Devils trade Henrik Tallinder

On a slow Sunday,when you don't expect to have a ton of news,the New Jersey Devils made some as the team traded veteran defenseman Henrik Tallinder back to the team that they signed him from.
Lou Lamoriello traded Tallinder to Buffalo for Riley Boychuk in a trade that could be looked at as a salary cap maneuver and another step as well.
The move also creates a spot on the final roster for one of the young defensemen that form the top prospects in the Devils system.
Alexander Urbom,Eric Gelinas and Jon Merril will battle for the vacated roster spot and the trade also breaks a logjam among the top six defensemen that should result in Adam Larsson to finally get the every game playing time that he deserves.

The main reason though was to get Tallinder's three and a half million off the salary cap at a time when the extra dollars can go towards the new contracts for restricted free agents Adam Henrique and Jacob Josefson.
Henrik Tallinder was in the position of being scratched here and there and the trade to Buffalo will give a nice guy regular minutes in a city that he is comfortable in,which I am sure factored into the Devils dealing him there.
Face it,the Devils could have sent Tallinder anywhere and received a player back similar to Riley Boychuk.
Boychuk is 22,was less than impressive in a AHL stint and spent last year in the
Central Hockey League and scored only eight goals in half a season there.

Good deal for the Devils in gaining cap relief and moving Tallinder to where he will be familiar with as well as opening a lineup spot for one of the few prospects that can step right in and play next season....