The Devils are still interested in Josh Anderson?
Montreal Hockey Now: During the offseason it was believed that the New Jersey Devils were interested in Montreal Canadiens forward Josh Anderson. An NHL executive believed the Devils didn’t want to move their 2022 first-round pick, second overall. It would have had to have been a mult-asset trade.
Tony Marinaro on his ‘Sick Podcast‘ said the Devils are still interested in Anderson.
“One team that wants him badly, and I mean badly, because I’m sure there’s a couple of teams that would take him. The New Jersey Devils want Josh Anderson badly,” said Marinaro regarding the Devils’ continued interest in the Canadiens’ power forward. “Believe me when I tell you that.”
Marinaro suggests the Canadiens should be targeting Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, or Alexander Holtz. Other pieces could be included.
The Devils have started talking to Jesper Bratt‘s camp about an extension
James Nichols of The Fourth Period: New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald said that contract extension talks with forward Jesper Bratt have picked up.
“Discussions conveniently have started,” Fitzgerald explained. “You know, with a hello to his agent, actually it was (Monday) night we sat together just to go through some things and what we’ll get going. I just don’t want this to be a distraction to the player. You know, as we go along, we know how we feel about him. And we want to tie him up long-term. We hope the feeling’s mutual.”
The sides talked in the offseason but they couldn’t get the money to work on an eight-year deal. The Devils have other free agents to take care of as well. Fitzgerald knows he can’t overpay and won’t do any deals if he’s not comfortable with the price.
“And that’s how I want to build our team, so there’s gotta be a will and a want to stay here and play, and understand, and I said this to his agent, ‘Jesper isn’t the only person without a contract. He’s not the only important person without one. We’ve got a lot of important people that don’t have contracts next year.’ It’s figuring out who we want to move forward with. What are they going to reprice at? There’s only so much money to go around for everybody. But Jesper is a huge part of where we are at where we want to go.”