Forward on NHL Waivers can Address Devils Depth Scoring

The New Jersey Devils are enduring the toughest stretch of the season thus far, having dropped four straight games. One of the main proponents of their struggles has been their lack of goalscoring.

Their top six have done most of the heavy lifting in recent weeks, while goals from the bottom six have come few and far between. Their lack of depth scoring has been a topic of discussion for well over a month, and it’s only a matter of time before General Manager Tom Fitzgerald addresses it.

RELATED: New Jersey Devils Face Challenges with Lack of Depth Scoring

Another area Fitzgerald will need to address is depth on the blue line.

Prior to Saturday’s game against the San Jose Sharks, the Devils put defenseman Nick DeSimone on waivers for the second time this season. By Sunday afternoon, it was announced that the Utah Hockey Club had claimed him.

The Devils claimed DeSimone from the Calgary Flames in January of 2024. In 11 games, DeSimone recorded a goal and an assist in 16:29 of ice time. He had signed a one-year, one-way contract last summer but made no appearances for the Devils this season.

While DeSimone was picked up off of waivers, a potential option to fill the Devils’ need for depth scoring found his way onto them. The Los Angeles Kings announced winger Arthur Kaliyev was put on waivers with the purpose of reassigning the 23-year-old to the American Hockey League.

The Utahns claim DeSimone from NJ.

Kaliyev (LA) on waivers

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) January 5, 2025

So far this season, Kaliyev has dealt with injuries and has appeared in just five games for the Ontario Reign of the AHL. However, Kaliyev had back-to-back seasons of 14 and 13 goals in 2021-22 and 2022-23.

Kaliyev is a former second round pick back in 2019 and was highly touted for his goal scoring ability.

With already 188 games of NHL experience, Kaliyev may be a sought after reclamation project. He’s scored 35 goals and 71 points thus far in his career, but the American winger was a premier goal scorer in Juniors and may just need a change of scenery to reignite his career.

If the Devils were to put in a claim and be awarded Kaliyev, it would make a ton of sense.

As mentioned, the Devils have a well-known issue with depth scoring. Paul Cotter and Dawson Mercer have found the net on a few occasions recently, but the likes of Erik Haula, Tomas Tatar, Curtis Lazar, and Nathan Bastian have been devoid of goals.

READ: Devils Trade Chatter; Tom Fitzgerald in San Jose, Concern Over Scoring

Kaliyev’s lightning-quick release would add a completely different dynamic to a bottom six that primarily lives off of playing along the boards and getting the puck low to high. His addition would give the Devils a player who can find the soft spots in the offensive zone and fire pucks on net.

He could also provide a much-needed boost to the second power play unit. The unit relies heavily on the skating and puck movement of Luke Hughes and the shot of Timo Meier but doesn’t provide much else of a threat. Lining up Kaliyev opposite Meier would completely change how opposing teams would need to defend the unit.

Other than his scoring ability, Kaliyev’s $825,000 cap hit makes him an attractive addition. With the loss of DeSimone, the Devils have approximately $2.3 million in cap space. Fitzgerald will need to get creative with the cap to improve his roster before the NHL Trade Deadline, and taking a flier on Kaliyev for that small of a cap hit is the type of low-risk, high-reward moves he should be looking at.

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