The New Jersey Devils had a good deadline weekend, adding two rentals in Michael Grabner and Patrick Maroon without giving up a first-round pick. However, Ray Shero could have recouped some draft picks he lost by trading players on his roster.
The New Jersey Devils were one of the busiest teams during the weekend coming into Monday, making a deal Friday night for Michael Grabner, then making another move at the last possible second bringing in Patrick Maroon from the Edmonton Oilers. Both those moves make the Devils better immediately, and show the team is will to go for it now.
However, there were two moves that could have been made that would also help the team in the future.
John Moore seems like the obvious choice when it comes to moves to make. Moore provides some decent production, but the price for depth defensemen was ridiculous this season. At least, it was prior to the deadline.
New York Rangers defenseman Nick Holden going for a third-round pick and a prospect showed that there was a major market for these defensemen. However, maybe the market quickly dried up on defensemen. Or, possibly, the pending Erik Karlsson trade that never happened took time out from other depth moves.
Moore not moving is not as bad as the Detroit Red Wings holding onto Mike Green, who is also a free agent at the end of the season. This shows that maybe only certain teams were looking to take a defenseman who wasn’t a superstar.
Drew Stafford sticking around may be more of a head scratcher. He will never get ice time after the moves the Devils made today. Right now, he’s not seeing a minute of ice time after the Devils added Grabner and Maroon. Stafford hadn’t scored since the first game of the month. He wasn’t really fitting into the lineup like he did to start the season. Plus, he’s a free agent at the end of the season. It seemed like he would be a much better fit on other teams.
Add to the fact that Brian Gibbons hasn’t returned, and it looks like Stafford may not see game action for the rest of the season.
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The market was probably very bad for Stafford, but you’re telling me a team wouldn’t give up a sixth-round pick or a flier prospect for the veteran? I think Shero could have made it happen, but again he may have been busy until the last minute making the Maroon trade happen.
There were some logjams the Devils could have fixed with some trades, but now John Hynes needs to figure out a lineup. It’s a good problem to have, but a problem that could have been fixed.
Right now, the Devils have one pick in the first three rounds of the draft this year, and are missing their third-round pick next year. At worst, Moore could have brought in a third rounder and Stafford could get a depth pick. Instead, they are in it for the long run.
Here’s to that run, which needs to end in the playoffs after these moves.