New Jersey Devils: Grading Trade Deadline Deals

2. Michael Kapla for Ryan Murphy

This trade of Michael Kapla for Ryan Murphy gets a C+. It is more of a depth AHL trade. This isn’t really a move that changes the way each franchise will be moving forward. Neither guy will make a significant impact on their new team going forward.

When Michael Kapla got to the Minnesota Wild, he was sent to their American Hockey League affiliate Iowa Wild. As for Ryan Murphy, he has spent some time in the AHL as well. He only has three games played in the NHL this season, and just one with the New Jersey Devils. In those three games, he has collected one assist and is a +1.

This trade might have a different grade when you evaluate it a few years from now, but for now, it is a middle of the pack type trade. Murphy might be a cheap third-pair shutdown type defensemen in the future.

You have seen what the Devils have been able to do with Mirco Mueller, who was a former first-round pick that just was buried in his former organization and you can only hope that Murphy can turn out similar.

Meanwhile, the league is moving away from guys like Kapla and the Devils are already a team with a plethora of organizational depth at forward and not enough on defense.

The main focus of the trade might have been position scarcity for that reason. The Devils are obviously soft on defense organizationally and adding Murphy is why this trade gets a C+.

The Devils are hoping that their young defenseman lead the way in the future and that Murphy will make it difficult for management to keep him out, or they could use him as a trade chip again moving forward for a team looking for depth.