ANALYSIS: What the Devils' Deadline Deals Mean for the Franchise

The NHL's annual trade deadline came and went on Monday afternoon, and Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald was quite active. Here's a breakdown of the team's deals from this past week and what it means for the franchise moving forward.

THE TRADES
The Devils made five transactions in the past week, that includes three trades and two waivers. The following are the five moves:
In summation of the moves, the Devils received:
In summation, the Devils have departed with:
So, what does this all mean?

THE NOW
The Devils subtracted a few veteran players from the lineup, but that doesn't mean that they didn't receive valuable contributions from their time in the organization.
"They helped pushed the needle forward for this organization," said Fitzgerald, who pointed to the development of young players such as Ty Smith as an example. "I did not see Ty Smith being Ty Smith back in October. What a great surprise, the development of his game. I do attribute that to the veterans that are surrounding him. P.K. (Subban) and (Damon) Severson and Ryan Murray and Kulikov and (Vatanen). They helped grow his game."
The same holds true for the contributions of Zajac and Palmieri, whom Fitzgerald attributed greatly to their leadership and mentoring of the young players.
But now, the young players are taking over. This is officially Nico Hischier's team. This is officially Jack Hughes' team. This is officially Pavel Zacha's team. The young players are now at the wheel. And it's their turn to take on greater leadership roles going forward.
"We still want to be competitive. We will be competitive," Fitzgerald said. "We want to go into every game and play hard. We want to make sure we're not digressing in our development curve with our young kids.
"I think we're on track, that's for sure. We've all seen the growth in certain players, we've all seen the surprise growth in certain players. I don't see any of these players digressing at all. I see them continuing to grow in the right direction."
The focus now is on continuing to push that needle forward for the remaining 16 games of the regular season.
"I know teams are talking about how good we're going to be, but we've got to stay in the present right now," Fitzgerald said, "and keep working hard and worrying about the next day, and get ready for tomorrow."

THE FUTURE
The deadline deals of today were executed with tomorrow in mind. The Devils have set themselves up to be a major player in the off-season, if they so choose. They have an abundance of assets in draft picks and players, as well as the cap space to maneuver.
"Our goal is not only to stay competitive, but to start taking a step in the right direction, keep climbing as the group keeps growing its confidence," Fitzgerald said. "My job is understanding where we're at, to continue to add the right pieces, things that may be missing, things that can help us move forward, things that can help us compete in this division day in and day out.
"We're going to be looking for a certain type of players in the off-season in free agency or through trades, weaponizing our cap space the best we possibly can."
Because of those aforementioned assets, New Jersey will be dealing from a position of strength in the league in several ways.
Trade - Something that must be considered heavily in any off-season trade is the looming Expansion Draft for Seattle on July 21. The draft could prove to be a valuable asset for New Jersey. Many NHL teams will be wary of losing players through the draft with no compensation. As such, they may opt to trade a player they anticipate losing and allow Seattle to take another player of lesser value. If that's the case, New Jersey could be a perfect fit to land some pretty good talent for a good price.
"A lot of these teams that may have expansion concerns are playing for playoff spots and they're going to fight for the Stanley Cup this year," Fitzgerald said. "So, they're not looking to delete any type of player like that off their roster right now.
"I think (the Expansion Draft is) going to be a different beast this time around (from 2017). For teams like us, maybe we're Seattle's competition."
New Jersey also opted to hold its third contract retainer. Each NHL team can execute three trades in which the team retains some portion of salary. The Devils retained 50 percent of Zajac and Palmieri's salaries. By keeping their third slot, the Devils can use it to move another player while retaining salary due to New Jersey's plethora of cap space.
With other teams strapped against the cap, the Devils could work with a team that needs help alleviating its cap condition, while the Devils get quality in return.
"We'd like to use our cap space," Fitzgerald said. "(The third retainer) is an asset moving forward. That was on purpose. I thought that it may come in handy and I want that in my back pocket if I need it to improve this team in the off-season."
Draft- The Devils have eight draft picks entering the 2021 NHL Draft, including two first-rounders. The Devils' own pick will be a fairly high selection. The other (from NYI) will likely be somewhere in the 20s. New Jersey could hold on to its pick and use it to add another quality prospect. Or, the Devils could use that selection as bait.
"I think it gives us great flexibility to do a few things," Fitzgerald said. "You could trade up for a player, trade back for multiple players, you trade the pick for somebody that can come in and help your team immediately. There are a few options. The flexibility with the pick is a great asset to have."
Free Agency - And, of course, with their abundant cap space, the Devils could make a splash in free agency (perhaps, even a player named Zajac or Palmieri). Many teams are against the cap ceiling and won't be major factors in free agency. That will be less competition for New Jersey. Not to mention, the Devils have space to make a bigger bid for a desired player.
All of these are merely options moving forward. The Devils have put themselves in an enviable position.
THE TIMELINE
The organization has been building a winner the right way for several years, inching closer and closer to be a major player for the Stanley Cup. Every move is a domino in that direction, but that doesn't mean patience is always abundant.
"I know saying 'let's be patient' is an overstatement. And the organization has been saying for some time now," Fitzgerald said. "But I would look at the positives and look at the when, when these kids start really arriving. Where is Jack going to be two years from now? How's his game going to look? Where is Nico healthy? Where is (Alexander) Holtz going to be in two years? And the young guys coming."
Fitzgerald has said that the time to flip from rebuilding to competing will be based on the development of Hughes, Hischier, Holtz, Smith and the other core players of the team's foundation.
"At the end of the day when these kids pop," he said, "that's when we'll be competing day in and day out for the division.
"I think we're in a really good spot. I'm really excited to grow with this group as the general manager of this team. I'm really excited about each individual and where they were and how they've come."
Fitzgerald wants to build a championship team, but he wants to do it the right way. And he won't jeopardize the process by rushing the timeline.
"There's so much excitement for our fanbase to look at," he said. "Being patient is an overstatement, but it's my job to continue to push the organization in the right direction around these kids and not rush the process with where we're at. We'll know exactly what we need to stay competitive."