The New Jersey Devils have a good team, but they are relying on a lot of things to go right in order for them to have a great team. You need a great team to make the playoffs, and the great team needs to heat up at the right time to make a run to the Stanley Cup.

With a few more additions, the Devils may be a great team, which gives them as much of a chance as anyone else in the Eastern Conference. Sunny Mehta’s first off-season as GM has been solid so far, but he’s still waiting for that massive move that changes the outlook of the entire roster. 

One team that makes sense for some type of trade is the Anaheim Ducks, who made the playoffs and won a round last spring after many years of rebuilding. The entire offseason changed for them and everyone else in the league when the Philadelphia Flyers tendered an offer sheet to forward Leo Carlsson, which he signed at 5 years and $18 million against the cap. 

Anaheim matched the deal to keep him, but he is being paid a lot more than anticipated. This leaves them with just over $9 million in cap space, and all of that plus more will go to Cutter Gauthier, who is an RFA. 

Gauthier is going to get this fortune because of his breakout year in 2025-26, in which he scored 41 goals and 28 assists for 69 points in 76 games. Premier goal-scoring wingers are getting more and more expensive, and the precedent set by Carlsson’s deal will make every player more lucrative. 

The Ducks will have to make a couple of subtractions to their group if they want to get Gauthier signed. The Devils could be one of the teams that takes a good player or two off their hands in a mutually beneficial trade. 

Wingers that can play in the top nine will be incredibly valuable to the Devils in a trade. Guys like Troy Terry, Chris Kreider, and Frank Vatrano are all guys who would give the Ducks at least $4 million in free space, and they are all good goal scorers to varying degrees. 

There are also solid veterans like Alex Killorn, Mikael Granlund, and AJ Greer who would make the Devils a better team, regardless of their roles. 

In the hypothetical scenario that the Devils and Ducks make a trade, Anaheim likely doesn't want any money coming back at them, so draft picks and non-NHL prospects would be the return in that instance. 

We are at the point of the off-season where things have quieted down, but the offer sheet for Carlsson helped slow the movement. At any point, it can pick back up. Expect the Devils to be involved when it does. 

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