Despite being just a few points out of a playoff position with more than half the season still to go, the New Jersey Devils need a bunch of help between the pipes. Through 31 games, the Devils have the fourth-lowest team save percentage (SV%) in the league at .887. The belief around the league is if this team gets at least league-average net minding that they would be one of the top teams in the NHL. While there aren’t many options out there at the moment, there is one goalie whose name has come up over the past few days and has even been linked to a move to the Garden State. That goalie is the Anaheim Ducks’ John Gibson.
Gibson has been the topic of trade speculation for the better part of the past several seasons. The reasons are simple. The first is that the goaltender still shows flashes of being that number-one guy for a Stanley Cup contender. The other is that Anaheim is nowhere near a championship and should consider trading gain assets to help them rebuild. Should the Devils be the ones to pursue the 30-year backstop? Let’s dive in and examine reasons for and against New Jersey pursuing Gibson.
Why the Devils Should Trade for John Gibson
The first and most obvious answer to why the Devils should go after Gibson is that he’s an immediate upgrade over what the team already has in the net. The tandem of Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid has combined for some of the worst goaltending in the league. The Ducks currently have the 19th-best save percentage in the NHL at .901, and a large part of that has been because of Gibson. Adding him to the Devils would give them a legit number-one goalie who is still in his prime.
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Gibson has also been a mark of consistency when it comes to the number of games he can make per season. Since 2016-17, the netminder has played in 50 or more games. The one year he didn’t was the COVID-19-shortened 2020-21 season. He’s on pace to play 50 plus this year and certainly would need to reach that mark if he ends up in the Garden State. While his win/loss record hasn’t been good for a few years, you can put a big part of that on the lack of support around Gibson in Anaheim.
Speaking of stats, even while playing for the struggling Ducks, Gibson has posted solid numbers. He has a 2.85 goals-against average and a save percentage of .906. Both are certainly better than what New Jersey has right now. He still possesses talent that can put a team over the edge into Stanley Cup contender, and also has more experienced combined in the playoffs than the two Devils goalies right now.
He has a career 11-13 playoff record while posting a 2.80 GAA and a .912 SV%. Experience is something that the Devils still lack and that’s never been more apparent than now. The club also needs a jolt of excitement and energy and bringing in a player of Gibson’s quality would provide both of those needs and put the Devils in a much better position to not only get back into playoff position but also give them a better shot at going very far into June.
Why the Devils Should Not Trade for John Gibson
The first thing to look at is the contract that Gibson is currently on. After this season, the netminder has three years left with a cap hit of $6.4 million. The Devils, now that Dougie Hamilton will reportedly be put on long-term IR, will have enough cap space to make a deal work. Despite the Salary Cap slated to go up, they do need money to look at extending Dawson Mercer, Tyler Toffoli, Luke Hughes and others. Having a goalie making more than six million for the next few years would make those potential extensions more difficult to pull off.
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The other issue with the contract is that general manager Tom Fitzgerald has to hope that Gibson just needs a change of scenery and that he is truly the missing piece. If that is not the case, the Devils would be stuck with a declining goalie making twice the amount of what they’re paying Vanecek and Schmid combined. It could set the Devils back and could eventually cost Fitzgerald his job. It’s also been long-speculated that Ducks want a big return for Gibson so if the Devils make a deal, it could have some long-term ramifications.
Another thing to wonder is whether or not Gibson’s overall play has more to do with the team in front of him or if he’s regressing. From 2019-20 to the end of last season, Gibson has struggled quite a bit as he has posted a 51.2 goals above expected. That is actually the worst of any goalie during that stretch. While the team around him has not been good, Gibson still should be more productive if he’s still playing at a high level. Despite the encouraging numbers from Gibson so far this season, it’s only been 21 games and it’s not entirely clear if he will continue to trend upward.
There are certainly other options out there that not only would cost less but could be just as productive as Gibson. The question for Fitzgerald becomes whether it’s time for him to make a big-impact move to potentially fix his team’s goaltending woes. While the Fitzgerald has done a very good job of building this team, the reality is that they are not fully built and need goaltending help. Whether John Gibson is the one New Jersey needs is up for debate.