Five New Jersey Devils players who could be traded ahead of the deadline
With the Devils set to be sellers, these names could find themselves on the move.
By JP Gambatese (@JP_Gambatese)
We’re less than a week away from the NHL trade deadline, a time of year that most anticipated the New Jersey Devils to be buyers at.
However, given the scope of the season – the Devils are nearly cemented as a non-playoff team – it’s likely that New Jersey will be selling.
Let’s talk about some names that could be shipped out ahead of the trade deadline:
Dougie Hamilton
The most obvious candidate for a trade is $9 million AAV right-shot defenseman Dougie Hamilton. The writing has been on the wall for a trade for the majority of the 2025-26 season, and the expectation is that he will be moved either prior to the trade deadline or in the off-season.
While Hamilton’s value has likely diminished from what it was last offseason, given his relatively subpar first-half performance (despite deployment and luck being the main perpetrator to that status), he likely does still have solid worth as a trade piece.
There are plenty of teams in need of puck-moving right-handed defensemen. The Dallas Stars, who just moved Tyler Seguin and his $9.85 million cap hit to season-ending LTIR and have been in need of another puck-mover for eons, immediately come to mind as a target.
Perhaps New Jersey has interest in a young forward or puck-moving defenseman (or both) — Mavrik Borque is particularly intriguing as a return target, and they could likely get puck-moving youngster Vladislav Kolyachonok as a throw-in considering he was on waivers earlier this season.
The Detroit Red Wings come to mind, as they are also reportedly looking for a top-four right-handed blueliner and have a plethora of cap space to boot.
They’re the most appealing option as far as trade returns go for New Jersey, with young NHLers and appealing, NHL-ready prospects out the wazoo.
Marco Kasper is likely an untouchable target, but someone like Emmitt Finnie or one of their not-quite-blue-chip prospects (Max Plante, Nate Danielson, and Dimitri Buchelnikov) present as appealing options.
The Boston Bruins are in the market for a top-four puck-moving righty as well, though I am admittedly skeptical of their ability to fit someone like Hamilton in their cap climate unless the Devils take a contract back. In that case, I’m just not sure the Bruins have appealing enough assets to warrant such a move.
The probability that Hamilton is gone by the deadline is reasonably high — the good news is, he should still have strong trade value even despite the down year.
