The Devils are benching forward Ondrej Palat on Tuesday for “roster related reasons,” a person with knowledge of the situation told NJ Advance Media.
The Devils face the Winnipeg Jets at 7 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday.
Let’s see if a trade is inbound. It would have to be to a team that has an absurd number of available cap space, given Palat makes an absurd $6 million per year.
TSN insider Pierre LeBrun wrote the following on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday:
“Sense is Devils feel they’re getting closer on a potential Palat trade,” LeBrun wrote. “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.”
HAVE YOU JOINED OUR YOUTUBE PAGE? DEVILS REPORTER RYAN NOVOZINSKY BREAKS DOWN EVERY GAME — WITH YOUR HELP
Palat has just 10 points in 51 games played this season. He has 92 points in 248 games played with the Devils.
Sign up for our Speaking of the Devils newsletter here! Get 10 inside-Devils notes in your inbox each Monday at 10 a.m. ET!
Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald signed Palat, 34, in July 2022. It was a panic response after the second-year GM missed out on the Johnny Gaudreau sweepstakes. He signed him in large part due to his playoff resume — which is ironic given Palat logged just nine points in his playoff career in New Jersey.
The Czech born winger has bounced up and down the lineup all season. His lacking play is a factor in the Devils’ disappointing 27-23-2 record through 52 games played in 2025-26.
Palat has 515 career points in 876 games played. He won two Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning — where he spent 10 years before signing a five year deal with the Devils.
