New Jersey Devils: Assessing CapFriendly Trades Before Trade Deadline

This one takes some explaining. To see Borocop’s explanation, go here. Anyway, they get Jake Gardiner in a trade with the Hurricanes that sends Evgeni Dadonov to Carolina. They then take on Kris Russel’s deal for some pieces, but they get a 2nd-round pick in the process. They send that pick and Gardiner to the Devils to give Nikita Gusev a look.

That seems like a wild amount to trade for a player that was on waivers just days ago, but Gardiner was on waivers a few days ago too. Gusev does fit in with a team like Ottawa, but with the quarantine period and no playoffs, this seems unlikely to say the least. They wouldn’t get a good look at Gusev before deciding whether or not to re-sign him.

Gusev needs a different play style. He’s just not fast enough to make sense on the Devils. The Devils power play is too bad for him to succeed. It’s a comicosm of bad fits. The Senators would give Gusev a chance to play his game, and he could recoup his value before free agency. He is a good player in a system that doesn’t fit. He needs something that will slow things down for him.

Gardiner is a player that makes sense for the Devils. He is a little overpaid, but the Devils likely won’t be near the cap ceiling for a long time so it won’t matter. Getting a pick too is just icing on the cake. Even if the pick was a 3rd or 4th-round pick, this would be a nice trade.