New Jersey Devils
Devils Competitor in NHL Trade Market Revealed, What It Means
The Toronto Maple Leafs have made their needs in the NHL trade market clear, and they’re not so different from the New Jersey Devils.

When addressing the state-of-the-union yesterday, Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving made his NHL trade needs clear. It sounds like the New Jersey Devils have identified at least one of their competitors on the NHL trade market.
The Devils and Maple Leafs have a very similar 1-2 punch down the middle. Devils head coach, Sheldon Keefe, can deploy Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. That’s as elite as it gets in terms of first and second line centers.
The Maple Leafs, however, can see the Devils’ duo, and match their talent level with Auston Matthews and John Tavares.
The issue for both teams comes in the form of their depth.
Devils fans are far too familiar with New Jersey’s issues in their bottom-six. After Dawson Mercer and Paul Cotter, there isn’t much offense coming between the third and fourth lines.
In fact, Fitzgerald addressed the issue mid-December, and said issue still remains.
“There are certain guys here that are buzzing offensively. When our power play doesn’t score or one of our top four lines don’t score, I think we need more from other people, quite honestly, contributing wise, without naming any names,” Fitzgerald explained. “There’s a reason why we’ve been shut out five times. Because when the first line or second line doesn’t score a goal or our power play doesn’t score, we don’t score. So we need guys to step up and start producing.
To add injury to insult, forward Erik Haula is going to be out of the Devils’ lineup for a bit due to an ankle injury.
At least one Devils trade target has been identified.
READ: New Jersey Monitoring Canadiens Forward for Potential Devils Trade
The Devils are looking for a depth center, and one who can fill the back of the net. The Maple Leafs GM explains he’s in the market for the same thing, and they’re not alone.
“Is that an area that we’d like to continue to look at? Sure,” Treliving confirmed via TSN. “We, probably along with about 15 or 18 other teams, are looking at [center] depth, so it seems to be a position du jour.”
Numerous trade boards are filled with centers who are rumored to be on the trade block. Such names include Vancouver Canucks stars J.T. Miller & Elias Pettersson, however, the Devils and Maple Leafs are unlikely to be in on such expensive talent.
Instead, players such as Jake Evans, Yanni Gourde, and Mikael Granlund are more of the echelon of player the Devils and Maple Leafs will be after.
And seeing as Treliving disclosed he and upwards of 18 other NHL teams are seeking similar services via the NHL trade market, Fitzgerald will have to be prepared to negotiate with a bloated market in terms of cost acquisition.
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