Pucks and Pitchforks
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Players With Previous Ties New Jersey Devils Should Target

By Mike Luci

NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 07: New York Islanders right wing Jordan Eberle (7) skates during the first period of the National Hockey League game between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Islanders on February 7, 2019 at the PrudentialCenter in Newark, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 07: New York Islanders right wing Jordan Eberle (7) skates during the first period of the National Hockey League game between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Islanders on February 7, 2019 at the PrudentialCenter in Newark, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Joe Puetz/NHLI via Getty Images)
(Photo by Joe Puetz/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Robert Bortuzzo (D), St. Louis Blues

While General Manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ray Shero drafted Robert Bortuzzo in the third round of the 2007 NHL Draft. The 30-year old defenseman played four seasons under John Hynes (three as head coach, one as assistant) for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (2009-2013), along with parts of four seasons when Shero as general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins (2011-2015).

As previously mentioned, there’s no denying the steady stream of former Penguins players we’ve seen since Shero and Hynes joined the New Jersey Devils. Although he just signed a three-year extension with the St. Louis Blues, this is still a trade I can see the Devils making.

Shero and Hynes seem to love having a veteran mid-tier defenseman in the lineup to rely upon that’s traditionally been a subtle low-cost signing on July 1 (Ben Lovejoy, John Moore). Although there will certainly be plenty of low-cost options on the market, Bortuzzo’s ties to Shero and Hynes make him stand out as a more viable candidate.

Having already signed him to an extension, the Blues could trade him anyway because of their tight salary cap situation. Although they’ll have Jay Bouwmeester and his $5.4 million AAV coming off this summer, they still have to re-sign restricted free agents like Oskar Sundqvist, Joel Edmundson and Jordan Binnington. Who knows? Maybe their tight salary cap situation forces St. Louis to ship out someone like Colton Parayko or Brayden Schenn with Bortuzzo to New Jersey in exchange for draft picks, a Joey Anderson/Michael McLeod-type prospect and/or a Pavel Zacha/Miles Wood-type roster player going the other way.

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