Devils Have 4 AHL Comets to Watch Ahead of 2025 Trade Deadline – The Hockey Writers Utica Comets Latest News, Analysis & More

It’s no secret that the New Jersey Devils will be buyers at the trade deadline. They have the third-best record in the Metropolitan Division and will be in a position to make a deep playoff run. The catch is that, while the Devils are having a great season, they still have glaring weaknesses and need to make some moves to round out their roster for the playoffs.

Related: Devils’ Ideal Post-Trade Deadline Roster

If the Devils are going to make a move, they’ll have to trade a prospect or two to do so. Whether it’s to add a depth player or make a splash, the asset every seller wants is either young NHL-ready talent or a prospect to help a rebuild. While the Utica Comets, the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Devils, are the worst team in the North Division, they have a few players they can flip in a deal.

Xavier Parent

Xavier Parent is having a good season with the Comets and proving he has the tools to be a dynamic forward. He’s a smaller skater at 5-foot-8 and weighing only 170 pounds, but he makes up for it with skill and speed. He has 11 goals and 13 assists this season and is coming off a game where he scored a goal and an assist in a Feb. 22 4-2 win over the Bridgeport Islanders. He’s proven he can find the back of the net and create scoring chances, and the 23-year-old forward is poised to get a shot in the NHL someday.

He’s a prospect the Devils can move to get a player on the roster at the deadline without pairing him with another prospect. He’s talented enough for an NHL team to take a chance on him. The only question is, which team is willing to roll the dice on a smaller middle-six forward like Parent?

Remember when the Devils traded Blake Coleman to the Tampa Bay Lightning? That move happened at the 2020 trade deadline, and it helped the Lightning win back-to-back Stanley Cup titles. One of the players who was part of the return was Nolan Foote. He’s been up and down from the NHL since joining the Devils but is putting together a great season with the Comets with 16 goals and 18 assists.

At 24, Foote isn’t a developing prospect, but he’s proven he can be a depth skater at the NHL level. Foote won’t be enough to land a player in a deal, but he can be a part of a package for the Devils to make an upgrade.

Topias Vilen

The Devils have a handful of young defensemen but no place to put them on the NHL roster, especially after they acquired Brenden Dillon and Johnathan Kovacevic in the 2024 offseason. Simon Nemec is the first prospect who comes to mind and Santeri Hatakka is another one who stands out, but Topias Vilen is the skater to watch as he could be on the move. Vilen is 22 and still developing, making him an expendable skater for a Devils team trying to win now.

Vilen is a good skating defenseman who moves the puck up the ice. He’s not a scorer, but he’s a great passer, which explains why he had 27 assists last season, his first in the AHL, and has 15 assists this season. A rebuilding team can allow him to develop on the defensive end of the ice for a season or two and then bring him up to the NHL, making him a prospect worth adding at the deadline.

Isaac Poulter

Goaltenders are always tough to evaluate and tougher to trade, especially a developing one like Isaac Poulter. He’s shown he can be a good goaltender, but not consistently. That said, with the Devils adding Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen while allowing Nico Daws to fill in as the third-string goaltender, Poulter is expendable and can be a part of any trade.

What the Devils Can Acquire With These Prospects

The question for the Devils is not who they will target as much as it’s what they will target. They’ll look to upgrade the forward unit, and that’s twofold. They should want to add scoring but also need physicality and defense in the lineup, which they lacked in their 2023 second-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes, a series they lost in five games.

If the Devils add a bottom-six skater, a deal involving one of their prospects is in play. However, if they are making a splash and adding someone to the top six, a handful of prospects plus a pick would be part of the return. The Devils are in a unique spot since their contention window is open, and it will be for a while, but if this is the season to make a push, they’ll do just that to set themselves up for a Cup run.