Devils Need to Use Trades to Get Younger & More Skilled
The New Jersey Devils have the 6th oldest roster in the NHL. Any acquistion they make must focus on getting younger & more skilled.
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Should the New Jersey Devils be buyers this season? That depends. Rentals are out of the equation unless they go on some insane Buffalo Sabres-like heater over the next few weeks.
That seems unlikely, though, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be buyers. Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald should be looking to add pieces that will help the team beyond the 2025-26 season, but there is a certain type of player he should be targeting.
That’s enough with players on the wrong side of 30 who are in decline. The Devils do not need to get older, slower, and less skilled. In fact, they need the exact opposite.
Devils Roster Isn’t Young Anymore
The Devils’ core may be on the younger side and in their prime, but you can’t say that for much of the rest of the roster. There are some exceptions, like Dawson Mercer, Cody Glass and Arseny Gritsyuk up front, and Luke Hughes and Šimon Nemec on defense, but that’s about it.
In fact, the Devils are the sixth-oldest team in the NHL this season, with an average age of 28.92. Age isn’t always a death knell in the NHL. The Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Colorado Avalanche have older rosters than the Devils and occupy playoff spots, but let’s be real. Only the Avalanche are legit Cup contenders from that group.
Some of the youngest teams, such as the Sabres, San Jose Sharks, and Montreal Canadiens, are experiencing newfound success this season.
The Canadiens and Sabres have the two youngest rosters in the NHL. It’d be unfair to expect the Devils to have such a young team unless they decide on a full rebuild again, but they can certainly get younger.
Shedding the contracts of Ondřej Palát and Dougie Hamilton, two players in their mid-30s, will likely make the Devils younger, even if they don’t get any players of note in return.
Still, they’re not the only Devils on the wrong side of 30. Brenden Dillon is 35, Brett Pesce is 31, and Stefan Noesen is 32. Luke Glendening and Evgenii Dadonov are both 36, while Connor Brown is 32.
In net, both Jacob Markström and Jake Allen are 35 and will be 36 by the start of next season. That’s quite a few players on the wrong side of 30 who are starting to show their age.
