The New Jersey Devils are set to acquire young centerman Cody Glass from the Pittsburgh Penguins, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The full trade sends Glass and Jonathan Gruden to New Jersey in exchange for prospects Chase Stillman and Max Graham, as well as a 2027 third-round pick.
Glass was playing through his first season with the Penguins. Pittsburgh acquired him from the Nashville Predators alongside a third-round and sixth-round draft pick this summer in exchange for depth minor-leaguer Jordan Frasca. The move was intended to give Glass a much-needed change of scenery after his years in Nashville were derailed by injury and inconsistent ice time. But Glass’ struggle to earn lineup attention has continued with the Penguins. He has just four goals and 15 points in 51 games this season.
Glass has made up for that low scoring with more well-rounded play away from the puck, posting a career-high 52.7 faceoff percentage, 43 hits, and 31 blocked shots. Those defensive stats have helped Glass hold onto a menial role in Pittsburgh’s bottom-six. He’s averaged just 13:25 in ice time this season, exactly one second lower than his average with Nashville last year.
The 25-year-old centerman is still working to vindicate the top-10 draft acclaim he earned when the Vegas Golden Knights selected him sixth-overall in 2017. Glass became the first draft pick in Golden Knights history after scoring a dazzling 94 points in 69 WHL games in his draft year. He followed it with 102 points in 64 games, then 69 points in 38 games – painting the picture of a tireless and capable playmaking centerman. He seemed to keep that up when he turned pro at the end of the 2018-19 season, netting five points in his first six AHL games.
The ramped up scoring earned Glass his NHL debut in the 2019-20 season, but he quickly lost his grip on elite scoring. He scored just 12 points in 39 games as an NHL rookie, and proceeded to tally just 11 points in 35 games over the next two seasons while splitting time between the major and minor leagues. Midway through achieving those totals, Glass was traded to Nashville in a three-team trade that sent Nolan Patrick to Vegas and Ryan Ellis to Philadelphia.
Nashville opted to return Glass to the minors soon after acquiring him, in hopes that he’d rediscover his top scoring. He certainly did – with 62 points in 66 games with the Milwaukee Admirals. Those numbers gave Glass the boost needed to score a career-high 14 goals and 35 points in 72 games of Nashville’s 2022-23 season. He seemed geared up to finally find his NHL stride headed into last season, but nagging injuries quickly got the best of him. Glass played in 41 games and scored just 13 points last year, prompting a move to Pittsburgh in advance of this season.
Now, Glass will prepare for another move. He’ll join a hot New Jersey Devils offense in need of a scoring boost after news that superstar Jack Hughes will miss the remaining season with an upper-body injury. Glass should be one of the many beneficiary of Hughes’ near 21 minutes of average ice time suddenly opening up. He’ll compete with Erik Haula and, potentially, Dawson Mercer for minutes in the middle lane. New Jersey will also need to find more support on their power-play, which could give Glass the set up he needs to rediscover the commendable scoring he managed in Nashville.
Pittsburgh will land sly additions in Stillman and Graham. Stillman has struggled to find his footing in the AHL this year, with just nine points, 26 PIMs, and a minus-14 in 46 games. He was far more productive as an AHL rookie last year, when he managed 14 goals, 24 points, 72 PIMs, and a minus-two in 54 games. The Devils originally drafted Stillman in the first-round of the 2021 NHL Draft. He followed his draft with two more years in the OHL, capped off by an OHL Championship win with the Peterborough Petes in 2022-23. Stillman had 48 points in 59 games that season, bringing his juniors totals up to 131 points in 176 games and three seasons. He is the son of 16-year NHL veteran Cory Stillman, who is currently the head coach of the OHL’s Guelph Storm. Chase’s brother Riley Stillman is also a defender for the Carolina Hurricanes.
Graham has found himself in a similar position to Stillman, racking up the penalty minutes in juniors in the face of right around point-per-game scoring. He has 35 points and 79 PIMs in 34 games with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets this season, following up on his 42 points and 135 PIMs in 67 games last year. Graham was a fifth-round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft and seems headed for the track of a hard-nosed grinder when he turns pro next season.