The New Jersey Devils are back in action on Thursday night final time ahead of the Olympic Break against the New York Islanders. However, prior to the Olympic Roster Freeze, the Devils made another move, acquiring center Nick Bjugstad from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Thomas Bordeleau and a conditional 4th round pick.
Updat: Nick Bjugstad heading to the New Jersey Devils for a mid round pick and a prospect #njdevils
Bjugstad is a 32 years old center. Signed a two year deal on July 1 at $1.75 million for this season and next.
— Jim Biringer (@JimBiringer) February 4, 2026
Everyone knows what the St. Louis Blues and GM Doug Armstrong are doing. They are sellers on the market, but shouldn’t the Devils be sellers too? While they need center depth, adding Bjugstad now does not help the Devils down the middle. It does not help make the playoffs.
New Jersey Devils Players Are Mentally Fragile
Nick Bjugstad has played in 35 games this season with the Blues, recording seven points (six goals and one assist). While he has a winning percentage in the faceoff dot of 51.2 percent, it is a minimal upgrade over Luke Glendening, who was signed out of a PTO (professional tryout) in the preseason because of what he can do in the dot. But again, the issue of depth centers and bottom-six offensive production remains unresolved.
Bjugstad’s best days are behind him. It’s clear he isn’t the player who put up 45 points (22 goals and 23 assists) with the Arizona Coyotes during the 2023-24 season. That is when a move to get Bjugstad made sense. Now it is just another aging veteran there for size that doesn’t add offensive production at the bottom. His best point-wise season came in 2017-18, when he recorded 49 points with the Florida Panthers. His best goal-scoring season was 2014-15, when he scored 24 goals.
Bjugstad’s production dropped dramatically these past two seasons. Eight goals last season with the Utah Mammoth (Hockey Club) and this season, six goals. When the Devils needed help in the faceoff circle, they needed a Ryan O’Reilly-type player to help them, with the belief from the General Manager that they could make the playoffs.
Though with a loss Thursday night, the Devils’ season is pretty much over, given where they will be in the standings. A loss in regulation (3-1 to the Islanders) puts them 11 points out, hitting the Olympic Break. That is a massive hill to climb for a team that has not shown consistent play. Not to mention their coach now calling them out for a third time this season for being mentally weak.
New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald: “Where We Are At is on Me“
This Bjugstad move could have been done earlier. But the Devils need to stop falling in love with players’ analytical numbers. Replicating Moneyball doesn’t work in the NHL. It didn’t work for the Oakland A’s, who always lost. You put the best roster together you can. However, given the limitations Tom Fitzgerald put on himself with the trade protection he handed out, moves for a player like Bjugstad are the only ones he can make.
Fitzgerald was able to shed Ondrej Palat‘s salary by trading him to the New York Islanders. He got Maxim Tsyplakov in return. Tsyplakov carries a $2.250 million salary cap hit this season and next. Meanwhile, Bjugstad has a $1.75 million salary cap hit this year and next. That’s $4 million of the $6 million that Fitzgerald used on players that may or may not help the Devils.
If the Devils were going to trade for a center, it should have been a younger, more controllable one. Those are hard to come by, and you have to give up something to get something, but what was the point of this move now? It could have been done sooner or even at the deadline. Not to mention, did it need to happen at all?
NHL Rumors: New Jersey Devils Want a Depth Center With Physicality
Adding into all this drama, the Devils placed Juho Lammikko on unconditional waivers for the purpose of contract termination. Tom Fitzgerald and the Devils signed him to a one-year, $800,000 deal on June 14, 2025. Everyone knew this player was not going to work for the Devils, and his time in New Jersey was coming to an end. It didn’t help that he got hurt right away and never caught up. But this was a head scratcher to begin with.
Lammikko didn’t bring the scoring depth the Devils needed to win. While he did some little things right, he never got comfortable in Sheldon Keefe‘s system. Again, this is more overcorrecting by the Devils’ management in response to mistakes made along the way.
While the New Jersey Devils needed help at the center position, it is just another average trade for a team that isn’t going anywhere this season.
