The state of the New Jersey Devils is not good. There are several things going wrong simultaneously, and things are desperate. With three games remaining, the Devils are now eight points behind the Philadelphia Flyers and six points out of the last Wild Card place. With four games this week, they could either be back in the heart of things or entirely out of the postseason race by the end of the week.
Unfortunately, there are concerns with the Devils that cannot be resolved in the room. Jack Hughes is back, but the Devils are unable to score. On the power play, it’s quite detrimental. Following the serious injuries to Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler, the defense is facing serious problems. Rookies Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec are leading it.
Of course, the biggest issue on the Devils is goaltending. Despite getting through all of regulation without allowing a goal on Saturday night, Vitek Vanecek is still one of the worst goalies in the league. While his defense has given up a decent amount of high-danger chances, it really isn’t as excessive as it seems. He’s faced 7.75 HD shots per 60 minutes. Fifty-five goalies have faced a higher rate of dangerous shots.
The number one target for the DevilsThe Devils are loaded with resources. As NHL players worth pursuing in a trade, every team is keeping an eye on guys like Santeri Hatakka, Alex Holtz, Dawson Mercer, Kevin Bahl, and Simon Nemec. Teams desire to trade with the Devils when they have top prospects like Josh Filmon, Arseni Gritsyuk, Lenni Hameenaho, and Seamus Casey.
Although Tom Fitzgerald is accepting the riskiest years in the Markstrom trade, the Flames understand that their goalkeeper is in the peak of his career. Those two scenarios are incompatible. If the Devils need to add Mercer or Holtz to close this deal, we won’t be shocked. NHL players are a top priority for the Flames, so the Devils would have to make that the centerpiece of the agreement. right now is Jacob Markstrom. It was revealed by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet that the Devils and Flames had talks, but they broke down this week.
