Friday’s trade deadline has come and gone. The New Jersey Devils were quite active, however, did not exactly make many splashes. Several of the trades were actually impactful to the Devils’ AHL affiliate the Utica Comets.

Regardless, let’s go trade-by-trade and assign a grade to each transaction the Devils made leading up to the 3:00 pm ET NHL trade deadline.

Devils Acquire F Shane Lachance

• Devils: F Shane Lechance, 25% of Trent Frederic‘s salary
• Trade Away: F Petr Hauser (BOS)

Analysis:

In their first trade before the deadline, the Devils played mediator in a deal that sent the currently-injured Trent Frederic to the Edmonton Oilers from the Boston Bruins. In the trade, the Devils picked up prospect forward Shane Lechance. Lechance is currently the captain of Boston University. The 2021 sixth-round pick is a monster, listed at 6-foot-5 and 218 pounds. He has 26 points in 33 games this year; 27 points in 40 games his first year in the NCAA during the 2023-24 season.

The only tangible asset the Devils gave up was forward prospect Petr Hauser. The 21-year-old was a 2022 fifth-round pick by New Jersey. Has played between the top professional league in Czechia and the second-level league; four points in 26 top-league games and nine points in 16 Czechia2 games.

The Devils also took on a minimal $575,000 of Frederic’s salary to help the Oilers complete the trade. Frederic is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season.

Grade: B-

Devils Acquire D Brian Dumoulin

• Devils: D Brian Dumoulin*
• Ducks: 2025 second-round pick* (WPG), F Herman Träff

Analysis:

The Devils were long rumored to be on the prowl for defensive depth. When general manager Tom Fitzgerald announced at his post-deadline press conference that defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler will miss the remainder of the regular season, this move made a lot more sense.

In all, the Devils acquired veteran defenseman Brian Dumoulin (50% salary retained by Anaheim) and gave up a second-round pick (the better of Edmonton’s or Winnipeg’s) as well as Swedish prospect forward Herman Träff. Importantly, the 33-year-old Dumoulin is a pending unrestricted free agent.

Dumoulin has 687 NHL games under his belt, including two Stanley Cup championships with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He has spent the last two seasons with the Seattle Kraken and Anaheim Ducks. The Kraken moved Dumoulin to the Ducks for a fourth-round pick prior to the season.

Dumoulin is your typical defensive defenseman. Over the last three years, his on-ice defensive metrics rank in the league’s 74th percentile. He does not hit a ton, but does block a lot of shots. He should fit very nicely on a Devils team needing to replace Siegenthaler.

The package the Devils gave up is where an issue might be had. The team gave up a second-round pick as well as a prospect who should have been regarded as top 10 in the team’s system. Herman Träff is only 19 years old and was a third-round pick in 2024. He has played in 25 SHL games (top professional league in Sweden) posting seven points, while almost being a point-per-game player in the second-level Swedish league. At 6-foot-3 and with a heavy shot, Träff has some desirable traits.

When this trade was made, it seemed like an overpay. However, the next day, leading up to the deadline, and several more deals happened, it became clear the price tag was a by product of the market. Regardless, on the surface, a second-round pick and a top-10 organizational prospect for an, at best, second-pair defensive defenseman on an expiring contact, does not appear to be strong asset management.

Grade: D+

Devils Acquire D Dennis Cholowski

• Devils: D Dennis Cholowski
• Islanders: F Adam Beckman

Analysis:

One of the Devils minor-league deals was the team receiving a depth defenseman for a 23-year-old prospect acquired in the offseason.

Dennis Cholowski is 27 years old and plays on the left side. He began his career in Detroit, where he played 104 games before moving to Washington, then Seattle, before finally finding his way to New York with the Islanders. Since moving to Long Island, he has played in 35 NHL games and 141 with Bridgeport in the AHL.

As the above chart shows, he has had solid even strength on-ice impacts this season according to Evolving Hockey’s goals above replacement statistics. Being left-handed, he may not be a permanent fixture in the Devils’ lineup. Being an unrestricted free agent, he can hit the open market at year’s end.

Beckman was acquiring in the offseason in exchange for Graeme Clarke from the Minnesota Wild. He was once thought of as a top prospect for Minnesota, but did not pan out so got shipped to New Jersey. He has 33 points in 43 games this season, already matching his total from 51 games with Iowa of the AHL last year.

This trade is certainly peculiar. Beckman, only 23 years old, has performed well with Utica and has team control. Despite this, the Devils decided to ship him to the Islanders for a depth defenseman who is set to become a free agent at year’s end.

Grade: D-

Devils Acquire Cody Glass

• Devils: F Cody Glass, F Jonathan Gruden
• Penguins: F Chase Stillman, F Max Graham, 2027 third-round pick

Analysis:

Alongside the Dumoulin trade, this was the biggest move of the deadline for New Jersey. The Devils brought in the 25-year-old Cody Glass in exchange for a couple prospects and a third-round pick two years from now.

