Would a trade for Connor Hellebuyck make the New Jersey Devils Stanley Cup favorites?

One year ago the New Jersey Devils were considered a longshot to qualify for the playoffs, let alone contend for the Stanley Cup. The Devils were coming off a disappointing 63-point season that saw them finish with a -59 goal difference. The consensus was that this was a promising team with plenty of young talent, but they were still a ways away from making serious noise in the Eastern Conference.

It didn’t take long for the Devils to prove the masses wrong.

New Jersey won 19 of its first 23 games in 2022-23 and basically locked itself into a playoff spot by Christmas. The Devils didn’t go all the way — they impressive beat the New York Rangers in Round 1, but fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference semifinals — but they provided a great sweat for those savvy punters that backed them at long odds last summer.

Well, the days of the Devils being a long shot are now over. In fact, New Jersey is currently tied with the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights as the fifth-favorite to win the 2023-24 Stanley Cup at +1200 (DraftKings). The only teams above the Devils on the board are the Colorado Avalanche (+800), Boston Bruins (+800), Toronto Maple Leafs (+900) and Edmonton Oilers (+1000).

With only four teams ahead of them according to the bookies and an entire offseason to improve, is there a chance we’ll see the Devils go into Opening Night as the betting favorites for next season?

I think the answer to that question is yes.

If you take stock of the teams in the same range as the Devils on the odds board, you could make a strong case that New Jersey has the fewest holes to fill this offseason and has the best chance — because of cap space and assets — to improve.

Colorado has to find a second-line center, the Maple Leafs are in flux from top to bottom, the Oilers have a murky goaltending problem, the Hurricanes have no goalies and need more consistent scoring, while the Rangers and Golden Knights will need to add quality depth players to their rosters while dealing with a significant cap crunch.

Like the Oilers and Hurricanes, New Jersey will need to improve its goaltending situation to be considered the cream of the crop in the NHL. Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid has potential to be a fine tandem, but it’s just as likely that they post pedestrian results over the course of an 82-game season and then into the playoffs.

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The Devils seem to be keenly aware of this and are already making noise in the goalie market, which projects to be quite wild this summer.

There are several big-time goaltenders rumored to be on the move this summer, but the biggest name is Connor Hellebuyck. The Winnipeg Jets are looking to freshen things up a bit and Hellebuyck doesn’t seem too high on the idea of signing an extension with the Jets while they try to experiment with their roster. Hellebuyck has made it clear he’s open to a trade and, according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, the American netminder would welcome a sign-and-trade with the Devils.

If the Devils acquire Hellebuyck, you’d likely see their Stanley Cup odds shorten into the single-digits immediately. New Jersey is already loaded up front with Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier (who looks likely to be re-signed) and Dawson Mercer, and the Devils should have a high-ceiling defense with Luke Hughes and 2022 No. 2 overall pick Simon Nemec joining a blueline led by Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler. Putting an all-world goaltender behind this group would put the rest of the league on notice.

And even if the Devils miss out on Hellebuyck, they have plenty of time and flexibility to acquire another quality goaltender via trade or free agency. It would take a wild offer to get Juuse Saros out of Nashville, but the fact that New Jersey is hot for Hellebuyck shows that this front office is willing and able to pay the price to fill its only glaring need.

As it stands right now, there is no clear betting favorite to win the 2023-24 Stanley Cup. Any one of these teams near the top of the board could make the splash that establishes it as the team to beat on Opening Night.

To me, there is an obvious choice for the team most likely to do that: The Devils.

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