P.K. Subban can still help the New Jersey Devils in 2020-21

P.K. Subban is still a plus asset for the New Jersey Devils.

There’s no question about it; the New Jersey Devils were a different team when they initially traded for P.K. Subban back in June of 2019.

Then, the Devils had a promising young star in Taylor Hall, the first overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, another former first overall pick in scoring center Nico Hischier, and what many considered the best offseason in the NHL.

Boy, what a difference a season makes.

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Fast forward one offseason into the future, and Hall is on his third team this calendar year (the Buffalo Sabres), Jack Hughes and Hischier are still developing into a formidable one-two punch, and the Devils are unfortunately primed to take a step back before they can once again challenge for the Stanley Cup.

And as for Subban? Well, according to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, he has the worst contract on the team and could very well find himself traded for the second time in four years to look for yet another place to play out the eight-year, $72 million deal he signed all the way back in 2014.

Now granted, could Subban get traded if the Devils continue to occupy the basement of the Metropolitan Division? Most definitely, with only two years left on his current deal – one and a half if he’s moved at the deadline – some team will happily take on his salary in exchange for a serious defensive bump and will all but surely pay a pretty penny for his services.

But that doesn’t necessarily have to happen.

As Kaplan pointed out in her piece, Subban is a 31-year-old who isn’t the same skater he was back in 2013. His days competing for the Norris Trophy are likely over, as are his days as a 10-plus goal scorer, and it’s borderline impossible to imagine the former second-round pick adding a fourth All-Star appearance to his already impressive resume any time soon – outside of being voted in by the fans via the Last Men In, of course.

With that being said, Subban is also clearly the Devils’ best defenseman, and with the offseason additions of Corey Crawford via a two-year, $7.8 million free agency and Ryan Murray in a trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets in mind, it’s clear New Jersey’s general manager, Tom Fitzgerald, is looking to build a veteran defense to backup his young offensive core.

Could the trade for Murray be looked at as a potential replacement for Subban? Eh, maybe so, he is roughly four years younger than the three-time All-Star and fits better in the team’s timeline next to 25-year-old University of Denver product Will Butcher, but again, that doesn’t need to happen right now. If optimizing Hughes and Hischier remains the Devils’ primary goal moving forward, it makes a ton of sense to pair the duo up with a flashy vet with well over 500 minutes in the penalty box to his name.

There’s a long and prosperous history of pairing up young, flashy forwards with veteran defensemen, and there’s no reason to assume pairing up Subban with Hughes and Hischier couldn’t work just as well.

Even if Subban just retains his 2019-20 averages over a full 82 game season in 2021 – which probably won’t happen based on the league’s current dealings – he should still rank among the top players on the Devils in both blocks and hits and maybe even add some pop on the offensive side of the ice both as a shooter and as a facilitator.

With his future very much up in the air, I imagine Subban is going to come out hot looking to prove he’s still one of the best defensemen in the NHL.

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Does P.K. Subban fit the New Jersey Devils’ current timeline? No. Is his flashy, superstar persona both on and off the ice a typical ingredient of a youth-focused rebuild? Again no. But with two more years left on his contract and a young offensive core looking to learn how to win at the NHL level, the Devils are certainly better with Subban on their team versus off it, a statement that should immediately be proven true when hockey returns in early 2021.

Or hey, the Devils could simply trade away Lindsey Vonn’s fiancee to recoup some future assets that will help the team a bit further down the line. That remains a possibility if not a borderline inevitability.

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