Glass was the sixth-overall pick in 2017 that hasn’t exactly panned out how many would have thought. He was moved from the Vegas Golden Knights to Nashville, where he spent three seasons before landing in Pittsburgh for 2024-25. Since become professional, the scoring has been there in the AHL (79 points in 88 games), however, it has not translated consistently in the NHL. His best scoring season was 35 points in 2022-23. Over the last two seasons, he only has 28 points across 92 games.

Despite the rocky offensive output, Glass has emerged as a very strong defensive center. So far this season, his on-ice defensive metrics rank in the 95th percentile; over the last three years, they are in the 79th percentile. Not to mention, he is on pace to set a career-high in face-off percentage at 52.7%. Glass also has strong speed and great size at 6-foot-2. He will provide a much-needed upgrade to the Devils’ bottom-six this season, and going forward, as he is a pending restricted free agent at season’s end.

The other player the Devils received is an AHL-level forward in Jonathan Gruden. Gruden, 24 years old, was an undrafted free agent out of the OHL (66 points in 59 games for the London Knights in his final junior league season). He then signed with the Penguins’ organization, where he has played 16 NHL games with the Penguins and 250 with Wilkes-Barre in the AHL. His best AHL scoring output was 31 points in 2022-23. He has 13 points in 42 games this season, to go along with 48 penalty minutes. Gruden is a restricted free agent at season’s end.

As for what the Devils gave up, Chase Stillman was a first-round pick in 2021 who was looked upon as a reach when drafted. His OHL production was underwhelming and that continued the AHL level where he only has nine points in 46 games this season. Max Graham was a fifth-round pick in 2024. The 6-foot-3 forward had 42 points and 135 penalty minutes in his draft-season. So far, this year, he is at only 35 points in 34 games as a 20-year-old.

Long-term, Glass projects as an Erik Haula replacement, playing solid defense and contributing on the penalty kill. Importantly, he is under team control past this season. To get him, the Devils gave up two prospects likely not going to make major contributions at the NHL level plus a pick a few years down the road.

Grade: B+

Devils Acquire Daniel Sprong

• Devils: F Daniel Sprong
• Kraken: 2026 seventh-round pick

Analysis:

In a trade that has the chance to provide the most value of the deadline in terms what the Devils gave up was the acquisition of Daniel Sprong. The 27-year-old winger has played for six teams over his nine-year NHL career. The former fourth-round pick of the Ottawa Senators found his most success with Seattle over a two-year stretch in 2022-23 and 2023-24. Over this run, he posted 89 points across 142 games including 39 goals and shooting percentages of 14.3% and 11.3%, respectively.

Sprong was a very valuable offensive presence for Seattle over that time, so much so, his on-ice offensive metrics spanning that two year stretch ranked in the 87th and 71st percentiles, respectively. Also worth noting, over his career, Sprong is an above-average 11.6% shooter. Specifically, he has scored 87 career goals on only 65.8 expected, indicating he is a great finisher, something the Devils desperately need.

With all that being said, Sprong has not played in the NHL since December, spending a majority of this season in the AHL with Coachella Valley where he 25 points in 19 games. His NHL play with Vancouver and Seattle this year has also left a lot to be desired, with only five points across 19 games. He was also placed on waiver earlier this season, where he went unclaimed.

The bottom line, this trade is a low risk move that could play major dividends if he finds his form that he had the previous two seasons. If he doesn’t, and it does not work out, which is a real possibility given the woes discussed above, all New Jersey did was give up a seventh rounder. Sprong is an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

Grade: A-

Devils Acquire Marc McLaughlin

• Devils: F Marc McLaughlin
• Bruins: D Daniil Misyul

Analysis:

In another minor-league trade, the Devils moved on from former third-round pick Daniil Misyul. Misyul is now 24 years old and has not developed how New Jersey had hoped across 91 games in Utica.

In exchange, the Devils received 25-year-old Marc McLaughlin, a Massachusetts native. After captaining Boston College for two seasons to end his collegiate career, he was signed as an undrafted free agent into the Bruins’ organization. He has scored six goals across 26 NHL games and has 58 points in 169 AHL games with Providence. McLaughlin has 14 points in 34 AHL games this season after only having 14 in 68 games last year. His career-best season was 30 points in 66 games his first full AHL season in 2022-23.

McLaughlin is a group of six unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

Grade: C

Final Thoughts

General manager Tom Fitzgerald seemingly played this deadline as several thought he would. He was conservative in the sense of not mortgaging the future, but still made a few moves that helps the team both in the short-term (Dumoulin) and long-term (Glass).

On the surface, the deal for Dumoulin did seem pricey, but he is a much-needed addition given the injured blue line the Devils currently have. Glass figures in long-term and should provide a boost to the bottom six for seasons to come. Lastly, Sprong seems like a strong bet to make for only a seventh-round pick.

Final Grade: C