New Jersey Devils: John Quenneville Traded To Chicago

John Quenneville‘s time with the New Jersey Devils is over. Quenneville was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for forward John Hayden. The deal was incredibly overshadowed by the Devils’ acquisition of All-Star defenseman P.K. Subban. The news of the Quenneville trade came out a few minutes after the Subban deal was reported, which is understandable if you missed it. Quenneville seemingly could not piece it together at the NHL level even though he was always productive at the AHL level.

The potential for Quenneville has always been there. He shows flashes of it with his quick shot and offensive positioning, but could not ever have that consistent scoring touch. The lack of scoring at the NHL level led to frequent stretches of being a healthy scratch for players like Kurtis Gabriel, Kenny Agostino, and Drew Stafford.

Sometimes it seemed like ‘JQ’ never seemed to get a fair shake. One game he would have a good performance and the next game be immediately benched for inconsistency in his game. He seemed to put everything together out of camp this past season and made the team.

With Quenneville now gone from the organization, that leaves only two Lou Lamoriello first round pick left, Travis Zajac and Pavel Zacha (but Ray Shero was on board during the Zacha pick). Lamoriello seemed to lose his special draft touch that he had in the early to mid 90s and this all but confirms it for now unless Quenneville thrives with this change of scenery.

Lamoriello’s last four picks in the 1st round were Quenneville, Stefan Matteau, Adam Larsson, and Jacob Josefson. All but Josefson have been traded by Ray Shero. Josefson was not extended by Shero when his contact expired at the end of the 2016-17 season.

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The Blackhawks are hoping that Quenneville can have more consistency at the professional level. Quenneville has the potential to score 15 to 20 goals at the professional level, but potential doesn’t always mean results. Quenneville scored 46 goals in Albany and Binghamton in one hundred and thirty eight games played. That may not seem like a lot, but when you’re talking about a 23-year-old player, those stats aren’t bad. Given a consistent opportunity and the chance to play with a point monster like Patrick Kane, maybe Chicago can unlock all that potential John Hynes and New Jersey seemingly could not.

On the other hand, the Devils acquired John Hayden from the Blackhawks in return. Like Quenneville, Hayden is a young player who also could greatly benefit from a change of scenery. Hayden comes from Yale University, where he was the captain his senior year while also scoring 34 points in 33 games his final year at the Ivy League institution. At 22, he found himself on the big club after college and put up four points in 12 games, scoring his first NHL goal in his second NHL game. He was drafted in the 3rd round by the Blackhawks back in 2013.

You may remember John Hayden because he already has ties to a now former Devil. You may remember a few years ago the story of Steven Santini getting into his first NHL fight with someone who was a groomsman at his wedding. That player was John Hayden. Hayden now joins the Devils without Santini. Hayden seems to be a scappy player who doesn’t really produce many points, but won’t be afraid to get to the dirty areas of the ice.

It is possible that Hayden can carve out and earn a consistent bottom six role for the Devils. He will have to use his speed and consistently find the scoring sheet to stay in the lineup or even with the big club. Five points in 54 games like he had last season with the Blackhawks will not do it with this Devils team. They have needed depth scoring for the last few years. If Hayden can contribute to this, he should live up to his potential and be a nice piece much like Stefan Noeson was when he first arrived. This deal was strictly a “change of scenery” type deal for both players and is a low risk-high reward move.