Photo credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Nick Bjugstad gets traded to the New Jersey Devils, and Oilers fans know that name, because he once steadied Edmonton’s bottom-six when games got mean.
New Jersey grabbed him from the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday for Thomas Bordeleau plus a conditional 2026 fourth-round pick.
That pick detail matters, because it can be the latest of New Jersey’s three 2026 fourths, including one that originally belonged to the Winnipeg Jets.
For the Devils, it reads like a classic "get bigger down the middle" swing before the stretch run.
Bjugstad brings immediate utility, with 6 goals and 1 assist in 35 games this season.
If you watched him in Edmonton, you remember the simple stuff, win a draw, get it deep, take the hit, keep the puck alive.
New Jersey clearly wants that exact muscle memory in a playoff race where shifts tighten up fast.
Nick Bjugstad gives the New Jersey Devils a heavier look
As an Oilers fan, I get why this one hits a nerve, he is the kind of former Oiler you trust when the game goes sideways.
He also arrives with a real calling card, a 51.2% faceoff clip this year, plus plenty of contact in his minutes.
The cost is interesting, because Thomas Bordeleau is not a throw-in prospect.
Bordeleau is 24, drafted in 2020, Round 2, by the San Jose Sharks, and he has 2-6-8 in 35 AHL games this season.
That is skill heading out, even if the Devils are betting they need sturdier NHL minutes right now.
Bjugstad is also signed through next season on a two-year deal worth $3.5 million total, so this is not a pure rental.
New Jersey sits 28-26-2, so every detail shift matters from here to the Olympic break and beyond.
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| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 4|107 ANSWERS Former Oiler and first-rounder gets dealt to New Jersey Will the New Jersey Devils trade for Nick Bjugstad pay off in the playoff push? | ||
| Yes | 55 | 51.4 % |
| No | 52 | 48.6 % |
| List of polls | ||