No Moves For New Jersey

It was a rather quiet deadline day for New Jersey Devils GM Cole Bates, who made a plethora of deals over the last calender year.  No movement came as somewhat of a surprise after the Devils first year GM came out swinging from day one in May of 2018.

"We explored options, I mean, how can you not?" Explained Bates. "The reality is that we have already made our moves, and we were happy with that."

Reports suggest that The Devils looked into deals for Forward Alex Steen and pending UFA Jason Garison.  The market on each player was understandably slim thanks to their hefty cap hits.  As a team currently in the thick of a rebuild, New Jersey made several moves since May of last year, trading the bulk of their veteran players in the process.

Pending UFA Brad Richardson also remains in Jersey, Richardson was claimed off waivers after being traded from The Devils to The Blackhawks earlier this season.  General Manager Cole Bates said that "it would not of been right" to trade Richardson again, despite the lure of attaining assets for the same player twice.  The hope is to resign the 34 year old this summer.

With how bad New Jersey has performed this season, and as active as they have been on the trade front already, perhaps no deals was for the best.  The Devils organization and fanbase look to close out the 2018-2019 season with some dignity before heading into a pivotal draft and offseason.  An abundance of cap space, a solid prospect pool, and plenty of room for improvement all suggest that GM Bates could be active on both the Free Agency and Trade fronts this summer.

Good luck to all EHE teams in their push for the playoffs!