Record<\/p>\n
28-27-2, 7th in the Metropolitan (2.4% playoff probability<\/a>)<\/p>\n Deadline Status<\/p>\n Short-term sellers\/long-term buyers<\/p>\n Deadline Cap Space<\/p>\n $7.66MM on deadline day, 0\/3 retention slots used, 48\/50 contracts used, per PuckPedia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Upcoming Draft Picks<\/p>\n 2026: NJD 1st, NJD 2nd, WPG 4th, NJD 5th, NJD 6th Trade Chips<\/p>\n The Devils already made a move this month, swinging a deal for veteran center\u00a0Nick Bjugstad<\/a>\u00a0from the Blues on the last day before the Olympic roster freeze. Given Bjugstad\u2019s under contract through next season, it was more of a cheap add to fill out their bottom-six forward depth for 2026-27, more than anything else.<\/p>\n General manager Tom Fitzgerald could make similar pickups before March 6. With the playoffs out of reach and New Jersey\u2019s arsenal of mid-to-late-round draft picks over the next couple of years looking light, though, he\u2019d be remiss not to examine the market for his few pending UFAs.<\/p>\n That list is short, at least among those in the NHL right now: forwards\u00a0Evgenii Dadonov<\/a>,\u00a0Luke Glendening<\/a>, and\u00a0Zack MacEwen<\/a>. New Jersey was hoping Dadonov could have been a shrewd veteran pickup on a one-year deal in free agency last summer, but hand and wrist issues have cost him most of the season. That\u2019s interrupted his confidence, and he\u2019s a -3 rating with no points in 17 games as a result. Contenders may nonetheless take note of his decent playoff showings for the Stars over the last few seasons, though, plus the fact that he put up 20 goals and 40 points in a third-line role just last year.<\/p>\n MacEwen has only suited up in three NHL contests this year because of injuries, but he\u2019s accumulated 240 games of NHL experience and could fill a token enforcer role for a contender looking to beef up their 13th forward spot.<\/p>\n Long-term cap space is something of a concern for the Devils.\u00a0Arseny Gritsyuk<\/a> needs a new deal this summer, and captain Nico Hischier<\/a>\u2018s deal is up in 2027, along with\u00a0Dawson Mercer<\/a>\u2018s. It would make sense for New Jersey to consider moving a player with term at a position of excess if the deal lowered their cap spend while getting at least some NHL-ready talent in return. They already made a similar swap by sending\u00a0Ond\u0159ej Pal\u00e1t<\/a>\u00a0to the Islanders for Maxim Tsyplakov<\/a>, although they had to attach a mid-round pick to do so.<\/p>\n There are multiple candidates on defense who jump out.\u00a0Dougie Hamilton<\/a>\u00a0has seen his name pop up in rumors for the Devils to clear cap space as far back as last offseason, but his no-movement clause \u2013 which runs until the deal expires in 2027-28 \u2013 has allowed him to block at least one deal<\/a>. For his $9MM cap hit and limited defensive utility, teams would want to see more production than the seven goals and 21 points he has in 52 games this season, too.<\/p>\n Johnathan Kovacevic<\/a>\u00a0earned a five-year, $20MM extension off his breakout 2024-25 campaign, but knee surgery has limited him to two assists and a -6 rating in 11 games. Getting a team to take on a four-year risk without seeing more of a post-surgery sample size might be difficult, though.<\/p>\n Team Needs<\/p>\n Goaltending Help: Jacob Markstr\u00f6m<\/a>\u00a0simply hasn\u2019t been a passable starting option this season. With a two-year, $12MM extension set to kick in next year, that\u2019s a problem. He\u2019s posted a .882 SV% in 30 games while allowing -10.9 goals above expected. Veteran\u00a0Jake Allen<\/a>\u00a0remains a high-end 1B option but can\u2019t handle more than 30 or so appearances a year. Third-stringer\u00a0Nico Daws<\/a>\u00a0has been excellent in call-up action but is having a very difficult year in AHL Utica, where he owns a .881 SV% and 6-13-10 record in 28 games. 2024 second-rounder\u00a0Mikhail Yegorov<\/a>\u00a0once looked like he could compete for NHL time as soon as next season, but he has taken a considerable step back with Boston University this year. That\u2019s left the Devils in a tough spot organizationally, top to bottom. Moving Markstr\u00f6m would be difficult, but attempting to swap Daws for someone who could serve in a three-goalie rotation with him and Allen might be worth exploring.<\/p>\n Depth Scoring: Everybody\u2019s had a tough time finishing in Jersey this season outside of Hughes, who\u2019s held up his end of the bargain with another point-per-game season. Injuries have limited him to just 36 appearances, though, and the Devils\u2019 offense is in the basement as a result. At 2.51 goals per game, only the Flames are scoring at a lower rate. Sure,\u00a0Jesper Bratt<\/a>\u00a0and Hischier and\u00a0Timo Meier<\/a>\u00a0have all had offensive step-backs, but they\u2019ve gotten minimal support from bottom-sixers like\u00a0Paul Cotter<\/a> (5 G, 10 P in 54 GP) and\u00a0Stefan Noesen<\/a> (3 G, 7 P in 38 GP). Adding a more consistent middle-six scoring option, either at center or on the wing, should help the push for a playoff spot next season as Bratt\u2019s, Meier\u2019s, and Hischier\u2019s numbers rebound.<\/p>\n Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the Olympic break upon us, the trade deadline is under a month away. Where does each team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":457129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5109],"tags":[54005,201,5,576,151,5185,5184,4,697],"class_list":["post-457128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-jersey-devils","tag-deadline-primer-2026","tag-devils","tag-hockey","tag-new-jersey","tag-new-jersey-devils","tag-newjersey","tag-newjerseydevils","tag-nhl","tag-pro-hockey-rumors-originals"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116065150871803042","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
2027: NJD 1st, NJD 2nd, NJD 4th, NJD 5th, NJD 7th<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_27962803-220x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Glendening has already been largely rendered redundant by the Bjugstad pickup. The former has struggled as New Jersey\u2019s fourth-line pivot after a successful professional tryout in training camp, limited to four assists in 52 games with a -11 rating. Even for a defense-first bottom-six piece like Glendening, that\u2019s disappointing output on both ends. He\u2019s not providing any penalty-killing value, averaging a career-low 9:54 of ice time per game, and has won 51.7% of his draws after hovering near 60% for much of the last few years. While Dadonov could have some intrigue, there likely won\u2019t be any callers on Glendening.<\/p>\n