With the New Jersey Devils formally introducing Sheldon Keefe as their next head coach Tuesday in Newark, general manager Tom Fitzgerald can turn his gaze back to the daunting task of filling out his roster. One option available to him would be to harvest players who played under Keefe in Toronto to speed up the learning curve in the Devils locker room and provide comfort for the new coach. Earlier this week, The Hockey Writers examined potential free agents that may interest New Jersey. However, there may be greater value in seeking to add to the team via trade with the Maple Leafs.
Related: Pending Free Agents Devils Fans Should Watch During the Playoffs
On the surface, the teams are quite similar. Both are built around a cadre of forwards imbued with an offense-first mentality and ultimately succumbed to an inability to win in the hard areas and to get timely, adequate goaltending. Their differences may be more nuanced, but they are significant. The Maple Leafs have made the playoffs in eight straight seasons and failed to advance past the second round. They have crossed a point of no return and seem to be looking to retool their roster and play style fully. The Devils are still at the beginning. In that same eight-year period, they have only made the playoffs twice and have not advanced past the second round. With both teams in flux and at different points in their respective windows of contention, perhaps there is synergy in the form of a trade that would improve both clubs. Here is a look at four possible trades that could work.
“Style Change” Trade
Devils Send Nathan Bastian, Kevin Bahl, 2025 4th round pick for Calle Jarnkrok & Nicholas Robertson
The impact of how both new coaches — Craig Berube for the Maple Leafs and Keefe for the Devils — want to play will require some roster shake-up. Two players who fit well into the physical, heavy forechecking style Berube preaches are winger Nathan Bastian and defenseman Kevin Bahl. The Devils will also part with a 2025 fourth-rounder helping to replenish the barren cupboard of future draft picks possessed by the Maple Leafs. In exchange for the Devils’ imposing winger and defenseman, the Leafs will middle-six player Calle Jarnkrok and restricted free-agent winger Nicholas Robertson to New Jersey. Both players thrived in Keefe’s system and would be expendable under Berube.
Jarnkrok would especially fit Tomas Tatar’s role he was successful at playing two seasons ago in New Jersey. He is similar in stature to Tatar but is considered a better two-way player at this point of his career and an excellent penalty killer. Like Tatar, he possesses speed, is not overly physical, and is versatile enough to play on all four lines. He has been used as a matchup defensive forward and spent time on the power play and penalty kill. His ability to play both center and on the wing would bolster the Devils’ depth and flexibility, but he was hampered last season due to injuries.
Robertson is an intriguing prospect. He is undersized but possesses a quick release with an accurate shot and can drive play from the wing. That should sound familiar to Devils fans. He is likely not a fit with Berube, but needing a qualifying offer of only $813,000, the Devils may want to take a flyer on a guy with the skillset to be dangerous if deployed correctly. he could provide a secondary layer of scoring from the middle six that the Devils failed to get last season from Dawson Mercer or Ondrej Palat.
“Time For a Change” Trade
Devils send Ondrej Palat, John Marino, Seamus Casey, & 2024 5th round pick for John Tavares, Simon Benoit & 2024 4th round pick
Off the bat, yes, this is unlikely to happen as three of the four principals have some level of trade protection, but when you think about it, the trade would be a win-win for both teams. Two summers ago, after losing out in the Johnny Gaudreau sweepstakes, the Devils quickly signed Palat to a five-year, $30 million contract. At the time, the move was heralded to indicate that the Devils were ready to compete and would draw from Palat’s experience and leadership in winning two Stanley Cups. The reality has been that Palat has been inconsistent throughout his tenure in New Jersey and plagued with injuries for the better part of both seasons. When healthy, he has shown flashes of the player that remains beloved in Tampa Bay. He is the type of player that Berube covets: strong on the forecheck, tough on the walls, and able to contribute offensively in the clutch.
Similarly, John Marino has had two wildly different seasons with New Jersey and seemed to regress significantly in his play this season. He could benefit from a change of scenery, and the Leafs would benefit from a two-way, puck-moving, right-shot defenseman. Moving Marino would also allow the Devils to give Simon Nemec more ice time in the top four and then find a less-expensive defensive defenseman to round out the third pair. The sweetener is prospect Seamus Casey, an undersized defenseman who has excelled at the University of Michigan and would vault to the top of the Maple Leafs’ defensive prospect pool.
