Instead. Seattle chose a low-cost young player, and while the Devils didn't lose a key player or a highly rated prospect Nathan Bastian was the type of player that expansion teams select and established teams hope not to lose.
Bastian is young (23), physical, and is solid enough to play right win on a fourth line and play effectively as he did last season on the Devils fourth line with Myles Wood and Michael McLeod.
New Jersey selected Bastian in the second round in 2016 and scored three goals in seven games in 2019-20 in a cameo appearance before scoring the same three goals in forty-one games last season on the fourth line,
Players like Nathan Bastian aren't uncommon and they actually are fairly easy to find.
They play hard, are often fan favorites, are great teammates, can be productive on special teams, and sometimes in their career year can pop a number far beyond their normal number (remember David Clarkson's career year when he scored 30 goals and scored only 29 in the final five years of his career?).
Those players can eventually become far more expensive than their play justifies, which returns us to why Seattle took a Bastian rather than more expensive and formerly more productive players.
As for replacements for Bastian on the checking line, the Devils will likely sign an inexpensive veteran from free agency to compete with Nick Merkley off the roster and maybe Marian Studenic, who played for AHL Binghamton last season
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