6. 2015 NHL Trade Deadline
The New Jersey Devils had two major assets at the 2015 NHL Trade Deadline, but their value was hard to pinpoint. Jaromir Jagr was in his second year with the Devils, and while he was an obvious fan favorite, there wasn’t really space for a 42 year old who was on an expiring contract. Some expected the Devils to get a disappointing return for Jagr, but they didn’t do too bad.
The Florida Panthers traded a 2nd and 4th-round pick for Jagr, a move that really helped the next era of his career. The Devils ended up using that 2nd-round pick in the Kyle Palmieri trade, so it was a major win for Lamoriello (and eventually Shero). This was a deal that really helped the next era of the Devils.
The Devils also had an aging Marek Zidlicky. It was a long time since he was a trade deadline acquisition, but a team would absolutely want him. The Detroit Red Wings traded a conditional 3rd-round pick for Zidlicky. It was in 2016, and they ended up using that pick to trade for Beau Bennett. That was not a good deal for the Devils, as they ended up letting him get to free agency and sign with someone else.
Still, the Devils were able to weaponize their draft picks because they acquired three for two players with no future in the organization. They were both way closer to the end (although Jagr was further away from the end than we thought) than they were to the beginning, and Lamoriello found a way to get better assets than we expected.