Buy or Sell?

As we inch ever closer to the Olympic Break and onward to the trade deadline on March 3, the Olympic roster freeze period will only add to the speculation as we begin to see how NHL teams are going to handle what is effectively two deadlines this season. The incredible amount of parity in the league (seeds 6 - 13 are separated by TWO points) makes this time of year all the more interesting. The Devils currently sit second in the conference, and though they've hit a rough patch as of late, we've seen what this team can be when they play at their best. So come trade deadline, what kind of team are we looking at?

There's no doubt that this season has already shown us a few things. Number one, we have more prospects that can hold their own in the NHL than we could have ever thought. This of course is the silver lining to the absurd amount of injuries we've had to endure so far. Nonetheless, Niclas Bergfors, Mark Fraser, Ilkka Pikkarainen, Vladimir Zharkov, Matt Halischuk, Matt Corrente, Tyler Eckford, Patrick Davis, Nick Palmieri...all either got their first taste of NHL action or became an NHL regular for the Devils this season. Add in Tim Sestito and Ben Walter, two other injury call-ups with limited prior NHL experience, and we've had a total of 11 players step in at some point.

Number two, even with a healthy lineup, we appear to have the same two weaknesses we've always had: the lack of an effective second-line center and top-pairing defenseman. You could argue that every NHL team is missing these pieces, which is exactly why it's been difficult for us to attain such players through any other means but the draft.

So with that in mind, the decision as to what to do on or by deadline day will be as difficult as its ever been. If we were to acquire players for a Cup run, we would only really be able to give up our prospects. But in doing so, we're also sacrificing what looks to be an incredibly promising future. Obviously, not all of these young players are future full-timers, but the difficulty will be in predicting who can be, and selecting the right players to move so if the Cup run fails, we don't find ourselves watching those players blossom on other teams wondering what could have been.

In the end, it all boils down to whether or not Lou Lamoriello believes the Devils have what it takes to go all the way this year, and may only be a player or two away. If all of this has left you even more confused than when you started, it's probably because we're in a difficult spot this year. We're not like Washington, who are doing so well they don't need to do much at all; and we're definitely not like Carolina, who are selling off all their veterans because the only highlight on their schedule this year is draft lottery day. We're in that upper echelon of teams who will make the playoffs, but what happens beyond there is anyone's guess.

In my opinion, the right thing to do is a depth deal. Nothing flashy, just a capable player at their position who will only add to our depth for the playoff run. We can get decent return for some of our prospects without sacrificing the core of players who will one day lead this team. The thing about Lou, though, is that more often than not nobody can predict what he's going to do. Fortunately, there's only one person who makes the ultimate decision as to what we're going to do, and Niclas Havelid aside, let's just say there's a reason this blog is titled what it is.