Cody Glass was traded to the New Jersey Devils by the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.
The Devils also acquired forward Jonathan Gruden from the Penguins for forward Chase Stillman, unsigned prospect Max Graham and a third-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.
Glass had 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) in 51 games for the Penguins this season, his first with Pittsburgh after the 25-year-old center was traded there by the Nashville Predators on Aug. 13, 2024. Glass is in the last of a two-year, $5 million contract ($2.5 million average annual value) he signed with the Predators on July 1, 2023. He can become a restricted free agent after this season.
“It's crazy,” Glass said Saturday. “Kind of not expecting it, and then to be on a plane three hours later and off to Jersey is kind of crazy, but at the same time, I'm excited. It's going to be a good opportunity and we're in a playoff hunt, so it's nice.”
A first-round pick (No. 6) by the Vegas Golden Knights at the 2017 NHL Draft, Glass has 86 points (33 goals, 53 assists) in 238 regular-season games with the Golden Knights, Predators and Penguins. He does not have a point in three Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Gruden, a defenseman, has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in 42 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League this season. He had one goal in 13 games for Pittsburgh last season.
Stillman was a first-round pick (No. 29) by the Devils at the 2021 NHL Draft. The forward had nine points (three goals, six assists) in 46 games for Utica of the AHL this season.
Graham, 20, has 35 points (13 goals, 22 assists) for Kelowna of the Western Hockey League. The forward was a fifth-round pick (No. 139) by the Devils at the 2024 NHL Draft.
The trade came after New Jersey (33-24-6), which is third in the Metropolitan Division, announced center Jack Hughes would miss the rest of the season after having shoulder surgery Wednesday. Hughes was injured late in the third period of a 2-0 loss at Vegas on Sunday and is expected to be ready for training camp.
The Penguins (24-30-10) trail the Ottawa Senators by nine points for the second wild in the Eastern Conference.
The Devils also acquired forward Daniel Sprong from the Seattle Kraken on Friday for a seventh-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, and defenseman Dennis Cholowski from the New York Islanders for forward Adam Beckman.
Defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic signed a five-year, $20 million contract ($4 million AAV).
Sprong, 27, had five points (two goals, three assists) in 19 games this season between the Kraken and Vancouver Canucks. He has 164 points (87 goals, 77 assists) in 363 regular-season games with the Penguins, Anaheim Ducks, Washington Capitals, Kraken, Detroit Red Wings, Canucks and Kraken, and three points (one goal, two assists) in 13 playoff games.
“It's exciting,” Sprong said Saturday. “I know the year hasn't gone really as planned as I wanted to with the past couple years, [but] I get an opportunity here to prove a lot of things that I didn't do in the beginning of the year and just make a good first impression and try to bring my game and build off what these guys have been doing all year.”
Cholowski, 27, had 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 33 games for the Islanders this season. He has 40 points (13 goals, 27 assists) in 150 games with the Red Wings, Kraken, Capitals and Islanders.
NHL.com senior draft writer Mike G. Morreale contributed to this report
