Devils trade Blake Coleman to Tampa!

The New Jersey Devils fully committed to their rebuild in the middle of Sunday's game vs Columbus when interim general manager Tom Fitzgerald risked the wrath of the Devils fan base by trading arguably the most popular player on the squad to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The trade of center Blake Coleman has the pitchforks out in Newark partly because of the popularity of Coleman for his hustling play on both ends of the ice and his fan-friendly manner away from the game, but equally as much with the discontent with the franchise over a highly anticipated season that turned into a fire sale.

The immediate reaction aside, I can understand why the Devils felt the need to move Coleman now.
Coleman is 28 and in the middle of a career year with 21 goals and 10 assists, which followed his previous top year with 22 goals and 14 assists.
Add Coleman's grit, his ability to play on both the power play and penalty killing units with an extremely team-friendly contract (pro-rated 1.8 million for the rest of this year and only 1.8 million for 2020-21) and you can see why Blake Coleman could be looked at as a "Sell High" candidate.
Players with Coleman's playing style can wear out suddenly without notice, remember David Clarkson?
Clarkson scored 30 goals at age 27 and four years and 32 goals later was a broken player that was out of hockey and while Coleman doesn't show signs of a physical toll yet, the style that he plays does seem to make you believe that a similar career arc to that of Clarkson isn't beyond possibility.

The Devils added 6'4 left winger Nolan Foote in the trade and a first-round draft pick from Vancouver through Tampa Bay that the Devils will receive in the 2020 draft if the Canucks make the playoffs, but if Vancouver misses the post-season the Devils will obtain the Canucks top pick in the 2021 draft.
Foote was the first-round selection of Tampa Bay in the 2019 draft and is thought to be a top-scoring prospect.
Foote scored 36 goals for the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League in 2018-19 and spent this season playing for the Canadian National Team in the World Junior Championships, where he scored three goals in seven games.
Foote is the son of former Colorado defenseman Adam Foote, so the genetics are there to be a fine player and his stock has risen since being drafted last June with some NHL people rating him with an "elite" shot.

Essentially, the Devils received two number one picks for Blake Coleman in Nolan Foote and whoever is selected with the Vancouver pick in either 2020 or 2021.
Had you asked me before the season that the Devils would acquire two number one picks in a trade, I would have thought that it would be most of the return for Taylor Hall.
Had you asked me before the season, would I accept an offer of two first-rounders for Blake Coleman I would have raced to the window to grab that offer!
I know Coleman is a fan favorite, he's one of my favorites too, but Coleman is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2020-2021 season and it's never a guarantee that a player will stay with a team, no matter his popularity.
Everyone loves Blake Coleman and how he plays the game, but I think the Devils did very well in this trade when you look at the total picture and even though he'll be missed by the team and fans Tom Fitzgerald did the right thing.

If you want to say that Blake Coleman will be missed and the team right now will be worse for his departure- I'm right there with you.
But if you believe that the Devils didn't scoop up the proper value in return, you are on your own on that one.

Devils trade Greene,Coleman, overshadows win

I planned on spending a quiet Sunday watching the early XFL game and then flipping to the Devils home game against Columbus.

Tom Fitzgerald had different plans as the New Jersey Devils interim general manager swung two trades, one of which has the fan base howling for Fitzgerald's head before the game had even ended.

The game ended with a 4-3 Devils win in a shootout that went seven deep before Jesper Bratt's goal won the game for New Jersey and despite my plans to write about the game, the trades took center stage.

Before the game, the Devils announced that they had traded defenseman Andy Greene to the New York Islanders while stating that Blake Coleman was being kept out of the lineup for "precautionary measures", which immediately swept through the arena, social media and the Devils fan base that the very popular Coleman was on his way out of Newark as well.
Coleman would be traded to Tampa Bay in the middle of the game and because of the enormity of that trade, I'll be coming back later tonight to discuss that trade that brought prospect Nolan Foote and a future first-rounder from Vancouver (Tampa held that pick) that will either be in the 2020 draft (if the Canucks make the playoffs) or the 2021 version ( if the Canucks miss the postseason).

The Devils were expected to trade Andy Greene and it made plenty of sense at the deadline to see what they could receive for the veteran defenseman.
The 37-year-old team captain will be a free agent at the end of the season and with the team in a rebuilding mode after such high expectations, trading Greene seemed to be a formality with only the destination to be named.
The Devils did Greene a favor in keeping him as close as possible to his family in trading him to the Islanders and I think that reflects well on an organization in these situations.
Observers, no matter how much we look at the data and results, can sometimes forget that players are people too with commitments to their family that are shaken up with every transaction and when a team does right by a player, players hear and that can become a positive down the road when trying to retain a player or sign a new one as a free agent.

