How New Jersey Devils Turned Jason Arnott Into Shakir Mukhamadullin
Devils Side of the Trade Tree and Subsequent Deals Pt. 2
Arnott was traded to the Dallas Stars along with fan-favorite Randy McKay and a 2002 1st-round pick for Joe Nieuwendyk and Jamie Langenbrunner. McKay solidified himself in Devils lore as a member of the “Crash” Line that has a major contribution to the Devils’ first Stanley Cup victory in 1994-95. He also had a role in the 2000 Cup victory as well. Lamoriello traded two fan favorites for an aging legend and a player thought to be underachieving in Langenbrunner. Nieuwendyk and Langenbrunner contributed immediately as the Devils won their third Stanley Cup in 2003. Lamoriello unknowingly made two separate trades involving Arnott that would net the Devils two more championships.
Arnott would spend a few seasons with the Stars before signing with the Nashville Predators in 2006. Arnott would eventually return to the Devils to play alongside Langenbrunner in 2010. McKay played 14 games with the Stars only to go sign with the Montreal Canadiens in the 2002 offseason. He would retire after the 2002-03 season. The 1st-round pick would be traded by Dallas to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Ron Tugnutt and a 2002 2nd-round pick that became a player named Janos Vas. Vas spent a few seasons in the AHL and never made it to the NHL. Columbus traded the pick to Buffalo to get the rights to then Devil Jay Pandolfo‘s brother Mike, as well as the 30th pick in the 2002 draft. The Sabres selected Daniel Paille, who had a respectable career for himself.
Nieuwendyk played 94 games with the Devils en route to the Stanley Cup. He even scored his 500th career goal with the Devils. He left in free agency after the season and signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Langenbrunner spent a lot more time with the Devils. He was a member of the black and red for the next seven and a half seasons. He was named captain of the team by then-coach Brent Sutter. Langenbrunner also captained Team USA in the 2010 Olympics and played with fellow Devil Zach Parise. However, towards the end of his career, he wanted to compete. The 2010-11 Devils were not in a position to compete after a disastrous start. The relationship with Langebrunner soured and he was traded back to the Dallas Stars for a 2011 3rd-round pick. The Devils used that pick on Blake Coleman.
Devils fans all know and love Coleman. He was the definition of a late bloomer. He scored 20 goals for the Devils the past two seasons and won fans over with his grit and hard work. But once again, a team that doesn’t compete has to make some hard decisions. So, Coleman was traded to the Lightning for Nolan Foote and a 1st-round pick in 2020 that became Shakir Mukahmadullin.
Coleman helped the Lightning on their path to the Stanley Cup in what was the weirdest season ever. While Foote is competing for a spot in the lineup for this upcoming 2021 season. Mukhamadullin will take a few years to see how he pans out. The trade from 1998 still has some connections to the Devils roster in 2020. In some way, it branched out to help the Blues and Lightning win the Stanley Cup in their own ways.
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22 years after Lou Lamoriello and Glenn Sather struck a deal for Arnott and Guerin, Tom Fitzgerald is hoping distant remnants of that very deal can make an impact. Just another fun fact, at the time of the deal, Fitzgerald was a player for the Florida Panthers organization. He too was traded in 1998, but that is a different story for a different day.