The New Jersey Devils don’t need a complicated answer to their cap problem. They already have one sitting in front of them.
Right now, the Devils are barely under the NHL salary cap after acquiring Connor Hellebuyck, with a little more than $100,000 in space. That’s before even factoring in a roster that’s short on bodies, since they’re carrying only 12 forwards. And with the idea that New Jersey could still add help closer to the 2027 NHL Trade Deadline, the need for room only gets more pressing.
They already tried one cleanout move by putting Stefan Noesen on waivers, but it didn’t solve much. He went unclaimed, which meant only $1.25 million of his salary could be buried instead of the $2.75 million the Devils were hoping to clear.
That leaves Brenden Dillon as the most straightforward path.
The 35-year-old has obvious value beyond the box score. He’s a trusted locker room voice, someone teammates lean on, and the kind of veteran who knows when to steady a group and when to speak bluntly.
He also matters on a human level inside that room. But the Devils have to make decisions in a hard cap league, and their roster math is forcing the issue.
Dillon has already sat as a healthy scratch for three straight games before returning against the Los Angeles Kings. He carries a $4 million cap hit, and his trade protection is limited to a 10-team no-trade list. More importantly, he doesn’t fit the Devils’ preferred style as cleanly as Declan Chisholm, who is set to rejoin the lineup against the Avalanche on Wednesday.
That doesn’t mean Dillon lacks value around the league. Quite the opposite.
Most NHL teams would want him. If New Jersey didn’t need every dollar, or if his contract were lighter, his presence alone would make him worth keeping.
But the Devils need the roster spot and the cap flexibility more than they need the intangibles.
If they moved Dillon, New Jersey could recoup real value in return, likely in the form of draft capital or prospects. And the cap math would immediately get easier.
Replacing his $4 million hit with two cheaper pieces - a seventh defenseman such as Vladislav Kolyachonok at $850,000 and a 13th forward like Colin White at $900,000 - would leave the Devils with more than $2.5 million to work with. That kind of room could help them strengthen the blue line or make the forward group more dangerous.
Either way, the path is there. The Devils have a clear way to clear space and give themselves room to maneuver for the stretch ahead.
In Other News...
Connor Hellebuyck Just Exposed What Rivals Still Think Of Devils Fans
Connor Hellebuycks move to New Jersey has already stirred up more than the usual trade chatter, because the goalie arrived after a contentious exit from Winnipeg and into a market that still seems to draw outside assumptions about its fanbase. The Devils paid a real price to bring him in, with multiple players and draft picks changing hands, so the attention on the deal has been about more than just the roster fit. It has also reopened the familiar debate over how rivals view Devils supporters, especially when the conversation starts drifting north into Canada.
For New Jersey, the reaction matters because it speaks to the bigger picture around the teams place in the league. The piece gets at how Hellebuycks arrival has been received in both markets, and why the response says as much about lingering misconceptions as it does about the trade itself. Even now, the part of the story that feels most revealing is not what happened on the ice, but what his move seems to have exposed about the way some people still talk about Devils fans. [Read more 🡒]
Former Devils Forward Is Already Proving New Jersey Right
When the Devils passed on extending Paul Cotter a qualifying offer, it looked like a clean roster decision and nothing more. He left as an unrestricted free agent, landed with the Vancouver Canucks, and got off to a strong start in his new home before the season began to tilt the other way. In New Jersey, the front office moved on quickly, reshaping that spot in the lineup with Jesper Boqvist and Amadeus Lombardi.
Now Cotters early surge in Vancouver has given way to a tougher stretch, one that has even landed him in healthy-scratch territory. For the Devils, it is at least a reminder that the bet they made on their own depth chart is holding up so far, even without the player who once seemed like a straightforward part of the forward mix. [Read more 🡒]
Former Red Wings Prospect Is Making Detroit's Trade Look Risky
Amadeus Lombardis arrival gave the Devils another intriguing young piece to watch after a busy offseason that saw the club reshuffle its forward depth and add more scoring options. Picked up from the Red Wings, the former Detroit prospect wasted little time getting his first taste of the NHL with New Jersey, making his debut in the 2026-27 season opener and then following it up with his first points shortly after.
For a Devils team that has leaned into movement and flexibility around its roster, Lombardis early progress is the kind of development that can make an acquisition feel especially useful. He did spend a brief stretch as a healthy scratch before getting back into the lineup, and that up-and-down start is part of the early evaluation here, with Detroits side of the trade now looking more complicated as he begins to settle in. [Read more 🡒]