Devils Puck GM 2.0: What's the Ideal 2025 Offseason?

The New Jersey Devils have a big summer ahead of them, but what does an ideal 2025 offseason look like?

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The NHL offseason is officially here. The New Jersey Devils have already made one transaction, trading Erik Haula to the Nashville Predators for a 2025 fourth-round pick and prospect Jeremy Hanzel.

That move freed up $3.1 million in cap space and now gives the Devils and general manager Tom Fitzgerald around $15.3 million in cap space. Eventually, the team will make some additions, but what could those be?

We tackled some options in Puck GM 1.0 a couple of weeks ago, but now that the offseason is underway, and we've covered plenty of potential trade and free-agent targets for the Devils, let's move ahead with Puck GM 2.0.

Where Does Palát Go?

We opened up our last Puck GM with cap-clearing moves and Haula getting traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2025 fourth-round pick. We came close on that transaction, but that's not all Fitzgerald needs to do to open up cap space.

The Devils need to find a new home for Ondřej Palát and his $6 million cap hit. In Puck GM 1.0, the Devils sent Palát and one of their 2025 second-round picks to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a 2026 fifth-round pick.

That's still a plausible scenario, but seeing the Devils netted a fourth for Haula, perhaps they can get something for Palát. I recently wrote about potential destinations for Palát, with the Detroit Red Wings being a fit.

There's the Steve Yzerman connection, but maybe the Devils and Red Wings could team up to swap bad contract for bad contract. Vladimir Tarasenko has popped up on multiple trade boards, and we know the Devils had interest in him dating as far back as 2021.

Tarasenko had a down season with the Red Wings, but most of his struggles were related to poor shooting luck. He still looks like the same player he has been over the last few seasons, so he could rebound if his shooting percentage regresses to the mean.