2021 Trade Deadline Thread April 12, 3pm ET

[titans04]

4 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

His numbers have already been pretty bad since coming back from covid anyway. Currently at a .903 SV% and 3.07 GAA. Scott Wedgewood actually has better stats in both categories...

noticed that the other day, pretty deceiving. But they're only going to get worse from here on out as CD9 points out. 

[DevsMan84]

1 minute ago, nessus said:

Yeah, I was a bit surprised by this too. Maybe management gauged interest in him, and felt that if they couldn't get a 5th or 6th rounder, they'd accept the risk of losing him on waivers. Still makes me question why he was waived in that scenario, but Vatanen hasn't been great for us, so not much of a loss anyway. Still not super happy about it though.

It clearly wasn't about money since DAL has picked up his entire salary.  If the bolded is what went down, the Fitz just got gamed by the other GM's.  Either way it is not a good look.

Vatanen's play doesn't really matter.  Somebody wanted him enough to pick him and his $2M up.  I guess the only silver lining is that maybe this is finally the end of Vats in NJ for good.

[DevsMan84]

1 minute ago, MB3 said:

Oh come on dude, lol. The Devils have obviously been trying to shop him. A 7th round pick is "absolutely nothing" anyway; what a miniscule reason to get upset. 

Only for Dallas to pick him and his full cap hit/salary for nothing.  Fitz blinked and got schooled.

I am not upset that it wasn't a higher round, but that Fitz literally got nothing for him.  It's just bad asset management.

[Devs3cups]

So it's Kulikov for a conditional 4th in 2021, that turns into a 3rd in 2021 if EDM wins a playoff round, from Bob McKenzie on TraceCentre.

EDIT: Heard it was in 2022, but it's in 2021.

 

 

Edited April 12, 2021 by Devs3cups

[Aitchmack]

43 minutes ago, jagknife said:

Vats claimed by Dallas

Have to say that doesn't seem good asset management. Waive the guy and get zero return for him. Surely it would've made more sense just to keep him for the remainder of the season?

Losing Vats, Kulikov and Zajac has me expecting teams to rack up some big scores against us down the stretch.

[DevsMan84]

3 minutes ago, Devs3cups said:

So it's Kulikov for a conditional 4th, that turns into a 3rd if EDM wins a playoff round, from Bob McKenzie on TraceCentre.

That's actually slightly better than I thought, so there's that.

[Devs3cups]

4 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

That's actually slightly better than I thought, so there's that.

It's in 2022 mind you apparently, edited my post (will edit it again if need be). I'm satisfied with that.

EDIT: 2021 finally

Edited April 12, 2021 by Devs3cups

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

2 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

It clearly wasn't about money since DAL has picked up his entire salary.  If the bolded is what went down, the Fitz just got gamed by the other GM's.  Either way it is not a good look.

Vatanen's play doesn't really matter.  Somebody wanted him enough to pick him and his $2M up.  I guess the only silver lining is that maybe this is finally the end of Vats in NJ for good.

I can't get upset about not getting a late-round pick for Vats...in all honestly, he's been bad enough this year that this feels like addition by subtraction (like you allude to)...there was no way he was figuring into the Devils' plans beyond this year, so why even continue to play him?  Might as well see what someone else in the system can do.  Also, not like this is constantly happening to Fitz...I think overall, he's done pretty well getting pieces for soon-to-leave (or not likely to be re-signed) players.

 

[SterioDesign]

im just glad Butcher will get to play more now. Now sure why he wasn't been played more but i did feel bad cause he's a guy who could have signed with anyone and choose us. So it sucks that a few seasons later he's sitting in the stands watching unless he was insanely terrible which i dont feel like he was

[Devs3cups]

1 minute ago, MB3 said:

Kind of a weak return; hopefully he'll come back next season. 

It seems likely Edmonton will win a playoff series. They'll draw the Jets, who are pretty bleh. 

