NHL: Nashville Predators at New Jersey Devils

New Jersey Devils defenseman Eric Gelinas (22) celebrates his goal on Nashville Predators goalie Carter Hutton (30) (not shown) during the first period at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. on March 3, 2015. (Ed Mulholland | USA TODAY Sports)

RALEIGH, N.C. — They are young and talented. The consensus is that, if they remain together, the Devils' group of under-24 defensemen could develop into one of the league's best units.

The key phrase is, "if they remain together."

Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello has repeatedly acknowledged that he must acquire some scoring help up front and it may have to come via a trade. And that means there is a very real risk that one of the young defensemen will have to be traded in order to acquire some goal-scoring.

"It's a possibility. If I'm a GM of another team and I'm looking at value for my team in the future, obviously we'd be good to get back in a trade," Eric Gelinas said of himself and teammates Adam Larsson, Damon Severson and Jon Merrill. "It could happen.



"If we do stay together, great, but there's always a possibility of a change of address. I personally went through it in junior quite often. I know what it feels like. Hopefully we'll stay together. If not, I guess that's part of the business."

The Devils and their fans would hate to see it. But the reality is that at least one of the organization's young defensemen is likely to be traded this summer.

In addition to Gelinas (23), Merrill (23), Larsson (22) and Severson (20), there is Albany's Seth Helgeson (24) and Boston College Steven Santini (20).

"We don't make those decisions, but if we can stay together for a while you can't have a better scenario than that," Gelinas said. "We'll know each other for a while and we'll all know how we play. If you look around the league, there are a bunch of teams that have rebuilt with a couple players and they built from there."

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The Devils have a foundation with goalie Cory Schneider and a young defense anchored by veteran Andy Greene.

There have been growing pains, but the progress Larsson has made this season and the fact Severson was viewed as a possible Calder Trophy candidate before he suffered a broken ankle in December, is reason for optimism.

"Lars is in the top D pairing playing against (Anze) Kopitar, (Sidney) Crosby and all these guys," Gelinas pointed out. "He's doing a really, really good job. Everyone, I think, has taken a step in the right direction. We're playing with confidence."

They've, in a sense, grown up together.

"Yeah, in my opinion, that was pretty much their plan," Gelinas said of Devils' management. "We're four guys pretty much the same age. We're learning together, we're helping each other out. We see each other having success. It's always fun having a guy who is in the same situation as you giving you a pat on the back.



"It's nice to have that friendship. I know the situation Lars was in before and seeing him now, playing the way he's capable of playing, is nice. That's what this team needs. Everyone needs to get better together.

"I think lately everyone is playing with confidence. We're playing more responsible in our defensive zone. We've been playing some good teams and we're not allowing a lot of goals, so I guess that's a good sign. It's a good challenge for us."

The real challenge will be trying not to gut a promising young defense corps when the Devils look to bring in some offense this summer.

Rich Chere may be reached at rchere@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Ledger_NJDevils. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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