it'd be fun to look at some assets GM Ray Shero could use as bait on the trade market.
Let's get to it.
LW – Miles Wood
Remaining contract: three years, $2.75M per
Wood brings a nice mix of speed, physicality, and 5v5 goal scoring ability to the table. At 23 years of age, there is still room for additional growth. His contract is quite reasonable as well. I don't think the Devils would be racing to get rid of Wood by any means – they don't have many guys like him – but he could be an attractive piece to use as part of a package for a bigger name.
LD/RD – Sami Vatanen
Remaining contract: one year, $4.875M
Vatanen needs a new deal in a year's time and is likely to get a decent-sized raise (top-4 defensemen who produce any offense *always* get paid). I don't think he is necessarily deserving of one, and I imagine the analytically-inclined Devils feel the same way. If they're not going to pay a premium to keep him around, it would make sense to include in a trade to help bring in someone the team *does* see fitting in longer-term.
RD – Steven Santini
Remaining contract: two years, $1.416M per
Santini doesn't move the puck well, he doesn't create any offense, and his underlying numbers are bad. I think he is OK as an in-zone defender. That's about it. If another team is willing to bet on a 6'2', right-handed defenseman who was once fairly highly touted, I could see the Devils moving on. He strikes me as someone they can use to fetch an undervalued asset from elsewhere.
C – Pavel Zacha/Michael McLeod
Remaining contract: RFA / two years, $863K per
Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes will be the Devils' top two centers until the end of time. Whatever you think of Travis Zajac's contract, he is quite competent as a 3C and I very much doubt John Hynes has interest in playing him lower anytime soon. That means Zacha and/or McLeod will be in the 4-hole, or playing out of their natural position. Though Shero probably won't want to sell low on recent 1st round picks, I could see one of these guys being involved if the Devils make a multi-asset trade for a notable player.
Draft picks
The Devils own three 2nd rounders and two 3rd rounders in this year's draft. Something tells me the team doesn't plan on using them all to make selections. For a variety of reasons – showing Hall they want to compete, maximizing ELCs of Hischier, Hughes, and Jesper Bratt, etc. – the Devils need to add more talent right now. Draft picks can help them get it.
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