Yeah, with his play, I though we could snag a 2nd for him. I'll be satisfied with a 3rd if EDM wins their 1st round matchup. A 4th is pretty bleh, but it is what it.

I'm interested to see if Murray gets dealt now. I like his play and would be on pace for 25-30 pts in a full season. 

[DevsMan84]

3 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

I can't get upset about not getting a late-round pick for Vats...in all honestly, he's been bad enough this year that this feels like addition by subtraction (like you allude to)...there was no way he was figuring into the Devils' plans beyond this year, so why even continue to play him?  Might as well see what someone else in the system can do.  Also, not like this is constantly happening to Fitz...I think overall, he's done pretty well getting pieces for soon-to-leave (or not likely to be re-signed) players.

 

Not constantly happening, but it is not a good thing to happen in the first place.  Shero was fired due to a series of signings blowing up in his face, trades not working out, and bad asset management.  It is way too early to make any judgement in Fitz's case, but if the Devils want to get better sooner rather than later he can't have these become common-place.

[WaffleFries]

In regards to waiving Vats: It is possible that a team was interested but only if they could toss him on their taxi squad as a back-up in case of injuries. To do that the Devs would waive him and then trade him after he passes waivers. The new team would not have to waive him and risk losing him since he had already passed through.

[nessus]

To be honest, I thought a 3rd would be fair value for Kulikov. If his track record had been more consistent with his play this year, maybe you get conditions to turn the pick to a second. But he very well could have not even been in the NHL this year if the Devils hadn't signed him. I won't complain about this return, especially because I think Edmonton could win a round.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

2 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

im just glad Butcher will get to play more now. Now sure why he wasn't been played more but i did feel bad cause he's a guy who could have signed with anyone and choose us. So it sucks that a few seasons later he's sitting in the stands watching unless he was insanely terrible which i dont feel like he was

What played out here could've happened somewhere else.  Could be that he just doesn't mesh with the current HC.  He was also starting to get scratched last season...it could be that in the end, he's not that good.

That being said, play him every game from now until the end of the season...why not, especially now that Vats and Kulikov are gone?  Give him minutes.  Let him sink or swim.  And hopefully anyone other than nASS is working with the defense and PK next season.  Butch has one more year left on his deal...I get the feeling he'll be dealt for a similar player who once showed promise but is also now struggling to stay in the lineup, but if not, spend the first few months of next year finding out if he should be a part of this team's plans beyond 2022.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

16 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

Not constantly happening, but it is not a good thing to happen in the first place.  Shero was fired due to a series of signings blowing up in his face, trades not working out, and bad asset management.  It is way too early to make any judgement in Fitz's case, but if the Devils want to get better sooner rather than later he can't have these become common-place.

Where did Shero handle assets badly?  Yeah, many moves didn't work out for him (maddening because so many of them made perfect sense at the time they were made, and were rather creative given general lack of assets to work with), and he hung onto Hynes for too long, and he kept hoping that Cory was going to regain his form (at the expense of his teammates)...but I never thought of him as a guy who mishandled assets.  And I can't be worried about Fitz not getting something minimal back for a guy who had very little trade value, if any.  There's no evidence that suggests this is going to become commonplace...looking at his other deals leading up to deadline, I think he's done pretty well.  Until further notice, I see this as a rare event that was driven more by a player who played himself into not being worth trading anything meaningful for, than by Fitz somehow screwing up.

[Nicomo]

Wrt Butcher, Ruff is big on guys that skate well. But there’s absolutely no reason not to give Butcher a shot at this point. Rather see him than Tennyson or Carrick. Butcher is a PP specialist, and our PP happens to be complete ass. It would make sense to give him some time on it. The only guy I’m not bumping is Ty. But I wouldn’t mind seeing Butcher instead of Subban or Severson on PP2 for a while. 

