The New Jersey Devils are making changes to their lineup prior to Monday's roster deadline. To get salary cap compliant, Tom Fitzgerald has to move around money to fit Luke Hughes's new contract. The 22-year-old defenseman just signed a seven-year deal worth $9 million per season.
One issue there: the Devils don’t have $9 million in cap space. They can play games with their AHL lineup to allow for more space to be available, but if they want to have a 23-player roster, trades are the most logical path forward to create cap space.
Many believe that Ondrej Palat is the most likely forward to be traded, but the Devils might have found a really good partnership with Connor Brown.