Tavares, at 34, is not what he was even five years ago, but the veteran leader is exactly what the Devils need and would slot in perfectly next to Hughes. Tavares would add a potential 30-goal scorer who is also a career 54% faceoff winner. The Devils would also benefit from his experience, leadership, and hunger to lift the Cup before he retires. The Devils could also use the season to determine if they want to try to keep Tavares long-term or use him as a one-year rental in exchange for taking Palat and Marino’s combined $10 million off their cap for the next three seasons.
Simon Benoit is a player who blossomed under Keefe’s coaching and would give the Devils a young, inexpensive, solid defender to their back end. Casey is an expendable piece for New Jersey with the emergence of Nemec and may never have more value than he does now. While certainly an unlikely move for both teams, it is a deal that would help both move forward into their new eras.
“Pure Hockey” Trade
Devils send Kevin Bahl and Akira Schmid for Simon Benoit and David Kampf
This is the simplest of the four and the most direct. The Devils acquire two players who will improve their defense while the Leafs get a huge, young defenseman and an emerging young goalie who still is waivers exempt. David Kampf can fill the Devils’ hole at fourth-line centre while Benoit would be the big, left-side, third-pair defenseman they have coveted. Kampf may be overpaid at $2.4 million with three years left, but at only 29, he would be a useful player in New Jersey, especially if he can win 59% of his faceoffs as he did at five-on-five versus the Bruins in the first round of the 2024 playoffs.
Bahl was discussed above and would immediately slot into the Maple Leafs’ lineup. Akira Schmid continues to grow but is expendable for New Jersey, as they have five legitimate goalie prospects fighting for ice time. He does not appear ready to slot in as a starter for Toronto. Still, after his late-season run in the American Hockey League and his summer with the Swiss National Team at the IIHF World Championship, he should be ready sooner rather than later to step into an NHL crease, even if at first as a backup. He is still waivers exempt, allowing Toronto to spot-use him as necessary. What should intrigue Toronto is his potential. Last season, he outplayed Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin to rally New Jersey over the New York Rangers after Vitek Vanecek left the team in a 0-2 hole. He is known for his calm nature and his positional excellence, which, coupled with his size, makes him a potentially formidable goalie, which is needed in Toronto.
“Three Team Bonanza”
Devils send John Marino and Alexander Holtz to Chicago Blackhawks, 2024 3rd round pick to Toronto; Toronto sends Mitch Marner to New Jersey; Chicago sends Seth Jones and 2024 2nd round pick to Toronto
The Devils need a winger to play with Hughes, the Chicago Blackhawks need young talent, and Toronto needs a defenseman and draft picks, so why not a three-way deal? The Leafs seem to want to move on from their core four, and Mitch Marner is the most likely of the group to be moved. Marner would be an ideal player to pair with Hughes or Nico Hischier, as he is a complete 200-foot player and one of the most creative players in the NHL. He would also immediately replace the loss of Tyler Toffoli’s right-hand shot on the power play. A first power-play unit of Dougie Hamilton, Hughes, Hischier, Timo Meier, and Marner would rival any in the league. Equally important, Marner has shown he can thrive under Keefe and would vie with Hughes to be the first player in Devils history to break the 100-point mark. His acquisition would drive the competitive Hughes rather than intimidate him.
Pairing Seth Jones with Morgan Rielly would give the Leafs the elite top pair they have been chasing for a decade. Jones has shown in this year’s World Championship that he can still play top pair minutes in intense competition. While not a huge cap savings and requiring a commitment for the term, the reset benefits Toronto. Plus, they add second and third-round picks, which they do not currently possess. Chicago benefits from getting out from under the Jones salary hit and term while picking up a sniper who can play alongside Connor Bedard and a top-four, right-shot defenseman. The deal works for all parties but would need multiple players to waive their no-movement clause. It would give Jones a chance to win a Cup sooner. For Marner, it is a chance to show he can thrive away from Auston Matthews and a chance to join another dynamic offense under a coach who knows how best to use him.
The NHL calendar has flipped to the start of the “silly season” for all but four teams. These proposals are all frameworks that show the synergy between the Maple Leafs and Devils and perhaps give a road map for each team to help each other improve as they embark on journeys with new coaches.
