Pro Hockey Rumors

This morning, The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported that “the New Jersey Devils have discussed [Steven Stamkos’] name internally, among many other trade targets.” LeBrun has previously reported that Nashville “would definitely listen to [trade] calls on him.” He also noted that the Devils were one of the suitors pursuing Stamkos during his free agency in the summer of 2024, meaning they do have documented interest in the player from the past.

Internal discussion of trade possibilities should not be taken as a firm desire by any team to actually directly pursue acquiring a player. A team can, and should, examine all potential options to improve its roster, even ones that may not be the most realistic.

But it is notable that New Jersey is at least considering the possibility of a Stamkos pursuit. LeBrun wrote that, at the very least, this is “something to keep an eye on as we get closer to the March 6 trade deadline.”

Where exactly Stamkos would fit on the Devils’ roster is less clear, especially at his $8MM cap hit. The Devils already have two forwards making $8MM per year (Timo Meier, Jack Hughes) and have another making $7.875MM (Jesper Bratt).

Whether the Devils would be best-served taking on the full freight of Stamkos’ $8MM AAV when they have upcoming contract extensions for Arseni Gritsyuk and Simon Nemec to consider is a fair question to ask.

For as much as Stamkos has accomplished in his career, his play over the last two seasons has been discouraging. He scored 40 goals and 81 points in his final season with the Lightning, but managed only 53 points in his first season in Nashville. So far this year, Stamkos is scoring at a 33-point 82-game pace.

In their discussions, the Devils may have considered the possibility that Stamkos’ decline in production is more attributable to the environment he’s playing in (he’s not the only Predators forward to be struggling) rather than any steep personal decline. But it’s unclear whether that line of thinking is actually fully accurate.

There were warning signs of a potential Stamkos decline that were emerging even during his final year in Tampa Bay. Stamkos’ five-on-five production was already slowing down considerably. Stamkos scored 70 even-strength points in 2021-22, but that number was down to 42 in his final year with the Lightning.

One could have made the argument that he was too reliant on the team’s power play, led by offensive dynamo Nikita Kucherov, for much of his production. An extension of that argument would have been that any team that signed Stamkos, but didn’t have a consistent Art Ross Trophy contender such as Kucherov to pair him with on a power play, might struggle to get the most out of his game.

The Devils may have reportedly discussed trading for Stamkos, but that doesn’t mean we have any reported clarity on how they view the state of his game, and his overall value.

If they do view Stamkos as more of a power play specialist, then it would be somewhat strange for the Devils to aggressively pursue acquiring him. New Jersey doesn’t appear to be a team in need of urgent assistance on the man advantage. They rank sixth in the NHL this season in power play conversion rate (24.3%) and that’s despite being without Hughes, their key offensive creator, for the last three weeks.

Worth noting is the existing connection that exists at the highest level of the Devils’ and Predators’ front offices. During his playing days, Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald served as Nashville’s captain for four seasons, back when Nashville GM Barry Trotz was the club’s head coach. Fitzgerald also began his hockey operations career in the front office of the late Ray Shero in Pittsburgh. Before he was hired to run the Penguins, Shero was a key lieutenant of Hockey Hall of Fame inductee David Poile, who was the Predators’ longtime GM. Poile remains with the team in a senior advisor capacity.

None of these connections mean that the Devils’ reported discussion of Stamkos will materialize in an actual deal to bring Stamkos to Newark, of course. But they are worth noting when bringing up trade possibilities between the two clubs.

Photos courtesy of Per Haljestam-Imagn Images