A way too early look at trade deadline targets

JP Gambatese dug into some players who could be of interest to the New Jersey Devils come March.

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By JP Gambatese (@JP_Gambatese)

Heading into the 2023-24 season, the New Jersey Devils are a very well rounded team. It’s hard to look at the roster and notice any gaping holes, at least skater-wise. 

With that said, I’d fully expect the Devils to look at adding notable players at the trade deadline, as any true contender does on a perennial basis.

Without further ado, here are a few I could see the Devils targeting in March:

Corey Perry

Perry is obviously lightyears removed from his days of putting up a point-per-game pace. For his age and current role, he’s still an effective player.

Even at 38 years old, Perry has the reputation of being a viable playoff contributor – he’s visited the playoffs in each of the last four seasons, and has 35 points in 78 games in that span. His grit and peskiness has always been a staple in his game, and it legitimately translates to success once it flips to the postseason. 

Perry’s current contract is $4 million per year. Even at half-retention, is a lot of money for a bottom-six, grit-first player. However, he’s still good. In 2022-23, Perry posted an xGF% of 54.86%, and since he left Anaheim in 2019, he has yet to post a negative expected goals share.

The Devils have just below $2 million in cap space, so there would need to be a bit of magic performed by Tom Fitzgerald at the deadline to make Perry work. Doing so, though, would bolster the bottom-six on both sides of the ice, and adding a proven playoff commodity would likely be worth it for the Devils. 

Anthony Duclair