At the age of 38, which might still be considered young on his team, Bryce Salvador does not have much hockey left in him. Now in his sixth full season with New Jersey and his second full season as captain, he has dealt with injuries and stretches of poor play over the last few seasons since the Devils made their run to the Cup Final in 2012. 

With a defensive core that continues to get younger, the Devils might need to consider trading away Salvador to give the youngsters more ice time.

Adam Larsson, Eric Gelinas, Jon Merrill, Damon Severson and now Seth Helgeson are all knocking at the door waiting to get a consistent spot on the roster. Considering the Devils are not favorited to win a Stanley Cup this year, it would not be a bad move for Lou Lamoriello to make.

Since the 2011-12 season, Salvador has accumulated a -19 rating. While he brings a physical presence that the Devils really don't otherwise have, his quickness is concerning. Salvador is too slow to keep up with the quick pace of the game today.

So far this season, Salvador has averaged 18:30 per game which ranks 7th on the team and 5th among defensemen. With Salvador being the highest-paid defenseman on the team at $3.16 million, the ice time is not where it should be. His -5 rating, which is second worst on the team, does not help out his case.  

Salvador is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, which could make it easier to move him if the Devils go down that route.

But would the team be better off without Salvador?

In the short term, the Devils would lose the veteran presence he brings, but with how Andy Greene has excelled, they might be alright. The team would get younger and that helps considering the Devils are the oldest team in the league.

If the Devils part ways with Salvador, expect the team to go through some more growing pains on defense considering they would either have to keep five young players on the back end to play with Greene and Marek Zidlicky, or they would have to recall Peter Harrold from Albany and send either Helgeson or Severson back down.

Either way, trading Salvador would be a great move for this team.