The New Jersey Devils saw the price of a trade may not be worth it.
Reports say the New Jersey Devils asked the Toronto Maple Leafs about Kasperi Kapanen before he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday morning. The price he went for was incredibly high. The Pens traded the 15th-overall pick, a pick they decided to keep in the Jason Zucker trade, center Evan Rodrigues, defenseman David Warsofsky, and forward prospect. Filip Hallander.
That’s an insane price for Kapanen. He’s a fine player, but generally he’s considered a third liner with little upside to get better. The Penguins might think he will improve their top six after a disappointing playoff run, but multiple statistics disagree. Either way, the Maple Leafs put a massive price tag on a player they probably needed to trade (his $3.2 million salary next season was a killer on a flat cap). Props to them, because someone paid it.
Going back to the Devils, reports show the price was even bigger for the Devils. While the Maple Leafs accepted the 15th overall pick and a prospect, Puck Report replied to us on Twitter saying when the Devils asked about Kapanen, the team asked for either the Coyotes or Canucks 1st rounder the Devils own and Pavel Zacha.
That’s a ridiculous price for a player that mimics a lot of what Miles Wood already does for the Devils. He’s better than Wood, but not by a considerable amount. Kapanen is an incredibly frustrating player that has a limited offering to the Devils, and now to the Penguins.
The real lesson here for the Devils is what teams are going to value their 1st-round picks at. The Penguins really messed up the trade market early in the process, accepting a bad deal that will be a catalyst for other teams to ask for massive returns for middling players. This could lead the Devils to keeping their 1st-round picks. That’s not a bad thing, but a lot of Devils fans were hoping one of the picks could be used to help the team now. With the draft being considered one of the best in a while, it appeared 1st-round picks would be better used to add to the weak roster the Devils currently have.
However, if a 1st rounder isn’t even getting the team someone like Kasperi Kapenen? Then it’s totally not worth it to make that trade. Just make the pick and deal with the roster with other pieces.
Obviously, one team getting fleeced in a trade usually doesn’t completely change the trade market, but it does give us something to use as a benchmark. Kapanen isn’t even a player the Devils should consider. Trading a 1st-round pick for him was a nonstarter. Trading a 1st-round pick and a very useful roster player who’s 23 years old is insane. If this is the trade market, the Devils should pass.