Devils, Blues trade just before Olympic freeze
Just before the NHL takes a break to make way for players participating in the Winter Olympics, New Jersey Devils and St. Louis Blues made an intriguing substitutionas hockey insider Frank Seravali reported on Wednesday.
In the trade, the Devils send center Nick Bjugstad to the Blues in exchange for forward Thomas Bordelet and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. That pick will be what comes later between the Dallas Stars and the Winnipeg Jets.
Bjugstad, 33, will play for his eighth NHL team and fourth since the end of the 2021-22 season.
With the Blues in the 2025-26 season, Bjugstad scored six goals and assisted on seven points in 35 appearances.
Selected in the first round of the 2010 NHL Draft by the Florida Panthers, Bjugstad has clearly fallen victim to the Blues’ poor season. Entering Wednesday, the Blues are just 20-27-9 and have lost all but one of their previous eight games. He has one year left on his contract after this campaign, and is due to make $1.75 million in 2027-28.
Now with the Devils, Bjugstad can provide depth to New Jersey’s offensive line.
New Jersey is faring only slightly better than the Blues, as the Devils hold a 28-26-2 record heading into their final game Thursday against the New York Islanders before the Olympic break. Bordeleau isn’t a huge loss for New Jersey, and the straight pick the team parted with at this point probably won’t be a game-changer, so the Devils get a decent edge with this swing at Bjugstad.
2026-02-04 22:11:00
