Devils acquire Bjugstad from Blues for Bordeleau, pick
Ahead of the upcoming NHL roster freeze for the Olympic break at 3:00 PM Eastern on Wednesday, the New Jersey Devils made a move to add forward depth, acquiring veteran center Nick Bjugstad in a deal with the St. Louis Blues.
In return, New Jersey is sending Thomas Bordeleau and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft to the Blues.
TRADE ALERT! We’ve acquired Thomas Bordeleau and a conditional 4th-round pick from New Jersey in exchange for Nick Bjugstad. #stlblues
Bjugstad, a 33-year-old center from Minnesota, was in the midst of his first season in St. Louis, and he had racked up 7 points (six goals and one assist) in 35 games played while skating to a minus-7 rating on an average of 11:38 of time on ice per game.
The Blues and outgoing general manager Doug Armstrong are clearly positioned as sellers this season, as their 20-27-9 record has them in 15th place in the Western Conference and well outside the playoff picture.
The Devils are in a similar, but less dire, situation in the East, as their 28-26-2 mark has them 10 points back of the wild card cut line.
While New Jersey may not be a typical buyer this trade deadline season, Bjugstad provides help beyond this year, as he has another year left on the contract he signed with St. Louis over the summer at an average annual value of $1.75 million.
Bjugstad broke into the NHL with the Florida Panthers during the lockout-shortened 2013 season, and he posted a career high of 49 points there in 2017-2018. For his career, he has 163 goals and 174 assists for 337 points in 795 games played.
Bordeleau was a second-round pick at No. 38 overall in the 2020 NHL Draft by San Jose. The 24-year-old forward has spent the entirety of this season with the Utica Comets, where he has 8 points in 35 appearances.