Remember when the New Jersey Devils had uninterrupted goaltending stability for almost two decades thanks to one of the greatest goaltenders of all time in Martin Brodeur? In the words of some cartoon berries from south park “I ‘member!” Those days seem long gone. The past few years have seen the Devils’ crease change hands as goaltending has been inconsistent and injured.
This year was supposed to be different. MacKenzie Blackwood was finally supposed to hold his own while newly acquired Jonathan Bernier provided a stabilizing presence behind him. Instead, Blackwood is injured, Bernier is out for the season, and two trade acquisitions – Jon Gillies and Andrew Hammond – are both struggling to spell an overworked Nico Daws. Goaltending is a major concern for next season, so here are a few trade candidates for the Devils to potentially consider.
Chris Driedger
In his latest NHL mailbag segment, Dan Rosen addressed the possibility of Seattle Kraken back up Chris Driedger being traded this offseason. Philipp Grubauer is Seattle’s clear cut number one, and Seattle has a goalie behind Driedger in Joey Daccord. Driedger has struggled this year, with a 3.22 goals against average and a .892 save percentage, but then again this is a pretty bad Seattle team. The Devils team that would play in front of him wouldn’t be perfect, but it would be a definite improvement. Problem is Driedger has never played more than 23 games in an NHL season. Even asking him to carry the workload of a “1B” goaltender in a goalie tandem might be too much.
Alex Nedeljkovic
The former Metropolitan Division rival was traded to the Detroit Red Wings for the surprisingly low price of Johnathan Bernier and a third round pick. While the Vezina finalist was supposed to be a nice addition for the rebuilding Red Wings, he’s struggled this year with a 3.26 goals against average and a .901 save percentage. In his defense, Detroit is last in the league in goals scored against per game and bottom ten in shots against per game. For the record, Devils are 12th in shots against per game.
Since Detroit bought him on the low, maybe they’d be willing to trade him for slightly more? Also, 2021 draft pick Sebastian Cossa is already signed to a three year entry level deal. How expendable Nedeljkovic is depends on how close Cossa is to making an NHL impact. We also have to consider if this Nedeljkovic we’re seeing struggle in Detroit is the “real” Nedeljkovic? Sure, he had a good run with the Carolina Hurricanes, but they have a habit of bringing out the most of goaltenders who over perform. Just look at Curtis McElhinney a few seasons back as an example.
John Gibson
The Anaheim Ducks goaltender has been around a while, but at age 28 is still pretty young. Considering how they shipped Hampus Lindholm off to the Boston Bruins it’s safe to assume Gibson’s time in Anaheim might be coming to an end. Then again, maybe Gibson decides to stick around for the rebuild. After this season he still is signed for five more years on his current contract.
As their shining trade piece left, the Ducks are sure to want a small fortune for Gibson. Goaltenders seemingly in their prime don’t go for cheap. Gibson does have a modified no trade clause in his contract. There’s the possibility New Jersey is on his list of places he doesn’t want to go to. After what happened with Evgenii Dadonov and the Vegas Golden Knights, you know the league is looking at that fine print very carefully.