Greene scored two goals with nine assists in fifty-three games this season for New Jersey with a plus one on a losing team and the only defenseman on the team with a positive plus-minus.
Greene won't be asked to do as much for the Islanders as he will be used as a stay at home defenseman without the demands of being a captain and he'll have a pretty seamless transition to the Islanders since Lou Lamoriello has changed the Islanders into what the Devils used to be as far as culture and management style.

The Devils added a 2021 second-rounder and minor league defenseman, David Quenneville.
The second-rounder is a very nice return for a rental and returns the Devils to the second round in the 2021 draft since New Jersey lacks a second-rounder, having sent theirs to Las Vegas in the Nikita Gusev trade last summer.
David Quenneville is the younger brother of former Devils first-rounder John Quenneville and has split the season between AHL Bridgeport and ECHL Worchester with one goal and seven assists in thirty-two games between the two teams.
Quenneville was a seventh-round pick by the Islanders in the 2016 draft and is reported to be a strong skater, but at 5'8 and 190 pounds has questions about his ability to move forwards around the crease.
I wouldn't consider Quenneville a major part of the deal but as a flier and addition to the second-rounder, I have no problems seeing what he has to offer.

I'll be back later with some notes on the more controversial trade of the Sunday swaps and perhaps some news out of Cleveland as something appears to be brewing...

Devils throw away victory in opener.

For nearly two entire periods, the New Jersey Devils and their fans could not have scripted a better opening night than they were receiving from their team.
After all, the Devils had raced up, down and around the Winnipeg Jets and built a four-goal lead.
But games aren't won for play over thirty-nine minutes and forty-nine seconds and when Winnipeg's Dmitry Kulikov beat Cory Schneider with just eleven seconds to go in the second period, little did the Devils or I know it, but it was all bad news from there as the Jets would score three times in the third period, almost end the game in regulation and eventually deal the Devils a 5-4 loss via the shootout.
It wasn't all bad news as the Devils at least landed one point on the evening, but this could have been so much more.
Devils goals to Blake Coleman (1 and 2), Nikita Gusev (1) and Sami Vatanen (1).
The Devils travel to Buffalo on Saturday night, so there is no coverage here due to conflict with Ohio State-Michigan State.

Hell Raisers

1) Cory Schneider left the game after the initial goal in the third period by Winnipeg with an undisclosed injury and there is no word at this writing of the injury or its seriousness.
Schneider was good in goal until the Kulikov goal which was soft, as Schneider finished with 19 saves before leaving the game.
I wonder how much the game was affected by the Schneider absence?

2) Considering the circumstances, it is hard to criticize Mackenzie Blackwood too much for his problems in the loss.
Blackwood wasn't stretched and ready physically on short notice and when you add that to the hoopla of opening night for a player going through that for the first time, it's tough to knock anyone's performance- even if it wasn't very good.

3) The defensive breakdowns were glaring, particularly on the game-tying goal where it seemed like the Devils were on the ice since the Carter Administration and simply couldn't get off under any circumstances.
It didn't take a hockey expert to see what was going to occur and sure enough, it did.

4) That breakdown alone should have been on the coaching staff, but one other thing stood out to me.
Remember when I commented in the preview that I was always hesitant to try to figure out lines and defensive pairings because they were often obsolete quickly?
Well, that was true by the first game as the Devils placed captain Andy Greene with new acquisition P.K. Subban, breaking Greene up with his pairing with Damon Severson.
Severson was moved with Mirco Mueller and they were really bad.
Bad to the point that after the game-tying goal, they rode the pine for the rest of the game and deservedly so.
I'm not saying that this is more than a bad night, but even on the surface-Severson and Mueller's strengths and weaknesses don't seem to be a good match.

5) Some good news- I had forgotten how much I loved the grit of Blake Coleman.
Coleman's second goal was one of those that contained a large amount of luck, but luck often arrives through hustle and effort and the pair arrived together as Coleman swatted the puck with one hand, a defender on his back and falling to the ice.
Plays like that don't come often and they come along even less for the high effort players, so it was good to see that work be rewarded.

6) Nikita Gusev is going to be a star.
I know it's one game, but you can see the vision and the offensive skills with the ability to finish that isn't as common for even scorers as you would think.
This guy is going to be a standout and I think it might be sooner than one thinks.
The only thing that keeps Gusev from being a first-line forward is the Devils also having Taylor Hall on the roster.

