In the 36 year history of the New Jersey Devils, almost every major player came over in some kind of trade, but what are some of the most impactful trades in team history.
Trades are one of the most fun and excruciating parts of being a sports. They are incredibly fun because we love to speculate about them until they happen, then we love to talk about them for years after they happen. They are excruciating because it could mean losing out on our favorite players.
The New Jersey Devils have been incredibly good at making trades in their history. Somehow, they very rarely find themselves on the wrong side of a trade. There are plenty of situations where they traded for a player who didn’t fit at all. Think Tuomo Ruutu a few seasons ago. That wasn’t a disaster because Andrei Loktionov didn’t do much with the Carolina Hurricane and that 3rd-round pick turned into Morgan Geekie.
There are literally dozens of examples around the league of teams making terrible trades that send superstars to other teams. Filip Forsberg went to the Nashville Predators so the Washington Capitals could get Martin Erat. Mark Messier was sent to the New York Rangers and showed he had a lot left in the tank. Wayne freaking Gretzky was traded at the age of 26! If he was traded in his prime, anyone could be traded.
The Devils have never given up a current or future star player in trade. They’ve traded some really good players like Jason Arnott and Petr Sykora. However, it never ended up being a player that changed the other franchise. That’s something that seems impossible in 35 years of play. Between Lou Lamoriello and Ray Shero, this team’s GMs have been incredibly good at trading.
This team has had it’s share of heartbreak through retirement and free agency, but the front office makes up for it in winning major trades constantly. Maybe it’s because New Jersey is thought as a “little brother” location, but after the trade many players want to stick around.
There are dozens of trades that changed this franchise in one way or another, but we took on the very hard task of choosing the 10 most impactful trades in team history. We chose the word impactful on purpose. You won’t see the Ben Lovejoy for 3rd-round pick and Connor Carrick on here, despite being a massive win for the Devils. We want to know how this worked out long term, so expect to take a trip down memory lane.
Honorable Mentions
Kyle Palmieri from Ducks to Devils for 2015 2nd-rounder and 2016 3rd-rounder.
This was a great deal for the Devils when it happened, and is an even better deal now. Kyle Palmieri has been a perfect player since joining the red and black. He already has a 30-goal season under his belt, and he could do it again this season despite multiple injuries and a depleted lineup. It’s still a little early to judge Ryan Gropp and Rem Pitlick, but both players ended up in other organizations.
Cory Schneider from Canucks to Devils for Bo Horvat
This was a franchise changing move at the time, but it’s hard to tell how this one will go down in history. Bo Horvat would be a very nice player on the Devils, but it’s not like he’s the best player on his team. As I say that he just scored an overtime goal (welp). Either way, the Devils traded for the heir apparent to Martin Brodeur, something they clearly didn’t have in house. He’s been the team’s top netminder ever since, but now finds himself as a likely very expensive backup next season.
Alexander Mogilny from Canucks to Devils for Brendan Morrison and Denis Pederson
The New Jersey Devils were going for it in the year 2000. They already had a stacked roster with the usual suspects in Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, Martin Brodeur and Patrik Elias, but they had added support in Jason Arnott and a rookie Scott Gomez. Then, Lou went and got another superstar. He spent a season and a half with New Jersey, scoring a ridiculous 43 goals in 2000-01 en route to another Stanley Cup appearance. He was ho hum in his first year, and much better in that second year. because of such short length, he ends up here.
Peter Stastny from Nordiques to Devils for Craig Wolanin and Randy Velischek
It’s not everyday a franchise early in existence gets a future Hall of Famer. Well, at least that was the story before the Vegas Golden Knights. The Devils traded for Peter Stastny towards the end of his career. After years as one of the best forwards in the league, he was decent on New Jersey. Again, this was important because it was a Hall of Famer coming to the Devils as a household name. This was the same Devils team that was getting Mickey Mouse comparisons years earlier.