I have most NJD ACGMs and threads about adding another top-6 winger at deadline or in off-season and I think we are mostly fishing in the wrong pond.

Here are two charts that show what should be biggest need. The first shows our shots and second shows where we are finishing.



In short, we need an interior forward that can help finish in close. A big-body, soft-hands type that can stand his ground near the crease and help tip, deflect, screen and clean up rebounds. Our transition game is solid, we are getting plenty of shots on net and more than enough scoring chances. But too many of these are from the perimeter. As Fitzy has said before, we do not need "more of the same". His charge was to find "heavier skill" that can play in these areas. Some examples of players from the past that I think would be useful are Kreider, JvR in his prime, Matthew Tkachuk, Hornqvist in his prime, etc.

In this thread, I will try to show how some of the often-targeted names on ACGM may not fit as well...and will introduce a handful of names we may want to be considering instead.

Looking at other teams in Metro

Carolina



Columbus



NY Islanders



NY Rangers



Philadelphia



Pittsburgh



Washington

Or other teams in Eastern Conference

Boston



Buffalo



Detroit



Florida



Montreal



Ottawa



Tampa Bay



Toronto

Or some examples from teams in previous years

PIT 2016-17



WAS 2018-19



TB 2019-20



COL 2020-21



COL 2021-22



FLA 2021-22



MIN 2021-22

First a list of names that I do not think would help as us much as many think (when it comes to solving this problem)

Josh Anderson



Conor Garland



Brock Boeser



Troy Terry



Jesse Puljujarvi



Sean Monahan



Jack Roslovic



Vladimir Tarasenko



David Pastrnak



Tyler Bertuzzi



Patrick Kane

Next list of guys I would call a "maybe list"

Max Domi



Ryan O'Reilly



Timo Meier



Pierre Engvall



Nino Niederreiter



James van Riemsdyk



Andreas Athanasiou



Alexis Lafreniere

Last list are guys that could help fill this need for NJ

Kuzmenko



Crouse



Vilardi



Konecny



Mantha



Toews



DeBrincat



Duclair



Horvat

Mantha for Yegor

no

Thanks for the thread man, thoroughly enjoyable to read.

I have seen this sentiment echoed by you (and others) for some time now.
My main quip against it is that an acquisition in such improved finishing expertise (via the interior forwards suggested by users in AGM: Boeser, Crouse etc) has a correlated trade-off in diminished possession numbers (both in terms of offence and defence: Garland, Puljujärvi).
The reason why I am against making moves involving that tradeoff is that the possession + transition games are inherently higher value than finishing.
Higher Corsi, Fenwick, xG percentages and higher rates / quantities of entries and exits are more conducive of consistent team success than a higher shooting percentage.
That's the way I see the game of hockey anyway.

For the Devils specifically I see that there might be an argument to disregard the poss + trans vs. finishing dichotomy based on something like marginal benefits of improved shooting and severely diminished return on added poss + trans ability.
Personally I don't think that's the case as the inherent value in difference between poss + trans vs. finishing is so large that if I could choose one or the other for the Devils at this point in time I'd go with the former.
Also, there's a learning by doing element here, the Devils core guys should get better at finishing those in close chances with time.

With that said, I think the true value of this thread are identifying the guys that can do all three of possession, transition and in close finishing at the same time.
These qualities and characteristics would have to be considered when evaluating the names you listed:
1) to not to be a detriment to the Devils possession + transition game
2) clear shooting ability to address in close finishing
3) can be acquired through Devils surplus assets (prospects losing waiver exemption for the 23/24 season for example)
4) under team control for at least one full season with reasonable cap implications

Going by the names and their data that you provided, Duclair and Mantha makes the most sense to me as trade targets.
Kuzmenko would be a very interesting name in free agency for the Devils if there's a roster spot open also.

What would you guys trade for Mantha.

Ideally one of Bahl, Okhtoiuk, Walsh or Foote along with a mid rd pick, possibly a 2nd.

I wonder how this looks after the Timo trade and Mercer getting a bigger role