Devils Deadline Deals

The New Jersey Devils weren't expected to be major players at the deadline,but thoughts were that they could get a little something for a role player or two.

The Devils did send out two players,but the return was nothing to be excited about as the team sent defenseman Kyle Quincey to Columbus in return for defenseman Dalton Prout and forward P.A.Parenteau to the Nashville Predators for a sixth round draft pick.

I was disappointed with both trades for different reasons.
Parenteau,who scored 13 goals with 14 assists for the Devils,I would have thought would have been worth more than a sixth round pick,although if someone offered more,I'm sure that Ray Shero would have taken it.
I'm usually in favor of getting something (a 6th rounder in this case) for nothing (Parenteau is a free agent at the end of the season),but in this case,such a low return for a player that has helped the team be competitive only makes sense if the Devils intend on tanking the final weeks of the season to move up in the draft.
If that's the case,I can see it-for any other hockey reason-Not so much.

I do have one theory though-Since Parenteau went to the same team as Vernon Fiddler and the Fiddler deal brought a higher than thought return (2017 4th rounder),the Devils could have given Nashville Parenteau because there were no other suitors.
Had the Fiddler trade not happened before and this deal happened today-Fiddler/Parenteau for a 4 and 6,we might have thought a bit better of the deal...

The Parenteau trade is one that I wonder about for the low draft choice,but the other trade baffles me.
Kyle Quincey was a free agent at the end of the year and would have been off the books and cap.
Quincey scored 4 goals and had eight assists in his one season in New Jersey.
Instead of a pick in 2017 or even 2018,the Devils added another journeyman blueliner as the Blue Jackets sent Dalton Prout to the Devils.
Prout has a year remaining on his contract at a little over a million and a half (which seems a little high) and I doubt he gets any higher than the sixth defenseman at best.
Prout had played for just 15 games in Columbus this year and notched three assists,but played more under past Blue Jacket coaches than under John Tortorella,
Prout is a physical player that isn't afraid to throw the gloves off and bang away (102 penalty minutes in 2015-16),so he may have some entertaining,if not good moments for how ever long Prout stays in Newark.

All in all,a disappointing day.
I didn't expect 1's and 2's,but I did expect more than a borderline defenseman and a sixth rounder and for the first time since Ray Shero took over the Devils,I can't understand what the end goal was with these trades..