New Jersey Devils Acquire Goalie Vitek Vanecek
The New Jersey Devils have made another splash and decided to swing early on filling the biggest hole in the roster. This team desperately needed an upgrade at the goaltending position. The trade was a swap of second round picks and a extra third going to the Washington Capitals for Vitek Vanecek. The price was not high at all surprisingly.
The Devils has a lot of options to fill this very crucial spot. The St. Louis Blues Ville Husso was one of our number one targets, but after his trade to the Detroit Red Wings, this is still a great pick up. The team has been linked heavily to Jack Campbell of the Toronto Maple Leafs. While they might not be done yet, this is a far better move than overpaying a 30 year old, especially one who has rumors stating that he wants 5 years.
Vanecek is 26 years old, which is great since he is in his prime and shouldn’t be another guy that goes down immediately upon signing due to injuries. He also has consistent numbers the last two seasons in which he put up a 2.69 and 2.67 goals against average with matching .908 save percentages.
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This is a great move and has made this team immediately better while making sure they got a guy who can still be the guy when this team is actually ready to compete in a few seasons. The price as said before was great and it is even more surprising since it came from a division rival. This is also the massive wake up call, if one was needed, to Blackwood who has been terrible for multiple seasons now that he has officially been replaced as the goalie of now and the future. If he starts his season with the team it will be as a backup and he will have to earn the trust of coaches, team mates and fans again.