Nick Bjugstad was traded to the New Jersey Devils by the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday for Thomas Bordeleau.
St. Louis also received a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
Bjugstad, a 33-year-old forward, has seven points (six goals, one assist) in 35 games this season. He is in the first of a two-year, $3.5 million contract he signed with the Blues on July 1, and can become an unrestricted free agent after next season.
He will be in the lineup when the Devils host the New York Islanders on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSGSN2, MSGSN).
"Very excited to be joining these guys. It'll be fun experience," Bjugstad said Thursday. "It's a great team, so playing against them, we played them early in the year. It's fast team, lot of depth, so just excited to be joining them and hope I can contribute in whatever way they want me to."
Selected by the Florida Panthers in the first round (No. 19) of the 2010 NHL Draft, Bjugstad has 337 points (163 goals, 174 assists) in 795 regular-season games for the Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild, Arizona Coyotes, Edmonton Oilers, Utah Mammoth and Blues, and eight points (six goals, two assists) in 27 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Bjugstad will center the fourth line with Evgenii Dadonov and Maxim Tsyplakov on Thursday.
"He's a veteran player. He's played the league a long time, specific to him as a player, it increases our depth at center ice," Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said Thursday. "He's also versatile guy, he can help on special teams. He can play the wing as well. And he's a big guy (6-foot-6, 210 pounds), so we could use more size on our forward group. So certainly that helps and talking with him this morning, he's got good attitude about it and he's excited and happy to be here on all of that."
The Devils (28-26-2) are seventh in the Metropolitan Division, nine points behind the Islanders, and 11 points behind the Boston Bruins for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"I think as a big centerman, I want to play well defensively, and be good on face offs and contribute in that end," Bjugstad said. "But if I can chip in offensively a little bit as well and hold on to pucks, that's usually when I'm playing my best. So wherever they see a fit for me and I've kind of played all different roles in my career, but I think starts in the D-zone with me, and then usually try to work my way up."
Bordeleau, who was traded to New Jersey by the San Jose Sharks on July 2, 2025, signed a one-year, $775,000 contract with the Devils on July 25, 2025, and can become a restricted free agent after the season. Selected by San Jose in the second round (No. 38) of the 2020 NHL Draft, the 24-year-old forward has eight points (two goals, six assists) in 35 games with Utica of the American Hockey League this season. He played one NHL game with the Sharks last season and has 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in 44 regular-season games.
The Blues (20-28-9) are last in the Central Division, 14 points behind the Seattle Kraken for the second wild card in the Western Conference.
NHL.com senior draft writer Mike G. Morreale contributed to this report
