Former New Jersey Devils’ forward Blake Coleman is on his way to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The New Jersey Devils are have been watching the NHL’s “return to play” bubble from home since the very beginning. They were one of the seven teams that didn’t travel to the bubble because of their regular-season record. They did, however, have a few of their former players in the playoffs and a few of them even played for the Devils as recently as this season. Not many are as loved as Blake Coleman, and now he is on his way to the Eastern Conference Finals.
He was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning a little before the 2020 NHL trade deadline. The Devils made out big on the trade as they received a 1st-round pick in 2020 and Nolan Foote, who is a very good prospect. Foote was a 1st-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, so you know that he is highly thought of. Coleman is a good player but this type of return for a player of his caliber should really help the Devils going forward.
As mentioned before, he is a good player, but he is on a dream team’s third line. He consistently scores 20+ goals, but his career-high in points in a single season is 36. However, he provides leadership and intangibles that made him a coveted asset for the Lightning. He has been awesome with them on a line with Yanni Gourde and Barclay Goodrow. This team has a decent chance to advance to the Stanley Cup Final and win it.
Tampa Bay got to where they are because of a big series win over the Boston Bruins. They await the winner of the New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers second-round series, who will play Game 6 tomorrow night. No matter who wins out of those two, this is going to be a very entertaining East Final.
Coleman deserves everything he is getting with Tampa. This has a chance to be one of those trades that are good for all three parties involved. Tampa Bay and Blake Coleman have a chance to win the Cup and the New Jersey Devils got two great future pieces for their team. It is always nice to see the Devils benefit from a trade and Coleman was truly a great Devils player. He is an easy guy to root for in these types of situations so we will be cheering him on for sure.