[DevsMan84]

6 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Where did Shero handle assets badly?  Yeah, many moves didn't work out for him (maddening because so many of them made perfect sense at the time they were made, and were rather creative given general lack of assets to work with), and he hung onto Hynes for too long, and he kept hoping that Cory was going to regain his form (at the expense of his teammates)...but I never thought of him as a guy who mishandled assets.  And I can't be worried about Fitz not getting something minimal back for a guy who had very little trade value, if any.  There's no evidence that suggests this is going to become commonplace...looking at his other deals leading up to deadline, I think he's done pretty well.  Until further notice, I see this as a rare event that was driven more by a player who played himself into not being worth trading anything meaningful for, than by Fitz somehow screwing up.

I still think he should have traded Hall earlier than he did and possibly get a better return.  However, I am not going to go too deeply into it and run the risk of this turning into another SD-esque debate about alternate outcomes.

I, however, will still refuse to believe we are still where we are due to plain bad luck.  We seem to have an awful amount of bad luck for 5 out of the last 6 years for a team that is supposedly managed/ran well.

[NJDevils1214]

5 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

Wrt Butcher, Ruff is big on guys that skate well. But there’s absolutely no reason not to give Butcher a shot at this point. Rather see him than Tennyson or Carrick. Butcher is a PP specialist, and our PP happens to be complete ass. It would make sense to give him some time on it. The only guy I’m not bumping is Ty. But I wouldn’t mind seeing Butcher instead of Subban or Severson on PP2 for a while. 

I don't see how Butcher is worse defensively than any of the other options at this point.

[Nicomo]

1 minute ago, NJDevils1214 said:

I don't see how Butcher is worse defensively than any of the other options at this point.

He’s pretty bad defensively...

I guess being better than Connor Carrick is something to hang your hat on though.

[Jimmy Leeds]

43 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

Not constantly happening, but it is not a good thing to happen in the first place.  Shero was fired due to a series of signings blowing up in his face, trades not working out, and bad asset management.  It is way too early to make any judgement in Fitz's case, but if the Devils want to get better sooner rather than later he can't have these become common-place.

OMG

Relax.......let it go

[mfitz804]

Honestly I hoped for more from Kulikov. But it is what it is. 

Dallas can have Vatanen, that’s fine. 

Tell Ruff I get out of work at 5 but I can be to the arena by 6, because clearly we’re far enough down on the depth chart that a message board meme lord is a starting D-man now. 

Edited April 12, 2021 by mfitz804

[mfitz804]

1 hour ago, Chimaira_Devil_#9 said:

Fully expecting Blackwood's GAA to take an absolute hammering down the final stretch. 

Yeah as opposed to what?? He’s getting hung out to dry nightly. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

27 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said:

I still think he should have traded Hall earlier than he did and possibly get a better return.  However, I am not going to go too deeply into it and run the risk of this turning into another SD-esque debate about alternate outcomes.

I, however, will still refuse to believe we are still where we are due to plain bad luck.  We seem to have an awful amount of bad luck for 5 out of the last 6 years for a team that is supposedly managed/ran well.

Don't forget Hall's knee injury...that buggered up everything, including Hall himself...50 G and 80 A in 109 GP before he missed the rest of 2018-19, and 18 G and 53 A in 102 GP since.  Shero was walking a tightrope with that one...do you move him too early before he finds his groove, or wait too long and watch him get hurt again?  At any rate, I thought he did pretty well with the return...got a first-round pick (that was a must at the time...turned into Dawson Mercer), and a D-prospect...yeah, he got some other stuff too (including the third-rounder just sent to the Caps), but the bigger grabs were clearly the first-rounder (Mercer) and Bahl.  

[Nicomo]

1 minute ago, mfitz804 said:

Yeah as opposed to what?? He’s getting hung out to dry nightly. 

The crazy thing is he’s not even seeing that many shots the last few games (23, 26, 19), but every single high danger chance seems to end up in the back of the net lately. 

[MadDog2020]

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