NEWSLETTER
We’ve got an NHL general manager who’s openly talking about being open for business in the 2024 NHL Draft already in the early part of the Scouting Combine in Buffalo, and I’m interested to see if the Blackhawks can get in the mix.
The New Jersey Devils own the No. 10 overall pick in this summer’s draft, and their GM told NHL.com that he’s willing to listen on the pick if it helps improve his team more immediately.
“If we feel it helps us now and in the foreseeable future, then, yes, I’m listening,” New Jersey general manager Tom Fitzgerald told NHL.com on Monday during a break from interviews at the NHL Scouting Combine. “I haven’t gotten anything yet but the more I talk to teams, I say ‘Listen, I’m open to moving No. 10, but it’s going to have to be something (significant).'”
When we start talking about some of the top-tier defensemen in this draft, and other top-level forwards, being available, it isn’t likely that many of them slide all the way to the Blackhawks’ second pick in the first round at No. 18 overall. But at No. 10? Yeah, now I’m interested.
Sympathy for the Devils?
Now, we need to take this with the understanding that Fitzgerald said the move needs to help the Devils “now and in the foreseeable future” and “it’s going to have to be something (significant)” when he said he’s open for business. Getting that pick isn’t going to be cheap.
The Devils are a young team that has some looming cap concerns. They still have a core of Jack Hughes (23), Nico Hischier (25), Jesper Bratt (25), Luke Hughes (20), Simon Nemec (20) and Timo Meier (27). They don’t have a lot of cap space and have at least one big RFA to deal with this summer — Dawson Mercer. Dougie Hamilton signed a long-term deal with a $9M cap hit and spent most of this past season on the shelf, which didn’t help.
Add to that their lack of prospect depth. When they ranked teams’ prospect groups at The Athletic earlier this year, the Devils ranked 22nd in the league. Not great. Unfortunately for the Blackhawks’ case to make a trade, the top two prospects ranked at that time were Nemec and Seamus Casey — two right-handed defensemen. New Jersey’s NHL roster has plenty of young forwards but they don’t have much coming into the future.
The Devils also don’t have a lot of draft capital to play with this summer. They have just their first-round pick (No. 10) and then two in the third round, but only those three picks in the first four rounds.
The reality in New Jersey is it’s go time, and they need to get better sooner than later.
Could/Should the Blackhawks Make a Call?
Chicago has plenty of draft capital this year, with six picks in the first three rounds. They also have a lot of cap space to play with, which might be how the Blackhawks could benefit the Devils in the short-term.
The biggest question for me is what the total package would look like if the Blackhawks made a swing for the No. 10 pick, and what the Devils are looking to ultimately do to their roster.
I go back to the fact that Mercer, 22, is an RFA this summer and the Devils’ lack of big-time cap space as a potential way for the Blackhawks to help the Devils in a couple ways. According to CapFriendly, the Devils have roughly $18.8 million in cap space with just 15 players on their NHL roster (including Hamilton, who finished last year on LTIR). Their blue line is fairly well put together (when healthy) but they have only eight forwards making almost $43 million in 2024-25 — before they re-sign Mercer.
Would the Devils moving 33-year-old wing Ondrej Palat’s $6 million cap hit (for three more years) be intriguing enough to make a deal more intriguing for Fitzgerald? Palat had only 31 points in 71 games last year, and that cap number might not work for a player at his age for the Devils moving forward.
I wonder that while also recognizing the Blackhawks are likely moving past their “take back a bad contract to upgrade assets” part of the rebuild. Again, a 33-year-old who scored 11 goals last year at $6 million for three more years doesn’t excite me in any way. But moving up to No. 10 opens the door for another impact player to be drafted, and that might be the cost of doing business.
I also want to point out here that Palat has 101 points in 150 career postseason games. Like Tyler Johnson the past couple years, he’s got a playoff pedigree that would pay dividends in the room. He was an assistant captain of the Devils this past season. Palat also had 92 hits and 49 blocked shots in those 71 games, so he might be the kind of “identity” forward the Blackhawks are looking to add.
Considering the Blackhawks’ current collection of assets and the Devils looking for players who can impact their lineup this coming season — especially a goaltender — the full trade mix would be interesting to consider. The Devils don’t need any of the Blackhawks’ surplus of defensemen. And I’m not sure which “available” forwards on Chicago’s NHL roster would be viewed as a players who could help the Devils win sooner.
But the fact the Devils’ GM has already come out and said the No. 10 pick is available certainly is worth considering as the Blackhawks have already made one move up the board.
