Ducks Trade Dumoulin To Devils For Pick, Prospect

It appears as though the New Jersey Devils will in fact not be sellers despite some reporters thinking otherwise after the Jack Hughes injury. This never made sense with the position the Devils are in right now and the team has gone out and acquired Brian Dumoulin from the Anaheim Ducks, per Elliotte Friedman, who broke the news first.

The Ducks are getting a 2025 second round pick and prospect Herman Traff in return for the 33-year-old rental. The Ducks retain 50% of his $3.15 million cap hit. Dumoulin is a two-time Stanley Cup champion and the Devils had three second-round picks in the 2025 draft.

The Devils are not only dealing with the Hughes' injury, Jonas Seigenthaler is on the LTIR and Dougie Hamilton suffered a lower-body injury in the team's last game and is out of the lineup at the moment. The defense of the Devils still has a lot of good pieces, but this is definitely insurance and to ensure that the team has enough pieces after earning it this season.

The Ducks aren't exactly out of the playoff race in the West, but are six points out and have to jump four teams to get into the final wildcard spot. Dumoulin is the Ducks' only movable pending UFA player on the team as the two forwards on expiring contracts are injured, Frank Vatrano was re-signed already, and the rest are under contract or are RFAs after the season.

I don't expect this to be the only move made by the Ducks in terms of selling, but they'll have to get a bit creative. The Devils also shouldn't be done with the open cap space and big need up front as well. This is a good move for both teams with where they are in the standings. Just because Hughes is out for the season, doesn't mean the Devils can't win.