Ranking Ray Shero’s New Jersey Devils Trade Deadline Deals As A Seller
By Nick Villano
6. March 1, 2017: Columbus Blue Jackets trade Dalton Prout for
Kyle Quincey
Kyle Quincey was a surprise for the New Jersey Devils back in 2016-17. He was a late August signing that was going to turn into a usable asset. That’s a win, right? Well, no.
Dalton Prout did very little with the Devils, only playing 18 games on the NHL roster. So, while Quincey was a late signing who made the team in training camp, and he was likely not getting re-signed in the offseason, there were teams who would probably be willing to trade a late-round draft pick over giving the Devils a player like Prout.
The Devils eventually gave up on Prout, trading him to the Calgary Flames for goalie Eddie Lack. That move salvaged this trade a little bit. It gave the Binghamton Devils a nice voice in the room, despite him suffering a season-ending injury this season. It works out because now he can help Mackenzie Blackwood and Cam Johnson without standing in their way.
However, that’s basically a coach. The Devils traded an asset for someone who eventually only serves as a coach. Not Shero’s best move in the slightest.
5. March 1, 2017: Nashville Predators trade a 6th-round pick for
Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau
March 1st, 2017 was not a good day for Shero in trade value terms. After getting a middling defenseman for Kyle Quincey, he sent what seemed like his best asset in P.A. Parenteau to the Nashville Predators for a sixth-round pick.
Now, it’s not always the asset you get, but what you do with said asset. Shero took that 6th-round pick, which ended up being the second to last pick of the round, and turned it into two 7th-round picks. Those picks turned out to be Yegor Zaitsev and Matthew Hellickson. Both those players have a long way to go until they can do anything in the NHL, but at least there’s an existence of an upside for Hellickson.
He’s currently playing defense for Notre Dame, and could be something at some point for at least Binghamton. It shows the savvy drafting done by Shero, but this trade is not a good look. Parenteau had 27 points at that point in the season. He was actually a total bust with the Nashville Predators, and never played another NHL game. Still, a player who has 27 points should get more than a 6th rounder.