New Jersey Devils Acquire Kyle Palmieri From Ducks
By Phil DeHaven
After the New Jersey Devils stayed pat and drafted Pavel Zacha with the 6th overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft most thought they would try to trade back into the late picks. Instead of trading back into the late 1st round GM Ray Shero worked out a trade with the Anaheim Ducks. The New Jersey Devils have traded two draft picks in exchange for Montvale, NJ’s own Kyle Palmieri. The two picks given up by the Devils were their extra 2nd round pick this year (41st overall) and their 2016 3rd round pick.
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First let’s look at what the New Jersey Devils had to part with in order to acquire the 24-year-old right-winger. They gave up the latter of their two 2nd round picks in this year’s draft (via Florida) and they gave up one of their 3rd round picks in 2016. The New Jersey Devils originally had three 3rd round draft picks in 2016, but have now given up two of them for signing John Hynes and in the Palmieri trade. The New Jersey were desperately thin at right-wing so I’m not to upset with giving up a 2nd and 3rd round pick.
Now let’s take a closer look at the newest (for now) member of the New Jersey Devils, Kyle Palmieri. He’s a right-winger who has played in just under 200 NHL games over 5 seasons. His most successful season came in 2013-2014 when he played 71 games and added 31 points (14 goals, 17 assists). He was stuck behind Corey Perry and Jakub Silfverberg in Anaheim, so the increased role in New Jersey could improve his production and growth.
You can look at the table above to view Palmieri’s career stats in the NHL and at other levels, but we wanted to get more information. To do so we reached out to our friends at Pucks Of A Feather for some better input on what the New Jersey Devils are getting in this deal. The following is what they had to say about Kyle Palmieri’s past and future going forward.
"“He was drafted in 2009 in the 1st round by Ducks. Best way to describe him is “hard-nosed” and “streaky”. This kiid has amazing tenacity and nose for the net and his release is lightning fast. When he’s on he’s on and he can score goals in bunches. Unfortunately he found no real consistency here, he needs a center that will get him the puck and you wonder if all the line juggling shook his confidence.Most are speculating his lack of production in the post season along with guys liked Frieberg and Ritchie pushing for spots sent him packing. If he can put it all together he has the potential to be a great scorer in this league and put up 25-30 a year easy. He has the skill to do it and the talent it just seems to not show up all the time. He goes on 5 game goal scoring streaks and then 10 games without a point. Put him with a proven center and another young wing and he may be able to achieve a top-6 forward role.Defensively he won’t win the Selke but he won’t let you down either, but he covers his wing and can aid in the breakout. He can also fly the zone and take a stretch pass as he has pretty good speed. Has seen time on PP & PK and can play them both but would rather him and his shot on the PP instead of the PK.”"
The New Jersey Devils will now have only 4 picks in rounds 2-7 in the 2015 NHL Draft. Check back on the site and our twitter page for more NHL Draft coverage and our take on any other deals. Also please let us know if you approve or disapprove of the Palmieri trade in the poll below!