FanPost

The Nylander Trade The The Devils Need, For Now and For The Future

I know this is all what the hockey world has been talking about lately, but the hype is necessary because of how good/young of a player Nylander is. With the Devils struggling and only winning when Hall, Nico, Palmieri, and Kinkaid all play well, the Devils need a big move to give energy to this team. The devils also need a young player who can be relied on to help win games for the near-future contender we hope the Devils will be. With that being said, I have a trade idea that both the Devils and Leafs will like:

Severson, McLeod, a 2019 1st, and a conditional 2020 2nd (if the Devils make the playoffs this season) for Nylander

Let me explain the reasoning behind this (sorry for the length but this all needs to be said):

1. Severson is having the best season of his career so far and can be traded for more value than he really is. He is locked in at a good cap hit of $4.16M for the next four years. He fits perfectly with what the Leafs need right now: a good defenseman with a low cap hit. As for why this makes sense for the Devils, he will be very replicable for the Devils in 3 years. With Vatanen, Butcher, Walsh, and Smith being four good NHL defense in 4 years, Severson is not necessary. This does not include Mueller who can turn out to be a top 4 D-man as well.

2. McLeod will end up being a third or fourth line center for the Leafs and not require much cap space when he gets his first big contract. He had a bad start to his AHL season this year, but he has improved his game over the past few weeks and has gained more value. The Devils have too many centers for the near future with Nico, Zacha, Zajac, Seney, Coleman (yes, he plays Center and wing), Dea and McLeod. With only 4 centers on an NHL roster, why not trade McLeod for Nylander, a right wing which is the forward position the Devils are weakest in?

3. The Devils 2019 first round pick, if we are trying to make the playoffs this season, will be a mid-to-late pick. Has Shero done great at drafting besides Nico and Ty Smith? No. Zacha sucks compared to who else was taken in the top ten of that draft and McLeod and Bastian are disappointments. All these players are going to become the type of players who are easily replaced for cheap in free agency. Therefore, unless we want to keep on sucking and get a top 5 pick this year, it isn’t worth it to hold on to that first round pick instead of receiving Nylander.

4. SECONDARY SCORING. Outside of whoever Hall is playing with, the Devils do not get much offense. When you look at the cup contending teams in the league, they have great players on their second and/or third lines. Penguins have Malkin and Kessel on their second line, Lightning have Johnson and Point on their second line, Jets have Laine on their third line, Leafs have Tavares on their second line, Preds have Turris on their second line, Sharks currently have Thornton on their second line and Kane on their third line. I think you get the point now. The Devils need a great player on their second line and trading for Nylander will give secondary scoring with the first line staying as Nico Palmieri Hall and the second being Mojo Zacha Nylander. That with a shut down third line of Zajac Wood Coleman is a contender lineup.

5. Zacha’s development and confidence. If the Devils got Nylander and put him on the second line with Mojo and Zacha, it would extremely help his development and confidence. Zacha was just sent down to the AHL so he can "build confidence and play a lot of minutes." Having him center two wingers of Mojo and Nylander’s caliber would have him on the score sheet often and feeling confident.

Shero is very conservative and says he wants to "build through the draft" but his drafting is not great, unless a pick is handed to him like Nico and Smith. Nylander would instantly make the Devils a better team and help Zacha before it’s too late. With this trade proposal, we would only be giving up a replaceable defenseman, a future depth center, and a not very valuable first round pick.



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