Devils acquire P.K. Subban from Nashville!

You had a feeling that New Jersey Devils general manager Ray Shero had a potential deal or two with a cap-strapped team on ice somewhere to be taken out on the NHL Draft's second day, but I'm not sure that I saw one of this magnitude coming as the Devils acquired defenseman P.K. Subban from the Nashville Predators in exchange for Steve Santini, prospect Jeremy Davies, the Devils own second-round pick (they still have their acquired second rounders) and their second-round pick in the 2020 draft.

Now, before we get too excited, Subban didn't have a usual season of his standards in 2018-19 with nine goals and twenty-two assists along with a plus-five over 63 games, which would look very nice on last year's Devils squad, but was a drop in production.
Plus Subban is 30 years old, he'll become the highest paid Devil at nine million a year and he's signed for the next three seasons (or at least until a potential Taylor Hall contract would be signed), so you better hope that last season isn't the beginning of a sharp career decline, but...

IT'S P.K.FREAKING SUBBAN and for next to nothing!
It is a player that instantly becomes your top defenseman, allows Andy Greene to drop to either second pair anchor or team with Subban and at least take some of the pressure off a veteran blueliner if they pair them together.
Subban likely isn't a player in decline, just two years ago Subban notched a 16 goal and 45 assist line to finish third in the Norris trophy voting and it's because of his statistics over his career that a respectable stat line looks a bit out of place.
Subban's not a player that has historically had injuries that nag at him and after having some locker room problems in Montreal, was a model citizen with Nashville.

The cost of the two draft picks wasn't a huge hit as the Devils had multiple second rounders this draft and with multiple third rounders still in this draft, it would not surprise me at all to see Ray Shero try to trade one of those picks to get back into round two in 2020.
Steve Santini spent parts of four seasons with the Devils and never really broke out into being anything more than a depth defenseman at best and an AHL hired gun at worst.
Jeremy Davies might be the biggest loss of the trade as Davies signed with the Devils this spring after three seasons at Northeastern and had developed into an interesting prospect after New Jersey selected him in the seventh round in 2016.

The New Jersey Devils have just added an elite defenseman that can play large amounts of minutes, play on both the power play and penalty kills and isn't all that old at 30.
Even if Subban isn't what he once was and there is little indication that that may be so, this deal is incredible for its cost and for another reason as well- showing that this Devils franchise is committed to winning soon and not to a total rebuild.
Being able to show that commitment might go a long way in helping the Devils retain the services of one Taylor Hall next summer as Hall becomes eligible to test free agency.

The Devils made a minor trade today, but I stayed awake after work to hammer this one out, so that will have to wait until tonight to opine on that and any other Devils deals that may arise.