Devils reportedly planning to 'send a message' to the locker room with a major trade

General Manager Tom Fitzgerald has seen enough of this mediocrity.

The Devils sit at 28-27-2 right now. That's an absolute disaster for a team built to win immediately.

They're parked down in 7th place in the Metropolitan Division with just 58 points.
The front office expected a deep playoff run and a dominant regular season. Instead, they got a group sleepwalking through the winter and losing completely winnable games.

Reporter James Murphy dropped a bomb during the freeze. According to a trusted NHL source, the Devils are looking to make an impact “hockey trade” that will shake up their roster and “send a message” to their dressing room.

Nobody is safe inside that locker room anymore, save maybe Jack Hughes.

Look at the big tickets right now. Timo Meier carries an $8.8 million premium price tag. Yet he's only got 28 points in 52 games.

He's a staggering -20 on the ice. He needs to earn his paycheck fast, or he'll find himself on the first flight out of town.

Dougie Hamilton is another giant problem right now. The 6-foot-6 mountain eats up $9 million in precious cap space.

He sits with 21 points and a -6 rating. Teams are calling, and they'll likely pull the trigger to fix the blue line.

But massive contracts are brutal to move mid-season.

Enter Dawson Mercer. He makes $4 million against the cap and posted 30 points so far this year. He's exactly the type of highly-coveted young asset you flip to bring in heavy, playoff-style grit.

Captain Nico Hischier leads the offense by example with 42 points in the dirty areas. Jack Hughes is producing too, with 36 points in 36 games.

The elite talent is doing their job, but the supporting cast is choking away the season every single night.

And the front office is desperate to establish dominance. The next deal won't just move salary, it will rip the complacency right out of Newark.