NEWARK—Within the last week, NHL trade activity has been hot, mostly within the Metropolitan Division. With just a week until the 4 Nations Face-Off break, general managers are going to work with many teams anticipating an unofficial trade deadline before the tournament begins. The New Jersey Devils haven’t taken their swing yet, although GM Tom Fitzgerald is certainly weighing his options.
READ MORE: Hurricanes Go All In, What Will Devils Do? (+)
Outside of management, however, how much do the coaches and players keep track of NHL trade activity, especially when they’re in your own division?
Between the last two Friday’s, the Metropolitan Division has seen some significant names entered, while a few others have gone elsewhere as the Pennsylvania teams are seemingly re-tooling their rosters.
At this point, despite how close the race still is, not many are expecting the Pittsburgh Penguins or Philadelphia Flyers to make the playoffs. Each team has sold some significant parts in the last few days, including names such as Morgan Frost out of Philly, and Marcus Pettersson out of Pittsburgh.
The big entrants are Mikko Rantanen & Taylor Hall with the Carolina Hurricanes, and most recently, J.T. Miller going to the Devils’ rival, the New York Rangers.
These aren’t any minor transactions. These are some significant deals, where the Hurricanes who are playoff-bound acquire a star, and the Rangers, who are playing better of late and are in the mix, certainly improve.
We as media and fans certainly pay attention to this sort of thing. But, if you’re in the league, are they watching?
“That’s above my pay grade,” Stefan Noesen joked with New Jersey Hockey Now.
After his quip, Noesen did explain everyone understands the business side of NHL trades. But it is on their radar, regardless of the belief in one another who are already there.
“Yeah, we sit here and watch. And you know, Fitzy obviously has stuff in mind that I’m sure he wants to do,” Noesen said. “And, yeah, if it makes sense, it makes sense. If not, we have the guys on this team to do what we need to. So, yeah, way above my pay grade.”
Noesen isn’t wrong. Despite some of the playoff contending teams adding some star power, the Devils already own a number of their own. Therefore, they perhaps don’t need to make as big of an impact on the NHL trade market as others.
The idea for the Devils leading up to the March 7th is to make the calculated, right additions, as opposed to going out and getting the top guy on the market.
That doesn’t mean Fitzgerald won’t make a splash. He certainly has the assets to do so, holding a number of highly-touted prospects such as Seamus Casey and Anton Silayev who will fetch favorable returns.
Perhaps you can mention Simon Nemec in that collection, too. However, the sense is he’s not going anywhere unless the Devils’ socks are blown off.
But, it’s abundantly true that few teams can claim they hold the same star power as Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, and Dougie Hamilton.
Luke Hughes is another name on the rise toward stardom, even if he’s not quite there right now.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe explained, from a coach’s standpoint, not much changes for him despite the changes to his direct competition.
“You pay attention to it because it’s in the league,” Keefe explained to New Jersey Hockey Now. “And it’s something of interest to talk about, other than X’s and O’s, to beat something else up. You know what’s going around the league, but it is out of our control and not really of much of interest outside just general discussion. So, it doesn’t change our group, doesn’t change, our challenges and tasks and objectives that we have every day. So just keep it focused and keep trying to improve with the group that we have.”
The Devils’ perspective on the state of NHL trades is of general interest, but not too concerning for a reason. Perhaps if they were bottom feeders who were looking to sell, they’d be more tuned in.
Then, players and coaches would want to know who are the buyers and sellers so that they could get a gauge of who might be coming or going.
Instead, the Devils sit in playoff position with a decent cushion. Barring a blockbuster, no one in the Devils’ locker room of note is going to be on the move.
For New Jersey, they can kick back and watch the action happen, knowing Fitzgerald will eventually add to strengthen the teams chances in the postseason.
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