The New Jersey Devils put themselves in an almost impossible situation when it came to both their cap space and how they can manage it going forward, but GM Tom Fitzgerald finally found a path to the other side of the fence.
On Tuesday night, ahead of the Devils' 4-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, veteran forward Ondrej Palat was dealt, alongside two draft picks, to the Metropolitan Division rival New York Islanders in exchange for Russian forward Maxim Tsyplakov.
The Devils did not retain any of Palat's albatross $6 million cap hit, which means the price to dump his full salary was effectively the 2026 third-round pick and 2027 sixth-round pick the Devils paid to New York.
And, not only did the Devils clear cap space, but they also managed to get an NHL-level player back in return in the form of Tsyplakov.
On the surface, Tsyplakov looks even worse than Palat with his one goal and one assist in 27 games with the Islanders this season, but the fact of the matter is that the 27-year-old lost the faith of head coach Patrick Roy and took on a significantly reduced role when he was actually in the lineup.
And if you've followed the coaching career of Roy closely, losing the belief of the coach is not the easiest situation to claw out of.
It is worth noting, though, that Tsyplakov scored 10 goals, 25 assists, and 35 points in 77 games with the Islanders in his debut NHL campaign last year.
His $2.25 million cap hit pales in comparison to Palat's $6 million, and Palat crossed the 30-point threshold just once in parts of four seasons in New Jersey with the Devils.
Devils trade grade: A+
Getting the cap space they desperately needed is already a win for the Devils, but by adding Tsyplakov to the equation, they get a clear buy-low candidate in Tsyplakov, whose 6-foot-3 size and physicality complements some of the hard skills he has.
It remains to be seen if head coach Sheldon Keefe can coax some of the scoring back out of his new winger, especially with the rest of the team continuing to struggle itself, but Fitzgerald did better than he probably should have in this situation.
Too little too late? We'll have to see.