Devils hold Kyle Palmieri out of the lineup as trade rumors swirl.

The New Jersey Devils have all but confirmed they are about to make a trade.

On Saturday we touched on a report from National Hockey League insider Pierre LeBrun, one in which he expressed his belief that the contract talks between veteran forward Kyle Palmieri and the New Jersey Devils were going nowhere and that a trade was on the horizon. At the time LeBrun left open the possibility that a deal could still be worked out at the final hour, but it would seem that his feelings on the matter were correct.

On Sunday the Devils seemingly confirmed that report when they announced that Palmieri had been pulled from their lineup, this just moments before they were set to hit the ice to take on Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. What made this announcement truly surprising however was the fact that the Devils seemingly gave away the reason why they were benching Palmieri. Instead of dancing around the subject the Devils just straight up came out and said the move was for "precautionary reasons", something that indicates to me they do in fact intend to trade Palmieri.

Palmieri, a 30 year old winger from Smithtown, New York, has been the subject of much trade speculation in recent weeks with him linked to teams like the Boston Bruins, New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs and more and it would now seem it is only a matter of time. This season Palmieri has appeared in 34 games for the Devils, recording 8 goals and 9 assists for a combined total of 17 points. Those are decent numbers when you consider that he would be playing for the worst team in the East Division were it not for the lowly Buffalo Sabres firmly holding on to their spot in the basement there.

On top of having a decent season this year, Palmieri has been incredibly consistent during his career with the Devils. Over the last 5 seasons he has averaged over 25 goals and over 20 points per season and that is the kind of production teams in the National Hockey League will be salivating over come playoff time.

What will be most interesting here is seeing how much the Devils can get in return. Although their player is clearly in demand right now, the trade market has been unusually quiet this season. I suspect that teams will be unwilling to part with their top prospects or draft picks like they have in the past, given that many teams will need to use those relatively cheap assets come next season when the salary cap will once again remain flat.