THN.com/free Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk1NDY3NDY3Njc2NDYwMDgz/usatsi_19280050.jpg] Following their incredible 21-4-1 start to the current regular season, the New Jersey Devils crashed to earth, losing six straight and eight of nine games. Regression to the mean is a very real thing, people, and the Devils’ white-hot win streak was always going to be followed by a cooling-off period. However, after that losing skid, New Jersey has proven they’re indeed a team to reckon with. In their past nine games, they’re 7-1-1, beating above-average teams, including the New York Rangers, Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Vegas Golden Knights. The Devils are second in the Metropolitan Division, just two points behind the Hurricanes for first and six points ahead of the third-place Rangers. They’ve got one more game (against Dallas) before the NHL’s all-star break, and when they return, three of their first five games are against lesser light teams in Vancouver, Columbus and St. Louis. In other words, New Jersey is in an excellent position to solidify their hold on a home-ice playoff berth in the Metro. But that doesn’t mean Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald will just sit back and not make any alterations to his roster before the league’s March 3 trade deadline. Fitzgerald is somewhat hamstrung on the trade market because New Jersey is essentially out of salary cap space at the moment and is projected by Cap Friendly [https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/devils] to have just $1.25 million in cap space by the trade deadline. Still, there’s a sense among NHL observers that Fitzgerald needs the Devils to make a strong playoff run this year, and as such, he will be one of the more active GMs in the next few weeks. One of the players rumored to be targeted by New Jersey is veteran San Jose forward Timo Meier. The 26-year-old has a cap hit of $6 million this season, so any trade the Devils would make for his services would necessitate at least one above-average-salaried player going back to the Sharks – or, San Jose would need to retain a significant portion of Meier’s cap hit the rest of the season. New Jersey has enough cap space to sign Meier (a restricted free agent this summer) to a contract extension. But in exchange for Meier, Sharks GM Mike Grier will demand a top prospect, a first-round pick and a decent NHLer. That’s no small price to pay, so New Jersey should be confident they could sign Meier to an extension before committing to the trade. A rental for this season for Meier is possible but not probable. Grier can get more for him if he’s assured of staying with his new team beyond this season. And Grier can get that from the Devils. They’ve got one of the NHL’s deepest pools of prospects [https://thehockeynews.com/news/prospect-pool-overview-new-jersey-devils], and it wouldn’t be unreasonable for San Jose to ask for two of their top 10 prospects. For instance, 21-year-old forward Alexander Holtz and NCAA defenseman Seamus Casey, as well as New Jersey’s first-round pick this season or in 2024, would be an excellent haul for the Sharks in a Meier trade. There will be other teams prepared to pay that type of price for Meier, and the Devils don’t need their first-rounders as much as other franchises do, so they have a leg up on other teams interested in Meier’s services. It’s quite possible the Devils will be facing the Rangers in the first round of the playoffs this spring, but all the positive vibes they’ve created thus far this year would vanish quickly if they lost to the Blueshirts. Fitzgerald must put his team in a position to advance well beyond the first round, and an impact performer like Meier would go a long way toward helping New Jersey achieve that goal. The cost will be considerable, but the payoff would be as well. Whether that’s Meier or, say, Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko, a veteran addition would be just what the doctor ordered for the Devils. Now it’s on Fitzgerald to make it so.
