Jersey passes quite easily. Take out Lucic and we still pass quite easily.

Then Jersey, quite honestly, has no clue. Just sayin'...

Lol. For the record you have no clue. When you make a trade proposal you need to consider the other teams position.
1. We are rebuilding and will not win in the next year or two and have no reason to add Gaudreau when if we wanted him we could get him for free in two years.
2. Lucic has negative value. Not saying that his negative value and Gaudreau positive value cancel each other out. But it’s pretty close. Gaidreau will bring in a first and a top prospect. Lucic will cost you a first and a mid level prospect.
3. Our defense is terrible. We aren’t trading our best defenseman when we want picks or prospects because we are rebuilding.
4 the first rounder. “See #3”
Therefore I wouldn’t trade Severson and the first for Gaudreau. I wouldn’t even trade Severson or the first by themselves for Gaudreau. And Gaudreau is one of my favorite players.
Just sayin’...

So much better! I really hate seeing XYZ declines without the rationale behind it. I love all of your points though I disagree with the perception of Lucic. I'm actually quite surprised by what he adds to the team on the defensive side and can't believe I can say that in all seriousness!

Jersey is going to make serious strides over the next couple of seasons so long as they draft well and with the emergence of young stars like Hischier and a high-level talent such as JG, it becomes easier to attract other talent. That said, while I'm not as intimately familiar with the Devils as someone in their fanbase, I do feel that there is the potential for this deal to happen and positively affect the Devils' fortunes.