{"id":462071,"date":"2025-02-05T20:14:51","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T01:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=462071"},"modified":"2025-02-05T20:14:51","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T01:14:51","slug":"devils-setting-sights-on-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/02\/05\/devils-setting-sights-on-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumours: New Jersey Devils Targeting Depth Forward from Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to another edition of NHL Rumours! We are close to the Four Nations Face-Off, and the New Jersey Devils enter the final week in decent standing. Despite recent struggles since the calendar flipped to 2025, the Devils still sit comfortably as the third seed in the Metropolitan Division. The problem over the past month has been consistency. The offence has dried up. The defensive unit has hit a few skids, allowing for breakdowns not present in the season’s first half. The injury bug struck in the form of starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom<\/a> and captain Nico Hischier<\/a>. The team is seeking depth, which takes us to today’s rumour.<\/p>\n

All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.<\/p>\n

NHL Rumours<\/h2>\n

Chicago Depth Forward Drawing Interest<\/h3>\n

Rumour: According to The Fourth Period<\/a>, Blackhawks forward Ryan Donato<\/a> is drawing interest from at least six teams. One of those suitors are the Devils. The Devils sights are set on the forward to add depth scoring. Once Hischier returns from his injury, the Devils top-six is one of the most dangerous in the league. The bottom half of the lineup could use some bolstering, and Donato is the perfect fit for this roster.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Trade Watch List 3.0: New names added after Friday & Saturday\u2019s moves https:\/\/t.co\/v2bs37Zx5d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 The Fourth Period (@TFP) February 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Despite all these aforementioned setbacks, New Jersey still controls their path to the postseason. That is not to say some challengers are starting to creep up behind the pack. The Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> enter Tuesday just five points back of third place and have two games in hand. The wild-card line also sits just six points back.<\/p>\n

Simply put, Tom Fitzgerald<\/a> still fields a playoff-caliber team, but with the deadline approaching on March 7<\/a>, a move should be made to remain above the line. As the trade deadline nears, the New Jersey Devils are reportedly setting their sights on Chicago Blackhawks forward Ryan Donato<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Outside of Dawson Mercer<\/a>, the Devils bottom-six lacks a true playmaker with the potential to be a goal scorer<\/a>. Paul Cotter<\/a> has contributed 12 goals, which is one off his career high. That is great production, but he has found himself in long-scoring droughts and is more of a power-forward physical player than a goal scorer.<\/p>\n

Donato, a second-round pick back in 2014, has 15 goals and 30 points on a rebuilding Chicago team. Donato has found himself playing near the bottom of the lineup, mostly between Taylor Hall<\/a> and Pat Maroon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How Donato Could Fit<\/h3>\n

Donato would instantly slot in as the Devils third-line center, most likely replacing Justin Dowling<\/a>. This would give the Devils a Hischier, Erik Haula<\/a>, Donato, and Curtis Lazar<\/a> core down the middle, allowing Jack Hughes<\/a> to return to the wing.<\/p>\n

Donato has won 45% of his face-off chances so far this season. The Devils will rely on Hischier and Haula to carry the face-off load, so that number does not hinder him too much. Donato could also be a weapon on the second power-play unit, which has seen Cotter and Mercer joined by Timo Meier<\/a> and Ondrej Palat<\/a>. Donato could replace Palat as the natural center and camp out in the high slot as the bumper.<\/p>\n

What a Donato Trade Would Cost<\/h3>\n

Ryan Donato<\/a> is only 28 years old and carries a $2 million cap hit that will expire at the end of the season. With the cap expected to see an increase over the next three seasons, Donato has the potential to be more than just a rental for the Devils. Most of the Devils top prospects are on the back end, so adding a player like Donato entering his prime would be a great move for New Jersey.<\/p>\n

According to PuckPedia<\/em><\/a>, the Devils currently have just under $1.5 million cap space to play with, meaning the Devils would need to unload a contract or have Chicago retain a portion of Donato’s salary. The Blackhawks would mostly want claim to either Simon Nemec<\/a> or Seamus Casey<\/a> as the centerpiece in the trade. This deal might only be a rental, so Chicago shouldn’t expect too much of a haul in the return. Chase Stillman, Shane Bowers,<\/a> and Nolan Foote<\/a> are a little farther down the prospects lists, but any would be a decent addition for a rebuilding Blackhawks squad.<\/p>\n

The trade deadline is still a month away, but with the Devils recent struggles, it would be wise for the Devils to make their splash sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Ryan Donato- Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n

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Welcome to another edition of NHL Rumours! We are close to the Four Nations Face-Off, and the New Jersey Devils enter the final week in decent standing. Despite recent struggles since the calendar flipped to 2025, the Devils still sit comfortably as the third seed in the Metropolitan Division. The problem over the past month […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3113,"featured_media":462182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13,27,4547,4321],"tags":[4417,965,3885,922,1030,7942,3059,429],"class_list":["post-462071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-devils","category-blackhawks","category-hockey","category-rumours","tag-dawson-mercer","tag-nhl-trade-deadline","tag-nhl-trade-rumours","tag-nico-hischier","tag-ondrej-palat","tag-paul-cotter","tag-ryan-donato","tag-timo-meier"],"modified_by":"Andrew Willis","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462071"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":462183,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462071\/revisions\/462183"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}