7) Jack Hughes showed what he'll become, but he seemed a bit jittery and overwhelmed, but that's understandable, he's 18.
I can't imagine being in that situation at 18.
There will plenty of nights that you see the growth and struggles and then there will be others that you'll smile and think forward to the great days to come.

8) The Gusev/Hughes/Jesper Bratt line is going to be exciting to watch grow as well and I hope that John Hynes sticks with these guys as a unit.
The offensive creativity and skills combined with their speed on the ice will cause so many matchup problems for defenses that there will be times that they will seem to be overwhelming to rival teams.
There will be plenty of defensive breakdowns and there will be nights that will cost the Devils a game, but keeping these three together will be worth it.

9) I was surprised to see rookie Jesper Boqvist not dressed for the game and off-season addition John Hayden in the lineup.
Hayden's just a journeyman and even though it was only one game, I hate to already see Boqvist sitting when he could be learning, so that a guy like Hayden can play.
If this becomes a pattern, I would have rather seen Boqvist returned to Sweden for the year.

10) In the shootout, the Devils looked to use their best possible lineup with Nikita Gusev, Jack Hughes, Taylor Hall, and Kyle Palmieri before the game ended.
I'm not sure about the Devils other shootout performers (after missing most of last season), but on the surface, I'd wonder who would be the fifth and sixth shooters?
Just a guess, but maybe Myles Wood or Pavel Zacha?

11) I know it seems that I'm overly bothered about losing an opener with 81 games to go, but I hate giving away points that should have been safely in the pocket.
When you are a team that has playoff hopes, but you aren't a powerhouse that figures to steam into the playoffs with few roadblocks, every point means a lot when April rolls around.

12) Every recap won't be this long, it'll depend on time to both watch and write.

Please forgive a personal note as I wrap up.
I didn't really lose my love for the Devils or the game as part of my hiatus and although there were times that I missed both and especially last winter when I found myself a little bored without the Devils or Cavaliers to watch.
What I discovered that what I missed most was time with Rachel.
Hockey is the only thing that really bonds us together, she likes to spend more time with her mom with more things in common and that makes all the more reason that Devils hockey became even more important to me.
I knew from the first day when she gained such a passion for the team and for Adam Henrique that the day that Henrique left the organization was going to be difficult.
It always is with your first sports love as a fan, it's intense and passionate and when it changes, it changes you as a fan.
The love is never as pure, never quite as intense and it's never the same as that first time.
That doesn't mean that you don't care or lack passion, it's just different.

I expected Rachel to have a hard time with the trade, but I didn't quite expect the long-term issues to the point of rarely watching the team for the rest of that season.
Without watching with her, I didn't enjoy it as much and when she lacked interest for the 2018-19 season, I decided not to pay the money for Center Ice for the first time in close in two decades.
I missed it and watching the games with her.
I'm glad to have that back and to share my thoughts on the season here with whoever reads this.
Anything else that happens on the ice won't be this a bad season for me- Promise.

Devils dribble into free agency

The New Jersey Devils dipped a lukewarm toe into the free agent pool as they signed one player from the NHL level,one from an AHLer to bolster Albany and another one from the college ranks to add to the system as the player meat market officially opened on Wednesday.

The biggest name was the addition of defenseman John Moore,late of Arizona,but also a former Ranger and Blue Jacket after being a first round selection by Columbus in 2009.
Moore is just 24 despite being in the league for five years and brings a potential upside to New Jersey as a stay at home defenseman,but frankly has disappointed in three stops prior to Newark.
Ray Shero has commented on the importance of internal competition and Moore should be in a battle for the sixth/seventh spot among the defensive group.
Moore's contract is for 1.6 million a year over three years,which isn't really a terrible amount for a player that might see his fortunes turn with some development with some luck.

The Devils also added Jim O'Brien as a depth player that most likely will spend the season with the Albany Devils in the AHL.
O'Brien spent the last two seasons in the AHL with a stop in the KHL in between.
The former Ottawa Senator is said to compete for a roster spot,but is more likely to provide that "veteran leadership" that one sees in the AHL and the callup spot that has been held by the Tim Sestito/Joe Whitney types over the last few seasons...

New Jersey also signed someone that Devils fans hope could be a future contributor as the team signed former third round center Blake Coleman to a two year deal.
Coleman scored twenty goals last season for Miami (Ohio) and after a four year career as a Redhawk will compete in camp,but is more likely to start the season with Albany.....

Back later with a look at the Cavaliers on the NBA free agency start.