Exploring trade targets for the top-6

JP Gambatese examines potential trade fits if the Devils wish to add another piece up front.

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By JP Gambatese (@JP_Gambatese)

The New Jersey Devils have plenty of talent on the wing with Jesper Bratt, Dawson Mercer, and (most likely) Timo Meier penciled into their top-6.

However, the fourth top-6 wing slot is wide open, and the Devils could look to bolster their premier talent in that area of their lineup. 

Alex Holtz, even though I think he should be a mainstay in the top-6 (more on that next week!), is undoubtedly a risk. 

With New Jersey’s window firmly busted open, the lack of talent in free agency, and Tom Fitzgerald’s determination to compete without jeopardizing the window of contention, it may be in the Devils’ best interest to acquire a proven top-6 option on the wing via trade. 

In my eyes, there are a very clear four players who the Devils should inquire about if available, starting with:

Troy Terry 

Why Anaheim should trade him: Terry is going into his age 26 season, and the Ducks are nowhere close to competing, leaving Terry as a potential odd-man-out because of how old he will be when the team is competitive. They lack an elite play driving center, which most (if not all) playoff contenders have, so there’s no reason to believe that they can expedite their competition window. Trevor Zegras and Mason McTavish have obviously shown flashes of being that elite play driver, but neither has continued that aspect of their game throughout a full season. Not since Zegras did it in his first year in the league.

Why the Devils should want him: He’s a high-end winger on a bottom-feeder team, fits the age of the team’s core perfectly, and should be cheaper to extend relative to other bona-fide top-6 options. 

Terry posted a positive xG share (50.7%) on a cataclysmically atrocious Ducks team. He’s an absolute weapon on offense – he can drive play at above-average levels, shoot the lights out, is a superb transition player, excels at off-the-rush offense, draws penalties (and rarely takes them), and supplies his teammates with excellent passes.

In a very, very down year for his finishing, he posted 23 goals, and is just one year removed from a 37 goal campaign. He shot roughly 2% below his career average this season and there’s reason to believe that his career average is actually lower than what it should be – in 2019-20 he shot just 5.5%, tanking what could be a significantly higher career shooting percentage.

He’s also entering his age 26 season, which aligns well with New Jersey’s long contention window, as an RFA. He hasn’t put up jaw-dropping numbers, and is coming off of a down year, meaning that he could be signed to a reasonable, if not wildly team-friendly extension. 

Locking up a player of his caliber, who only has two years of sustained success, to a long-term contract will likely mean he’s underpaid. Those types of contracts win teams Stanley Cups. 

What a trade might look like: Anaheim desperately needs more young, talented prospects and draft picks to bolster their chances of building a juggernaut years from now. A Troy Terry trade, in my opinion, should cost the Devils something like Alex Holtz, a conditional 2025 2nd (which would turn into a 1st), and another B-level prospect–say, Chase Stillman. 

Holtz would vastly improve the Ducks’ lackluster winger system depth, they acquire the means to draft another top-tier talent, and they get a prospect who (albeit unlikely) could turn into a mainstay at their bottom-6 for a long time.

Nikolaj Ehlers or Kyle Connor