New Jersey Devils History of Trading First Round Picks

2007: 26th overall pick David Perron

This one hurts. Like a lot. The NHL lockout of 2004-05 led to the implementation of the salary cap, something that still exists to torment teams. The Devils needed some breathing room with the salary cap and had to move a big contract. To do this, they had to add a sweetener. The Devils traded Vladimir Malakov and their 2007 first-round pick to the San Jose Sharks for Alexander Korolyuk and Jim Fahey. The Sharks then traded the first-round pick to St. Louis in a trade that involved Bill Guerin. With the 26th pick that originally belonged to the Devils, the Blues selected from the now defunct Lewiston Maineiacs, David Perron.

How did the trade affect the Devils: The Devils were able to move on from Malakov’s contract, but that is really about it. Korolyuk never came over from Russia, having played only with the San Jose Sharks for 296 games in different stints from 1997 to 2004. Jim Fahey played 13 games with the Devils in the 2006-07 season, registering one assist and two penalty minutes. The Devils made it past the first round but did nothing else of note that season. Malakov never played in the NHL again and will rather have you remember his first stint with the team in 1999-2000 instead of the disaster that was his second time around.

How David Perron turned out: Barring any injury this upcoming season, Perron will be playing in his 1,000th NHL game for the Detroit Red Wings. Perron started his career with a pedestrian rookie year, he has since become a consistent 40-50 point middle six forward. With multiple stints with the Blues, and stops in Edmonton, Pittsburgh, Anaheim, and Vegas, Perron currently has 665 career points. Perron won a Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2018-19 and was a part of the Golden Knights’ miracle run in 2017-18. The Devils however have made the finals once since the Malakhov trade and really could have used a player like Perron in the 2010s.