The New Jersey Devils were one of the breakout teams in the NHL this season. Jack Hughes had a breakout putting up 99 points. Nico Hischier and Dougie Hamilton also had massive years offensively. However, the Devils' biggest downfall turned out to be inconsistent goaltending.
The rumor that comes from HockeyBuzz.com confirms that the New Jersey Devils are interested in acquiring Connor Hellebuyck. It does not confirm the cost to acquire him or if an extension would be signed. Either way, this deal could make the Devils instant contenders.
With this addition would the Devils then have the best core in the NHL considering their average age? Players like Jack Hughes, Luke Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Simon Nemec still have plenty of development ahead of them. Others like Hellebuyck and Hamilton are heading into their prime.
The Devils are up there with teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Avalanche, and Edmonton Oilers for the most talent in their core group. The Devils also have all of these players besides Nemec and Luke Hughes under a long-term contract at reasonable cap hits. It will be interesting to see if the Devils can pull this deal off to push them into Stanley Cup contention immediately.
