As the New Jersey Devils trickled out for Tuesday night’s warmups, Ondrej Palat was nowhere to be found. Moments later, the team announced he’d be held out for “roster related reasons”.
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While a lot has come out publicly regarding the team’s willingness to move Dougie Hamilton ($9 million AAV), there’s been very little to support the idea that Ondrej Palat ($6 million AAV) was also being shopped. Based on previous situations around the NHL, it’s very unlikely that Palat would be held out without a deal nearing the finish line.
Just last night, the New York Rangers held defenseman Carson Soucy out of the lineup. Hours later, he was dealt to the New York Islanders in exchange for a 2026 third-round pick.
Palat has dealt with a lot of scrutiny since joining the team in 2022-23, when the team pivoted to him following their inability to land coveted star forward Johnny Gaudreau.
After performing at a 0.59 points-per-game pace in his career with the Tampa Bay Lightning, he’s lowered his production by over 37% as a Devil — just 0.37 points-per-game. This season, he has just 10 points in 51 games, which is the lowest pace of his career.
While he was highly spoken of by his teammates as a veteran presence, at the end of the day, his production was not living up to his hefty cap hit. He still has one more season following this one on his deal.
Sense is Devils feel they’re getting closer on a potential Palat trade.
I do wonder about the Islanders as a potential landing spot with the Mathieu Darche-Tampa connection to Palat. We’ll see where it goes. https://t.co/6EAmrVVVx5— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) January 28, 2026
The Devils desperately need to clear cap space if they want to significantly upgrade ahead of the deadline. As it stands, the team is sixth in the Metropolitan Division, five points behind the New York Islanders for the third divisional spot. Per Moneypuck, they have just a 19.9% chance to make the playoffs.
Stay tuned to The Hockey Writers for any related updates.
