Devils trade Ty Smith, pick for John Marino
With P.K. Subban’s retirement, and the Devils’ apparent lack of interest in retaining him, New Jersey had a pretty big hole on the right side of their defense. Dougie Hamilton was coming off of a season where he missed a ton of time thanks to injuries, and Damon Severson was heading into a contract year with no long-term future evident. With Ryan Graves also scheduled to hit the market in 2023, the immediate future of the Devils’ blueline was in disarray.
The Devils made use of a struggling prospect in Ty Smith and turned him into an everyday NHL defenseman in John Marino, at the added cost of a mid-round pick. Oh, and Marino is only 25 with a $4.4m AAV signed through 2027.
John Marino (NJ6) stepped it up, although the Devils ultimately lost, in NJ's 6-3 loss to WSH.
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) October 25, 2022
He had two primary assists with a 74% xGF%, playing lots of shorthanded time too.
Here are his most notable plays and puck touches from last night. #NJDevils #NHLPotN pic.twitter.com/t5ailVDTbL
Smith can still be a good player, and he performed well when given the opportunity, but moves like this are probably why Pittsburgh fired GM Ron Hextall. Smith was mostly an AHL defenseman in 2022-23, and Marino was a defensive stalworth for the Devils.