Ranking Every New Jersey Devils Trade Deadline Since Ilya Kovalchuk Trade
By Nick Villano
9. 2013 NHL Trade Deadline
The New Jersey Devils were coming off a Stanley Cup Final appearance and a lockout-shortened season made the results hard to decipher. The Devils started off on fire, but an injury to Martin Brodeur made it hard to put wins together. Still, Lou Lamoriello was looking to add some productive pieces at the 2013 deadline. He wouldn’t go for major players, but getting some complementary pieces could help.
He ended up spending two draft picks to bring back Alexei Ponikarovsky after he signed with the Winnipeg Jets in the offseason. It was a bizarre move, as the Devils lost him for nothing in free agency just a few months prior. He only signed a one-year deal, so it’s not like the Devils were getting any term here. It was only a 4th and 7th-round pick, but it was just bizarre.
The Devils also traded a 5th-round pick for Andrei Loktionov. This seemed like a good deal at the time, trading for a young Russian center who could build chemistry with Kovalchuk after he spent the lockout in the KHL. He never really materialized, but the deal made sense at the time.
They also traded a conditional pick to the St. Louis Blues for Matt D`Agostini. It was taking another flier on a player with something to prove. The Blues needed to make room for a returning T.J. Oshie, and D`Agostini could add to the Devils right-wing depth. It didn’t really work, and D`Agostini was actually out of the league one year later.
This wasn’t a bad deadline for lack of effort, but it just didn’t work. Loktionov never became what we thought he could. D’Agostini was just bad during his short stint in New Jersey. Ponikarovsky left the NHL after the season and never returned. They also got Steve Sullivan for a 7th-round pick, just to add to the players who return to New Jersey under Lou.