New Jersey Devils

Cody Glass’ Surprising Instant Impact Ignites Devils Spark

Since being traded to the Devils at the trade deadline, Cody Glass has provided the spark that the team has needed to push for the playoffs.

Published

4 months ago

March 19, 2025

Nick Natale

New Jersey Devils center Paul Cotter is congratulated by Cody Glass (12) after scoring a goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

When the reports from NHL insiders confirmed that the New Jersey Devils had traded for Pittsburgh Penguins center Cody Glass just a half before the trade deadline closed, it drew the ire of some Devils fans.

The team was still licking its wounds from superstar Jack Hughes’s season-ending injury, in addition to the uncertainty surrounding the health of defensemen Jonas Siegenthaler and Dougie Hamilton.

With the team in a free fall and severely undermanned, adding a bottom-six center hardly seemed like much of a solution. With high-end offensive players such as Mikko Rantanen, Brock Nelson, and Dylan Cozens being moved at the deadline, it was even more of a gut punch to fans that the team’s big acquisition was for a depth center, a position that was begging to be addressed months earlier.

However, it didn’t take long for Devils General Manager Tom Fitzgerald to say ‘I told you so’ and for Glass to shut up any critics.

READ: Devils GM Intends to Introduce New Mandate for Players

In the first period of his first game in a Devils sweater, Glass bounced on a loose puck and wired one past Philadelphia Flyers goalie, Ivan Fedotov to give his new team a 1-0 lead.

Glass joined the Devils with his fair share of skeptics. He graded out analytically as a low-event, low-offensively producing fourth-line center with solid defensive metrics and a respectable face-off percentage.

Cody Glass, acquired by NJ, is a defensive fourth line forward. Strong defensive results in Pittsburgh, which was no easy task, but did not do much of anything offensively. #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/dl4MhSxYMD

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) March 7, 2025

The former sixth-overall pick had been traded to the Penguins over the summer in an attempt to tap into any potential that he may have still had. During his 51-game stint in the Steel City, Glass put up just 15 points and was demoted to the bottom of a struggling team, averaging just 13:25 of ice time.

Turns out that being traded for a third time may be the charm, and the Devils are the beneficiaries.

Since joining the Devils, Glass has been scoring at a point-per-game pace, his ice time is up to over 15 minutes, and he and the red-hot Jesper Bratt have had immediate chemistry.

Glass is second on the Devils in goals, assists, and points, just behind Bratt, since making his debut. Unlike how some of the analytical charts had him begged when he was traded, Glass has been one of the top offensive play drivers on the Devils. Glass is second on the team in expected goals, tied for third in Corsi, fourth in Fenwick, and first in scoring chances according to Natural Stattrick.

If the Devils want to make noise down the last stretch of the season and into the playoffs then they’ll need Glass to extend his hot start into the spring months. Life without Hughes has made offense much harder to come by, but Glass’s ability to work well in all three zones and his connection with Bratt has given the Devils a fighting chance.

And while he will be leaned on to fill some of the void left by Hughes for the remainder of the season, Glass is setting himself up nicely for a future with the Devils.

Glass is in the final year of a two-year, $2.5 million AAV contract and will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights, meaning the Devils have one more year of control. According to AFP Analytics, Glass is projected to sign a two-year, $1.75 million AAV contract. The cap-strapped Devils would be wise to try and sign Glass to a contract of this value given that, at worst, he settles into the fourth-line center role. At best, he and Bratt continue their torrid scoring pace and Glass taps into the potential that once made him a top-10 pick, and he becomes the team’s third-line center on a team-friendly deal.

Money will be tight for the Devils over the summer, and with Luke Hughes’s extension on the horizon, tying down Glass to a sub-two million dollar a year contract provides incredible value for the bottom six on a team that has been hamstrung by poor depth all season.

If his post-trade deadline press conference said anything, it’s that Fitzgerald wanted to, and was willing, to take a big swing on one of the top players. Instead, he settled on adding center depth, and in turn, Cody Glass has raised his game to that of a ‘big ticket’ acquisition and has breathed new life into the Devils as they push toward the playoffs.

For more Devils news, visit New Jersey Hockey Now and like our Facebook page.