The New Jersey Devils will be an active team by the NHL Trade Deadline. As DevilsNation.com has documented, several areas of need include acquiring a top-six scoring winger and depth at the center position. And it seems with the rumors in the NHL picking up ahead of the deadline, the Devils are leaning toward actively getting a center.
According to Elliotte Friedman in his new 32 Thoughts article on Sportsnet, NHL General Managers believe that New Jersey will 100 percent get a center.
“The one team everyone believes will absolutely 100-per-cent trade for a centre? New Jersey.”
NHL Rumors: Devils Looking to Add Multiple Forwards
As it has been documented, the New Jersey Devils have been heavily scouting the Montreal Canadiens. On Thursday night, they had two more scouts at the Canadiens and San Jose Sharks game. New Jersey has been linked to Jake Evans. Evans has a reasonable cap hit of $1.7 million and is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
Evans can do it all. He is a good bottom-six forward who can add offense and kill penalties. He, along with Joel Armia, form one of the best penalty kill duos in the league for the Montreal Canadiens. This season with the Canadiens, Evans has recorded 27 points (11 goals and 16 assists). Evans tied his career high with 16 assists and is two points and goals away from tying those career highs.
However, the cost of acquiring such a good season will be high, as the Canadiens would love to re-sign the player as well. According to Pierre LeBrun of TSN, Canadiens GM Kent Hughes is telling teams the cost of Jake Evans is a second-round pick. They don’t want third—or fourth-round drafts and futures.
“So I don’t think they’re interested in getting a third-round pick or a fourth-round pick for Jake Evans,” LeBrun said on Insider Trading. “That doesn’t move the needle for them. So teams have been told, don’t waste your time. I mean, he makes $1.7 million on the cap, which is really attractive to contenders who don’t have a lot of cap space. I think the low bar, I think the threshold is a second round pick at worst for Montreal on a Jake Evans deal. So teams have to step up.”
Montreal is happy to keep these players since they have many draft picks. So, if the cost is a second-round pick, the Devils have three of them. New Jersey could use one of them for Evans. It makes sense to add a player like that.
NHL Rumors: The New Jersey Devils Are Linked to Montreal Canadiens Jake Evans
But he is not the only center on the Devils trade board. They have been linked to Ryan Donato of the Chicago Blackhawks, Yanni Gourde of the Seattle Kraken, Scott Laughton of the Philadelphia Flyers, Casey Mittelstadt of the Colorado Avalanche, Trent Frederic of the Boston Bruins, and potentially Ryan O’Reilly from the Nashville Predators. However, O’Reilly will cost New Jersey something significant.
However, one thing is clear, President and GM Tom Fitzgerald is going after a center.
