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League-wide it was relatively quiet on trade deadline day but that was not the case in New Jersey as the Devils were quite active making three trades.
They didn't deal pending unrestricted free agent David Schlemko but Lee Stempniak, Eric Gelinas and Stefan Matteau were all sent packing in separate transactions.
I have thoughts on each.
Eric Gelinas to Colorado for a 3rd in 2017
- On the surface this makes a lot for the Devils. The new regime never seemed overly high on Gelinas and it was clear that he fell out of favor of John Hynes and the coaching staff. Considering he sat out several weeks leading up to the trade I think the Devils did fairly well fetching a 3rd for a guy that clearly wasn't in the team's long-term plans; especially considering the asking price, in theory, goes down with him continually sitting out as a healthy scratch.
- At the same time this is a trade we could look back on down the road wondering why the Devils didn't get more. Gelinas absolutely has his faults. He is not very assertive given his size, is prone to a head-scratching turnover and struggles to get his heavy shot through traffic at times.
In saying that he makes a good first pass, has one of the harder shots in the league from the back-end and, if used in the proper role, can be very effective, which we saw earlier in his career.
Again, he has his faults but Gelinas is an NHL talent and it's not impossible that he figures it out in Colorado. If he does, the trade might not look very good considering a good chunk of 3rd round picks never even sniff the NHL.
Lee Stempniak to Boston for a 2016 4th, 2017 2nd
- Realizing the playoffs were realistically not going to happen this season GM Ray Shero smartly elected to sell high on a pending unrestricted free agent for assets that can help with the rebuild.
I think Shero did very well here and that Devils fans should be quite content getting a pair of draft picks for a guy who signed for peanuts just before the season.
I wouldn't rule out him signing back in the summer, either.
Stefan Matteau to Montreal for Devante Smith-Pelly
- The writing was on the wall for Matteau considering he's consistently been a healthy scratch and the new regime has no ties to him.
In saying that I was a little disappointed to see him go, although I knew his name was out there.
Matteau has never shown that he has the potential to live up to his draft selection but in fairness to him he never really had the opportunity to develop properly. He made the team out of camp a few months after being drafted and was in and out of the lineup for half of a season before the Devils elected to send him back to junior.
He spent the following two seasons in Albany before making the team out of camp again this year. Matteau didn't exactly take the league by storm but there were times that he'd go into the lineup for a game or two, play well, and be taken out for an extended period of time anyway.
With the Devils selling off some assets and looking to the future I was hoping to see him get more consistent minutes down the stretch but obviously that isn't going to happen.
I think he'll welcome a fresh start and hope he can take advantage of it. Again, I don't think he's a 1st round talent but I still believe there's an NHL regular in there.
- Smith-Pelly brings a lot of the same traits to the table as Matteau but, by all accounts, he hasn't been as effective at 5 v 5 as Matteau has in his limited minutes.
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Smith-Pelly is only 23 but I think if both players reach their ceilings the Devils will be on the wrong end of this trade.
Time will tell if that is the case.
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