The offseason for the New Jersey Devils doesn’t feel quite over, does it? Yes, there is this disturbing silence right now, not only out of Newark, but league-wide, where no one is really doing anything by way of transactions. However, the Devils still have one major move to make, getting restricted free-agent Luke Hughes under contract. Still, it feels like the Devils still have positional needs to fill, with one outlet suggesting Nazem Kadri as a fit. Does that make sense, however?
READ MORE: Devils Named Fit for Nazem Kadri in Potential Trade
It’s hard to forget the fact that Devils general manager, Tom Fitzgerald, boldly claimed the Devils won’t be coming back the same group in 2025-26.
The statement came off the back of elimination from the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, while admitting he knew his team wasn’t good enough in the 2024-25 season.
Fitzgerald’s biggest point of emphasis when talking about upgrades remained depth scoring. Thus, the Devils inked Connor Brown and Evgenii Dadonov on July 1st, and have also reeled in their big KHL fish, Arseni Gritsyuk.
Still, none of the above has addressed New Jersey’s two biggest needs coming into this summer.
The Devils are desperate for a top-six scorer, and a bottom-six center, two positions that saw inconsistencies last season.
Thus, the Devils have been linked—only by speculation—to Nazem Kadri who is continually in the NHL trade rumor mill.
Last season, the Devils’ third line center position was filled in a rotation between players like Erik Haula, Justin Dowling, Cody Glass, heck, even Paul Cotter got a couple of cracks at it.
Ultimately, depth was one of the factors in New Jersey that proved to be their downfall, and the inconsistencies in lineup deployment certainly didn’t help.
Therefore, it’s certainly reasonable to ask if a Kadri trade makes sense for the Devils.
For starters, injecting Kadri into the lineup makes them immediately a better team. Kadri netted 35 goals and 67 points last season, albeit, in a top-six role.
Still, it was Kadri’s third season in his career eclipsing the 30-goal plateau, and he previously had been right under the 30-goal threshold for three seasons prior.
Kadri slotting in right behind Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier would potentially give the Devils the best center depth in the entire NHL. Plus, Kadri has the ability to play up in the lineup given potential injuries, or if Sheldon Keefe decided he wanted to bump Jack Hughes to the wing.
Add the fact that Kadri, for lack of a better term, has a dog in him. Look at the Florida Panthers, who are back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions.
They have players such as Sam Bennett—who many Devils fans wanted if he reached the market—and Matthew Tkachuk. Both players can do it all. Score, defend, and agitate. Those are the players who tend to shine when it matters most.
Well, Kadri has been there and done that. The last time he was in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he finished the postseason by lifting the championship over his head as a member of the Colorado Avalanche. In 16 games that spring, Kadri netted seven goals and 15 points, adding some snarl and elbow grease to the Colorado lineup.
The Devils could use some of that in the forward group, despite the presences of current players such as Cotter and Brenden Dillon.
Regardless, Kadri, at first glance, is certainly a fit for the Devils in terms of what he provides on the ice, and positionally. It makes all the sense in the world for the Devils and Calgary Flames to strike up a deal, too, with their trade history that sent Jacob Markstrom to New Jersey last summer.
But there’s another side to this argument.
What does one give up in a potential trade for an aging center on the wrong side of 35 years old?
Recent history tells us it can actually be quite a lot.
The New York Islanders benefitted greatly from dealing Brock Nelson to the Avalanche in exchange for top prospect Calum Ritchie, a conditional first round pick in 2026, another conditional pick—a third rounder in 2028—and Oliver Kylington. And that was for a player on an expiring contract.
Now, Nelson is one year younger almost to the day, and was a pending free agent.
Kadri, however, has four season left on a contract that pays out $7 million annually.
The Devils already need to clear out some money if they’re going to ink Luke Hughes to a max-term extension. And if they were to entertain the idea of a Kadri trade, they’d need a lot more space with the 21-year-old defenseman likely to eat up most of what’s left.
Therefore, the Devils are looking at the possibility of moving a top prospect and a high draft pick or two that is attached to players who occupy a considerable amount of cap space.
Dawson Mercer is bound to be a player of interest to the Flames at the ripe age of 24 years old next season. Shedding his $4 million would help, however, moving him in a deal that includes a top prospect and high draft picks is far too much for an aging veteran center.
Perhaps there is a way to swap veterans, including Ondrej Palat in the deal with top draft capital, and prospects such as Seamus Casey or Lenni Hameenaho.
The Devils have Palat’s six-team trade list to hurdle, however. Would Palat accept the idea of moving to a Calgary franchise that just missed the playoffs last season, and is further down the line on a retool, perhaps nearly a rebuild?
I wouldn’t be optimistic about that.
So, does a Devils trade for Kadri make sense?
It’s difficult to give a hard yes or no because it depends on what’s going the other way. You don’t want to mortgage too much for a player who is about to be on the wrong side of 35.
Yet, we’ve seen what players of his archetype can do for a team that is looking to get past the first-to-second-round exit bubble.
There’s little doubt that Kadri makes the Devils a deeper, more difficult team to play against on paper. The question is how long can Kadri maintain that play style at this stage of his career?
It would be a gamble worth making, so long as it doesn’t derail the upward trajectory of New Jersey’s current, and future.
For more Devils news, visit New Jersey Hockey Now, subscribe to our YouTube and like our Facebook page.
Follow us on :
@NJDHockeyNow, @JamesNicholsNHL
And on Threads:
