The Simon Nemec trade tree keeps branching, and the latest piece is Luke Evangelista.
What started with New Jersey taking Slovak right-shot defenseman Simon Nemec in the 2022 NHL Draft has turned into a much wider web of assets. Nemec arrived after a big showing at the Ivan Hlinka-Gretzky Tournament and an impressive World Juniors run that ended with a loss to Canada in overtime. But the Devils’ handling of him - bouncing him between the NHL and the minors - never really gave him the runway he needed.
From there, the chain kept moving. After Tom Fitzgerald acquired Maxim Tsyplakov from the Islanders in the Ondrej Palat trade, Sunny Mehta later moved Tsyplakov out. That dealt with cap space first and foremost, but it also added another bottom-six piece into the growing Nemec return.
The trade tree now looks like this:
Flames
- Simon Nemec
- Maxim Tsyplakov
Devils
- 2027 Vegas 1st
- Luke Evangelista
- Etienne Morin #NJDevils
The full return New Jersey got for Nemec and Tsyplakov also included defensive prospect Etienne Morin, a 2026 second-round pick that originally belonged to the Rangers, Colorado’s 2028 first-round pick, and Vegas’ 2027 first-round pick. The Devils used the Colorado pick in the Evangelista deal, and that selection came with protections tied to the Avalanche.
If Colorado’s 2027 first-round pick - Top 10 protected in the Nic Roy trade - goes to Toronto, Nashville gets an unprotected 2028 first-rounder. If that 2027 pick is Top 10 and the 2028 first also slides to Toronto, then Nashville receives Colorado’s 2029 first-round pick unconditionally.
The 2028 second-round pick from New Jersey was the sweetener that helped bring in Evangelista, turning the Nemec, Palat, and Tsyplakov branches into something more valuable than it looked at first glance.
And Evangelista is the kind of return that changes the tone of the conversation. He scored 56 points last season, drives play, holds up well defensively, and does the little things that make the players around him more dangerous.
He can slot on either wing, which gives New Jersey flexibility, especially alongside Arseny Gritsyuk and Evan Rodrigues. Gritsyuk can play both wings, while Rodrigues can handle center and also shift to right wing depending on faceoff situations.
There’s also a real ceiling here. Evangelista has the ability to land in the 60-65 point range in a season, and one projection with 75 games alongside Gritsyuk and Rodrigues had the trio producing big numbers: Gritsyuk at 24 goals and 53 points, Rodrigues at 20 goals and 49 points, and Evangelista at 20 goals and 68 points. That would put the line on a 64-70 goal pace and somewhere in the 165-180 point neighborhood.
That kind of production would take serious pressure off the top line and the rest of the Devils’ forward group, especially with Anthony Mantha part of the top six.
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Jake Allen is facing his own version of the same test in net. Expected to open the season as New Jerseys starting goaltender, he is now in the second year of his contract and needs to show he can be more than a steady placeholder. For the Devils, the equation is simple enough: Mercer has to hold his place in a crowded forward group, and Allen has to give the team confidence that the crease is secure. [Read more 🡒]
Devils Prospects Suddenly Face Real Pressure To Prove Themselves In Utica
The Devils roster has gotten crowded enough that even promising young players may have to wait their turn, and that makes Utica a far more consequential stop than it was a few weeks ago. With Luke Evangelista now in the mix, the path to NHL minutes looks narrower for players such as Lenni Hameenaho and David Rittich, while the attention shifts to the prospects who need the AHL to become more than just a holding pattern.
Matyas Melovsky, Shane Lachance and Jakub Malek are among the names that now matter even more in that setting, because their recent play will go a long way toward determining who can actually help New Jersey down the line. For the Devils, the bigger question is not just which prospects can survive in Utica, but which ones can sharpen enough there to turn a logjam into real competition, especially with goaltending still presenting its own uncertainty. [Read more 🡒]
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In that kind of setup, professional tryouts can become more of a luxury than a need. The Devils are expected to keep the PTO market quiet this offseason, not because they lack questions, but because the roster squeeze and shortened preseason leave less room to sort through extras while they evaluate the players already in the building. [Read more 🡒]