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Could the Devils find a trade partner early in the regular season to help complete their roster? Three squads could be early sellers.
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As I write this on September 5th, 2025, we’re officially a week and a half away from skates hitting the ice in Newark for the start of training camp. And yet, since the brief flurry of activity on July 1st, how would one describe this offseason? Slow. Dragging. Platitudinous. Unless you’re the Florida Panthers—who got all of their business done before the champagne on Lord Stanley’s Cup had even finished evaporating—chances are you’re heading into these final two weeks with I’s still to dot and T’s still to cross. The New Jersey Devils are no exception.
READ MORE: What’s Really Going on in the Devils, Luke Hughes Contract Standoff
If you’re a Devils fan, you probably know exactly what general manager Tom Fitzgerald has been aiming to accomplish with camp fast approaching. Maybe it’s adding a new top-six winger. Perhaps it’s shoring up some center depth. But above all, the priority is clear: locking up restricted free agent defenseman Luke Hughes with a long-term extension. Those Mr. Krabs “give it up for day [insert number here]” memes can’t go on forever. The catch, of course, is that to make any of these moves a reality, Fitzgerald needs to free up cap space via trade—a tall order when the entire league is crawling along at the speed of a New Jersey Transit train during the morning rush.
The question is simple: why has the league been moving so slowly? There are a few explanations, but one of the biggest may end up hurting several organizations early in the season. The NHL has never been known for quick turnarounds—turning a basement-dweller into a contender usually takes years of grinding through a rebuild.
Two years ago, the Washington Capitals looked destined for one of those long slogs. With an aging core and a mountain of question marks, the writing seemed on the wall. But GM Chris Patrick and President of Hockey Ops Brian MacLellan pulled off the unthinkable. Through a string of smart moves, a slam-dunk coaching hire in Spencer Carbery, Alexander Ovechkin turning back the clock, and maybe a touch of PDO luck, the Caps not only stayed afloat—they thrived. Washington won the Metropolitan Division and reached the second round of the playoffs, their best run in years.
That success created a ripple effect. Teams stuck in the NHL’s murky middle—clubs that should be selling off assets to spark badly needed rebuilds—looked at Washington and thought, “If the Capitals can retool on the fly, why can’t we?” The problem is, they’re not the Capitals. And by the time November and December roll around, reality will likely have smacked them in the face. Only then will trade talks for their top assets truly restart.
That’s what the Devils—and Fitzgerald—are waiting for. When the illusion fades and these three likely sellers finally step forward, that’s when New Jersey can truly make its move.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are entering this season with a major caveat. GM Kyle Dubas understands that Pittsburgh is approaching an inevitable transition period, if not a full teardown. Sidney Crosby remains an ageless cornerstone and is unlikely to be moved—at least not before the 2026 Olympics, if ever—but his longtime teammates, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, are beginning to show signs of decline.
The Penguins’ defensive corps looks like a major liability, with Ryan Graves projected to anchor the top pairing and Erik Karlsson’s contract quickly turning into dead weight. On its own, the blue line could sink Pittsburgh’s season—but the situation is made worse by shaky goaltending, with Tristan Jarry unlikely to cover up those defensive lapses. Still, the Penguins have some trade chips that could draw interest. Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust are both coming off strong seasons and would be meaningful top-six adds for a team like the Devils, while Anthony Mantha and Tommy Novak could provide New Jersey with reliable forward depth.
Dubas has made it clear that just about anyone not named Crosby could be on the move, and with the Penguins standing as one of the league’s few obvious sellers, they hold a rare position of leverage. That means the asking prices—especially for Rakell and Rust—will be steep. Pittsburgh has no urgency to act and is expected to wait for the market to heat up before pulling the trigger on any major deals. For Fitzgerald, the smarter play may be patience; waiting out the market could put New Jersey in a stronger position to strike for one of Rakell or Rust.
In just their fifth season, the Seattle Kraken have already earned a reputation as one of the league’s most puzzling organizations—and this offseason has done little to change that. New GM Jason Botterill has made headline-grabbing moves, acquiring former Dallas Stars winger Mason Marchment (entering the final year of his contract—why?) and acquiring former Colorado Avalanche/New York Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren, yet he has done little to address Seattle’s woeful bottom six or the problematic contract of goalie Philipp Grubauer.
The hiring of Lane Lambert as head coach also raises eyebrows, coming off a frustrating stint with the New York Islanders. If past behavior is any indicator—particularly Botterill’s tenure as GM of the Buffalo Sabres (perhaps a bit of foreshadowing?)—Seattle appears set up for another rough campaign in 2025-26.
Fitzgerald has already reached out to the Kraken this offseason. According to NJ.com’s Ryan Novozinsky, he inquired about Jared McCann, but those talks were quickly shut down by Seattle’s brass. McCann would be a dream addition for the Devils—not only is he a skilled scoring winger, but he can also slot in at center if Jack Hughes or Nico Hischier were sidelined due to injury.
Holding onto McCann ahead of what is shaping up to be a difficult season for Seattle may be shortsighted. There’s a strong likelihood that, a few months down the line, the Kraken could be forced to trade McCann for significantly less than what they could have gotten for him back in July. The same goes for veteran scoring winger Jaden Schwartz, as well as the aforementioned Marchment, who many viewed as a potential target for New Jersey entering the offseason. Seattle acquiring Marchment—a virtual rental—raises questions, given how poorly his contract aligns with the team’s timeline. There’s a chance the Kraken may need to flip him to a contender before the season ends.
Fitzgerald has a history of circling back on previously rejected trade targets—cornerstones Jacob Markstrom and Timo Meier were both acquired after earlier talks stalled. Securing McCann would be a major boost for Fitzgerald and the Devils’ roster, adding another high-impact piece to the lineup.
One of life’s great mysteries—right up there with, “Will the cookie ever win the Devils’ Dessert Race?”—is trying to figure out exactly what the Buffalo Sabres are doing. GM Kevyn Adams still holding his job is baffling in its own right, and the Sabres remain as stagnant as ever despite a solid core that includes Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin. Buffalo already moved one of their more promising assets earlier this offseason, sending young scoring winger JJ Peterka—who some might argue the Devils should have been in the mix for—to the Utah Mammoth.
With a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since Barack Obama’s first term, one shouldn’t expect postseason hockey in western New York this season. That said, the Sabres do possess two potentially valuable assets for the Devils in Jason Zucker and Alex Tuch. There’s been no indication that Buffalo plans to sell before the season, so both players are likely to be deadline candidates if the Sabres decide to move them. Of course, a signature Sabres nightmare skid early in the season could accelerate that timeline. Can Fitzgerald afford to wait until the trade deadline to make a move, should Tuch be his top target? Probably not—but in hockey, you never know.
The Devils will want to keep a hawk-like eye on the aforementioned as the 2025-26 season gets underway. Take a look at New Jersey’s roster, and it’s hard not to notice the gaps—one or two savvy additions could be the difference between a solid team and a true Eastern Conference contender. Can Dawson Mercer or Ondrej Palat shoulder a top-six role all season long and deliver the results the organization dreams of? Neither have necessarily earned the benefit of the doubt. But the Devils won’t be alone in entering opening night with holes to fill—every contender, save for maybe Florida, has questions to answer. Buffalo, Seattle, and Pittsburgh are the obvious early-season trade candidates, but in the unpredictable NHL, sometimes the best opportunities are the ones no one sees coming once the puck drops in October.
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@NJDHockeyNow, @ZachBrettBerman
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Nemec to Seattle for Shane Wright??
Nemec to Utah for Cooley??
Lol
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