Ray Shero, take a bow.
(Slow clap)
This is not your father’s New Jersey Devils squad.
THIS is the new age New Jersey Devils.
Say goodbye to Lou Lamoriello and Jacques Lemaire and their mind-numbing, flow-strangling systems hockey.
Say hello to high octane offense in Newark. The Devils are 14-6-4 and are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings. They are in fifth place in goals scored with 78.
An already fast and curious squad got all the more aggressive and high profile on Thursday when Shero pulled off a doozy of a deal. Shero has acquired high temp puck mover Sami Vatanen and a third round draft choice from Anaheim Ducks in exchange for twenty goal scoring forward Adam Henrique, prospect forward Joey Blandisi and a 2018 third round draft choice.
This trade gives the Devils two versions of Sami Vatanen:
Rookie puck mover Will Butcher is Sami Vatanen Version 2.0. Butcher, the 2017 Hobey Baker winner, signed with the Devils as a free agent last summer. Since then, the 5’10” and 190 lb. defenseman has scored 2 goals and 16 assists in 24 games played. Butcher ratchets up the speed quotient at 5v5 and in the PP
Vatanen is the original copy. At 5’10” and 190 lbs., Vatanen sets the temp at even strength and QBs the power play. He’s enjoyed three season of 30+ points scored. His ceiling is much higher than that. Vatanen is every bit the new age D-man that Duncan Keith is. Not the biggest dog in the fight, however, can our skill and our work opponents’ top line players.
n 280 career NHL games, all in four-plus seasons with Anaheim, Vatanen scored 33 goals and 93 assists for 126 points. The added value is that Vatanen has already played in 40 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He’s played big boy hockey in the Western Conference Finals.
Good on a Shero for pouncing on Vatanen while the market had its back turned. Shero saw his target and he exploited it. That’s the sign of an engaged, intuitive GM.
Don’t tell Shero the trade market doesn’t begin until after Christmas. Shero’s Devils have been a pleasant surprise in the Eastern conference and he is rewarding head coach John Hynes and his players by adding a top pair puck transporter par excellence in Vatanen.
Bob Murray was searching for a solution to the Ducks’ injury depleted mess of a forward corps.
Injuries to top centers Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler prompted Murray to look outside his family for short term for help. Injuries to forwards Rickard Rakell and Ondrej Kase hasn’t helped the Ducks.
Along comes Henrique,who starred with Cam Fowler and Taylor Hall on the 2010 Memorial Cup winning Windsor Spitfires.
Once a laughingstock in the East, the Devils are now a legit contender.
On Thursday, Shero invested his three premium pieces of trade currency in an established, world class defenseman. Did he over pay? Who cares. Shero did whatever it took to land Vatanen. Such a power play takes stones. It’s a brilliant move. I love it. Were I an NHL GM, I would have green lighted a similar deal for Vatanen, a legit first pair D.
You have to give quality to get quality.
After the Vatanen-Henrique trade, my thoughts went directly to Buffalo Sabres power forward Evander Kane.
Hell, if Henrique, a prospect and a third round loser can get your team Vatanen and a third rounder, Kane’s trade value must be sky high right now.
All due respect to Henrique, but he’s not even in Evander Kane’s skills and power echelon. Ditto the finesse forward Duchene. Kane is a five tool forward. He can kill an opponent with his quick release, insanely fast feet, deft passing, thunderous body checks and hands of a neurosurgeon.
Kane can play a dominant role in the top three lines and would be the type of acquisition that could put a middling team into a playoff spot. Kane would make a playoff team a power house.
Kane has never played on a Stanley Cup playoff game. His style is perfectly suited for the heavier, nastier, more combative style that we see in the playoffs.
I have Kane’s resale value pegged between the three pieces for Vatanen and the seven pieces that exchanged hands for Matt Duchene earlier this month.
A few hours after the New Jersey trade with aneheim, Sabres GM Jason Botterill spoke with Buffalo media. Evander Kane’s name was brought up in the convo with the Buffalo GM.
Will Botterill be trading his pending UFA power forward?
The first year general manager said he hasn’t made up his mind yet. Really?
Perhaps Botterill’s mentor and former Pittsburgh Penguins boss Shero has inspired Botterill to moving Kane sooner than later. Perhaps Botterill spoke with media on Thursday to kick start the Evander Kane marketplace. Per usual, Botterill praised Kane’s attitude and work ethic.
“We've been very happy from Day One with how Evander's come into training camp focused on our team and focusing on helping our team try to improve. Statistically, he's done a great job."
Kane leads the Sabres with 12 goals and 23 points in 25 games played this season. Trading Kane now can fetch Botterill the top pair defenseman, scoring forward and two picks his 30th place overall Sabres so desperately need right now. Phil Housley’s team has earned a mere 16 points out of a possible 50 points in their first 25 games of the season. By my math, the Sabres need to earn 75 points or more in their next 57games in order to squeak into contention for eighth place in the Eastern race.
Should Kane stay or should he go? The fans and his teammates want Kane to stay. How about Botterill?
“That's the balancing act you're always going to get, just like you saw with the trade today," the GM said. "I'm sure if you talk to both those teams, they're excited about the players they got, but it's also disappointment about the players you have to let go. That's always the things you're looking at, trying to find that mix."
After recording 11 points in 11 games during October for his first point-per-game month since January 2014, Kane scored 11 points in 13 games in November.
Of Kane’s 12 goals, eight have come at even strength, three were shorthanded and one was a power play goal.
Kane’s eight even-strength goals tie for 16th in the NHL. Since December 3, 2016, Kane has scored 40 goals in 95 games. Those 40 goals tie for 22nd in the NHL during that span and his 33 even-strength goals tie him for eighth in the NHL.
You want Kane? I’m talking to you Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, NY Islanders, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Columbus, Minnesota and Las Vegas? Then bring your best offer in the first round of negotiations. Tire kickers and gawkers need not apply.
"I'm trying to build relationships with other general managers now, but it's a scenario where I think it's good for the game when trades like Duchene's goes down or trades like today," he said. "I think it's a trade that helps out both teams and it's a scenario where our conversations have been positive for sure."
Check out Botterill’s comments on Kane, Jack Eichel, Phil Housley, the Rochester Amerks and Alex Nylander here:
Thanks, Sabres TV
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