Devils have zero interest in trading Mercer for futures. A future conditional 1st, LD we can't afford, and an okay prospect does not get it done anyway

ngl, I forgot Mercer was an ECL still. However, the idea is that NJ is in a win-now situation, and Matheson could help more than Mercer for that since the defense depth is not as good as the forward depth. Matheson can slot in NJ's top 4, while NJ has other true top 6 players that fill Mercer's spot.

Makes sense that they wouldn't trade him though

That’s an awful offer for one of the better young forwards in the league.

No chance the Devils consider that. There are far better rental options than Matheson that won't cost them Mercer.

I'm also pretty sure you can't add that condition to that pick

Matheson would be the 3LD after Siegenthaler and Hughes, and costs 4x what Bahl does. Meanwhile, moving Mercer creates a hole in the middle six.

while having matheson would improve the devils top 4 this year (cause even of devils fan says otherwise, he would play ahead of hughes for at least this season), having mercer long term is much more valuable to them.

if the devils want to adress their d, first they will pay with futures, not pieces that helps them win now. and i doubt they will go for someone with more than a year of term, maximum 2 and thats a stretch IMO.

The only problem on D is Brendan smith.

Siegs hughes Bahl is a fine left side. Hamilton Marino is a quality top 4. And Matheson feels like an expensive solution to a simple Brendan smith problem

Hughes is a STUD. He’s already playing more minutes than any dman but Hamilton. He’s also 19 and looks better and better every game

cool. once again you are missing entirely the point and all you cares is praising the devils.

hughes has been good and he'll keep getting better. if you had more competent dman on the left side, hughes would play less. no doubt hughes is gonna be miles better than matheson in the future. maybe as soon as next year even, but not this year.

Siegs and Bahl are both quality as well.

The devils left side is better than the habs left side.

Matheson would play less if the habs had other competent dmen

yes and if magicly matheson would appear on the devils, he would push bahl out of the line up and take away from hughes minute. lets move on

I don’t think NJD would have much interest in Matheson, certainly not at expense of Mercer. Ylonen wouldn’t add to deal and NJD don’t need picks.

He'd push b smith out of the lineup and luke would keep playing on the right side like he has now. And like I said, Matheson would be a very expensive solution to a 1 year brendan smith problem

yes, thats pretty much what i said forst about not being worth it for the devils