Quoting: dannibalcorpse
Graves is good but pending UFA - with the amount of LD the Devils have in the system (Bahl/Muk/Okhotiuk being legit prospects, plus Siegenthaler and Ty Smith), he's extremely unlikely to get extended. - ... - but I think it's a solid base for a deal that helps both teams.
I'd love to have Varlamov in New Jersey next season, a tandem of him and Blackwood should make the goaltending as stable and competitive since Schneider was in his prime.
With that said, I'd be very concerned using Graves as a base for stopgap goalie trade.
I like many other Devils fans assume that one of Mukhammadulin, Okhotiuk, Bahl or Walsh likely makes the 3rd pair out of camp.
But trading Graves out would mean that two of them would have to be good to go out of the gate (or bring in another top 4 dman), I think that's a
very unnecessary risk to take if Varlamov is all you have to show for it.
It doesn't really matter if Graves walks at the end of 22-23, Devils don't need to recoup futures for him.
But if Devils are out of the playoffs by TDL Graves should probably be dealt as a rental.
I'm certain there's a deal here, but cannot see Graves be part of it.
If not, there are some options in FA. Samsonov, Vitecek and Allen could also comfortably be traded for.