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With the NHL season just around the corner teams are starting to make moves in an effort to cut down to the 23-player roster limit.
One team is looking to make moves for a different reason, though. That team is the Anaheim Ducks.
Historically they have not been a cap team and even if they were willing to spend every possible dollar this season the $7.5 million in available room wouldn't be enough to re-sign a rising star in Hampus Lindholm as well as Rickard Rakell, who is establishing himself as a solid top-6 forward at a young age.
As a result the Ducks need to clear out some cap and they are trying to do just that.
Obviously there is no guarantee potential trade talks involve the Devils but there are only a handful of teams that have cap space to take on a decent size contract and a few of them still have to re-sign RFAs (Tampa Bay with Nikita Kucherov) or ensure they leave enough space for players getting significant raises a year from now (like Florida with Aaron Ekblad, Jonathan Huberdeau and Reilly Smith).
The Devils, Carolina Hurricanes and Ottawa Senators, who have historically not spent to the cap, are among the few that have space now and moving forward.
I'll focus on the Devils, though, for obvious reasons.
Even though they signed Kyle Quincey they could definitely still upgrade their defense. It just so happens that the Ducks are loaded back there - in terms of NHL talent and high-end prospects - so they could certainly afford to move one of their blue liners. There's also the fact that outside of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Ryan Kesler they don't really have anything close to a significant contract up front.
On the back end it is a different story as Kevin Bieksa, Cam Fowler, Simon Despres and Clayton Stoner all make at least $3.25 million and could be had. Trading any of those guys for futures, or a cheap forward (Anaheim could use the depth), would give them enough space to re-sign Lindholm and Rakell.
The Ducks would need to sweeten the pot for the Devils to take Bieksa or Stoner, I think, so they're probably the least likely to come to New Jersey in the event of a trade, as the Devils want to improve and compete for a playoff spot.
Acquiring Despres is probably the most likely scenario if the two sides come together on their second trade in as many summers.
Despres has a concussion history but is now in good health and has been cleared to play. He is only 25, he is a good skater, he can handle top-4 minutes, he carries a cap hit big enough to solve the Ducks' problems ($3.70 million) and he is a former Penguin. We know how much Ray Shero and co. love former Penguins!
Whether anything comes of this report remains to be seen but don't be shocked if the Devils are in fact the mystery team.
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