We're three days away from the 2026 NHL trade deadline. The New Jersey Devils are in a precarious position, with the possibility of them missing the playoffs after a disappointing 2025-26 season that had a lot of expectations. Heading into Friday's deadline, it appears defenseman Simon Nemec is generating Devils trade interest.
According to Pierre LeBrun, NHL Insider, "It will be interesting to see what happens on the Simon Nemec front. The Devils are taking a call on the second overall pick from '22. There's no shortage of teams investigating. New Jersey is happy to keep him, but if a deal comes along that upgrades their forward in a real way, they're going to be listening..."
Nemec improved his stock significantly this season, scoring some clutch goals to either send New Jersey to overtime, or win a game in extra frames.
He then went on to the Olympics where he played top pairing, No. 1 defenseman minutes for Slovakia and played his part in almost helping Slovakia get a medal and surprisingly finish fourth in the tournament.
General manager Tom Fitzgerald has been open about his desire to add a forward. The Devils continue to look for a top-line solution to play alongside Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt.
"I'd like to add further. I want to continue to add more depth," Fitzgerald said in January. "I think the whole league is probably looking for the same thing. You can figure it out. But you know, that hasn't changed from two summers ago. We tried to add last deadline. When you're just trying to add you, you identify those areas and stick your nose down hard and do the work."
Dougie Hamilton is another name on the Devils trade block. He has generated considerable interest, however, his $9 million cap hit has proven difficult to exceed, especially with his $7.4 million bonus due on July 1.
The Devils appear to be following the path of least resistance with a ton of defensemen at their disposal, but perhaps too many of them have trade protection.
We'll see what happens between now and Friday.
