Are both trades good enough for NJ to reach this postseason?

Not sure Boqvist is right guy, but Saros would certainly make us better.

I think we will try to avoid using LTIR as much as we can.

Right shot wingers and left shot defensemen are the least of NSH's needs. What they need most are top six center and right shot defence prospects.

^

We currently have Forsberg, Tomasino, Evangelista, Kemell, Wood.

The pipeline is stacked on the right side

Along with my suggestions, yes. They'll get healthy eventually too which will get them out of their slump.

Probably the hardest assets to acquire via trade.

1. Young top-6 centers
2. Young top-4 RHD
3. Young top-4 LHD
4. Rental top-6 centers
5. Rental top-4 RHD
6. Any wingers
7. Any other rentals

#1 goalies might be the hardest to acquire, given how infrequently it happens, despite that being the biggest need amongst contenders right now.

But yeah, point taken. NSH would be better off trading Saros for the best package of draft picks possible, instead of settling for whatever random prospects the other team wouldn't miss too much.

#1 goalies may be hardest to find…but not always hardest to acquire. Top-6 centers are hardest (near impossible) to obtain anywhere outside the draft. Top-4 dmen are next. Just make any list of guys you would have as top-6, top-4 etc…

Top centers….
McDavid #1 pick
MacKinnon #1 pick
Crosby #1 pick
Matthews #1 pick
Hughes #1 pick
Pettersson #5 pick
Barkov #2 pick
Draisaitl #3 pick
Eichel #2 pick

Top dmen
Makar #4 pick
Hughes #7 pick
Fox (rights trade)
McAvoy #14 pick
Heiskanen #3 pick
Hedman #2 pick
Josi #38 pick
Dahlin #1 pick

Top goalies
Hellebuyck #130 pick
Shesterkin #118 pick
Swayman #111 pick
Ullmark (UFA)
Saros #99 pick
Georgiev (trade)
Hill (trade)
Sorokin #78 pick

Top wingers
Kucherov #58 pick
Pastrnak #25 pick
Tkachuck (trade)
Kaprizov #135 pick
Robertson #39 pick
Stone (trade)
Guentzel #77 pick
Gaudreau (UFA)
Bratt #163 pick
Forsberg (trade)
Panarin (UFA)
Miller (trade)
Reinhart (trade)

Can get the idea. One can make any list of top players by position….they will find a similar trend.

I think the best route to adding a top-6 center or top-4 RHD is to trade Askarov, extend Saros.

They could also develop Wood at center.

Or just go full tank and try to get Hagens in 2025 (or Misa or McQueen).

boqvist is a known offensive and powerplay defenseman who is weakest in his own zone so if you're looking for "super strong defensive defenseman with untapped offensive potential" you should probably go trade for like david savard or something

Devils have a ton of productive rookies which means ELC bonuses that carry over if we use LTIR