Kyle Palmieri Finished in New Jersey

The New Jersey Devils took on the Washington Capitals on Sunday and they did so without their best right-winger as the team held out Kyle Palmieri for precautionary reasons. The team is talking trade with several teams and wanted to ensure Palmieri didn't get hurt leading up to the April 12th trade deadline.

Can confirm that Kyle Palmieri is being held out of Devils lineup today in anticipation of a trade in the coming days or week(s).

— Bartlett Hockey (@BartlettHockey) April 4, 2021

The 30-year-old is one of the best forwards available on the trade market and now that everyone knows for sure the team is trading him and isn't agreeing to a contract extension, the Devils will be flooded with trade offers over the next week.

Three teams to watch out for according to TSN's hockey insider Darren Dreger include the Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and New York Islanders. 

Palmieri is a pending free-agent who is making $4.65 million on the cap this season. In 34 games so far for the Devils, he's managed to record 17 points as the team has struggled this season and has not met management's expectations.

The Devils are likely to wait right up until the deadline to make the move as they will want to use team's final offers as leverage, however if someone swoops in a blows their socks off, we could see Palmieri moved sometime this week.

Since 2015-16, only 5 Right-Wings have scored more @NHL goals than @kylepalmieri pic.twitter.com/2J99WVmRXG

— Bartlett Hockey (@BartlettHockey) April 4, 2021

Photo credit: © Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sport