New Jersey Devils Officially Lose Michael Grabner Trade
By Nick Villano
The New Jersey Devils made their first trade ever with their Hudson River rivals in the New York Rangers. If it wasn’t apparent before, they officially lost the deal after Michael Grabner left in free agency.
The New Jersey Devils did not get what they paid for when they traded for Michael Grabner a few days before the NHL Trade Deadline. He came to the Devils with 25 goals in 59 games. While he made much of his goal scoring with an empty net, that was honestly something the Devils needed. Add into the fact he has lightning fast speed, can kill penalties with the best of them and was decent at takeaways, and he seemed like the perfect fit.
He was not. In fact, he didn’t fit in with the Devils at all. It was confusing, since his skill set should have been perfect for the Devils fast, attacking style. In 21 games with the Devils, he scored two goals. They came on consecutive games, one in which the Devils won 8-3 and another they won 3-0.
Grabner was so bad, head coach John Hynes sat him during the Devils playoff series with the Tampa Bay Lightning. That’s not what you want from a player you traded a second-round pick and Yegor Rykov, who could turn out to be a very good defenseman prospect.
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There was a thought the Devils could try to give Grabner a reprieve, and bring him back for another season. Maybe the shock of getting traded really affected him. He did get a bunch of breakaways where he missed the net completely. That’s nerves taking over. If he was able to get a full offseason with the Devils, it would likely calm him down.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. He signed for three years, with an average annual value of $3.35 million. Honestly, that’s way too much money.
It’s sad that the Devils completely wasted a second-round pick, and lost their first trade with the Rangers. Still, it isn’t worth making an overpayment. Grabner did not deserve to get three years from the Devils. He was going to come in as a flyer that could be healthy scratched if it didn’t work out. With the Arizona Coyotes, he provides something much different. The 30-year-old forward got his money, and we’re happy for him. We’re also happy we weren’t the team to give him said money.