Tom Fitzgerald didn't stop after his previous trades before the deadline as the New Jersey Devils made one final trade on deadline as the team traded veteran defenseman Dmitry Kulikov to the Edmonton Oilers.
New Jersey will receive Edmonton's fourth-round pick in the 2022 draft, but should the Oilers win their first-round playoff series, the Devils pick will be upgraded to a third-rounder in the same draft.
The 30-year-old Kulikov had signed with New Jersey for 1.1 million on a one-year deal before the season and played well in his stint in Newark as a solid, defense-first blueliner that didn't score a goal in his thirty-eight games and finished with two assists.
Kulikov isn't a playmaker type, but I thought his solid season and a cheap contract would attract a team that could slot him in as the type of defenseman that can play on your second or third pairing.
I thought that Kulikov's play might fetch as high as a second-rounder, but trade-deadline seasons can vary and as All About the Jersey stated, it's all about what someone is willing to pay and we are in a time where Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac brought a larger return than Taylor Hall did for Buffalo, so you take what you can get.
I mentioned yesterday that the Devils had placed Sami Vatanen on waivers and perhaps his assist in last night's loss to Pittsburgh gave the Dallas Stars some hope with the veteran, as Dallas claimed Vatanen off waivers and will have the veteran for their next game.
Vatanen finishes his second tour as a Devil with two goals and four assists in thirty games.
The New Jersey Devils needed to pick up their game in the second half of a back to back set at home against the Edmonton Oilers and they were able to do that, but it wasn't enough to hold off Connor McDavid and a few judicious uses of the whistles as Edmonton took a 4-3 overtime win at the Rock.
The Devil's goals were scored by Kyle Palmieri (2). Nikita Gusev (2) and Damon Severson (1) as the Devils gained their second point of the season, but will still be attempting to find their first win with their next chance being Saturday night against the Bruins.
Hell Raisers
1) Let's deal with those judicious whistles or non-whistles first.
The Devils are holding on with a 3-2 lead, but the general rule of thumb in officiating in a one-goal game is this- Unless a penalty is very egregious, you try to let the players decide the game.
Fine, but as Taylor Hall was hauled down by Oskar Klefbom, that looked to be the type of play that couldn't be overlooked.
No whistle, but OK they are going to let them play.
Edmonton pulls goalie Mikko Koskinen with a little over a minute to go for a 6 on 5 advantage in an attempt to tie and Connor McDavid has the puck and Blake Coleman would prefer to have it for himself.
Coleman swipes at the puck and lightly brushes the leg of McDavid, who is arguably the talented player in the league.
Apparently, McDavid is a thespian in his spare time as he hits the ice acting like he's been run over by the Zamboni and the arm goes up for a penalty.
So much for as another famous athlete turned actor named Bob Watson once uttered- "Let them Play".
2) And of course, it cost the Devils as now with Edmonton with six skaters to the Devils four,
Edmonton sets up and fires the puck at Mackenzie Blackwood, who makes the save, but can't quite control the puck.
Still, you clearly hear a whistle blowing which usually means the puck is dead and play has stopped.
Apparently, those rules don't apply to the aforementioned McDavid, who slams the puck into the net.
It appears to be a matter of frustration until the officials rule that the goal counts.
Now, how that happens when an official blew his whistle, play and players stopped and yet, it's still a good goal is beyond me, but that's what happened and cost the Devils a point and eventually the game.
Edmonton still may have scored as they still had over another minute of 6 on 4 play, but this was a terrible call.
Pro sports often gives superstars a break, but two of these large breaks at this stage of the game is ridiculous and awful officiating.
3) The overtime was fun though with both teams taking chances and having breakaway opportunities that neither could take advantage,
Taylor Hall had two by himself and didn't score, although one shot crashed off the post.
The NHL has such a great and exciting thing going with 3 on 3 overtime, it's the best thing that they have and I still wish they would extend the overtime to hopefully decide games before they would reach the shootout.
4) Andy Greene missed the game with an upper-body injury.
Greene doesn't miss a lot of time and the soon to be 37-year-old captain is at the stage of his career where aches and pains that you could once play through are suddenly a burden.
I wonder if Greene is going to be playing after this season and if so, will it be in New Jersey?
I doubt it, Greene is a free agent at the end of the year, his five million dollars can be used elsewhere and rarely do aging players take big pay cuts for non-championship contenders.
5) The penalty killers allowed two of the three goals, but I can forgive the McDavid goal.
It's the other goal by James Neal that gets to me as Neal redirected a shot by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins past Mackenzie Blackwood in the second period.
Neither forward killing penalties was anywhere near Neal and the defensemen did their ice cream softee performance in clearing the crease (as noted yesterday).
On the evening, the Oilers scored on two of their three power-play chances.
6) The shootout only saw one goal scored in the initial three rounds as Edmonton's third shooter Leon Draisaitl beat Mackenzie Blackwood to end the game.
Draisaitl scored the Oilers' first goal of the game, the only one that Edmonton scored at even strength.
Draisaitl logged the most ice time of any Oiler (more than the most heralded McDavid) and the 23 year old German scored 50 goals with more than 100 points last season and scored more goals than McDavid and only nine fewer points.
This is a player that is only going to get better and there is a chance that Draisaitl and McDavid could be the next Crosby and Malkin.
7) Mackenzie Blackwood was solid in net in the loss.
He can't be faulted for the Neal and McDavid goals, made several big saves in overtime and only allowed one goal in the shootout.
Blackwood was clearly better than in his previous start against Buffalo and deserved a little better than a loss.
The New Jersey Devils were an unknown factor entering today's trade deadline after trading for Michael Grabner a few days before the deadline.
There were a few Devils related rumors including a Hail Mary request for the Ottawa Senators to trade defenseman Erik Karlsson, but nothing concrete.
The Devils didn't add Karlsson (no one did either as Ottawa decided to keep their star), but Ray Shero wasn't finished making deals as he sent a 2019 third-round draft choice and the rights to center J.D. Dudek, a 2014 sixth-round draft choice that is currently playing for Boston College to the Edmonton Oilers for another rental in left winger Patrick Maroon.
Maroon, like previous acquisition Michael Grabner, is a free agent at the conclusion of the season but brings 14 goals and 16 assists on the year as an Oiler to New Jersey.
Maroon, who scored a career-high 27 goals last season, turns 30 during the playoffs and has changed his career over the last season and a half in Edmonton, as in his previous four full seasons in Anaheim and Edmonton, Maroon's high in goals had been only 12.
The interesting points to ponder on Maroon are;
He's a big brawny player (6'3 220) that will be a force in front of the net, has been known to be physical to the point of dropping the gloves on occasion and has scored all 14 of his goals this season at even strength.
Much like Michael Grabner, the effectiveness of Maroon at even strength should be quite a help to the Devils offense.
Nothing against players and their powerplay performance at all, but it is always a plus to me when I see players that accumulate their statistics at even strength.
I would think that Maroon will be seeing his time on the third and fourth lines as he doesn't seem to have the speed to keep up with the smaller, speedier skaters on the upper two lines.
An interesting note on the prospect traded in J.D.Dudek, who has six goals (17 points) with the Boston College Eagles.
I thought that name sounded familiar and it is as his father Joe Dudek, was once on the cover of Sports Illustrated (with Bo Jackson) as a Division III running back at Plymouth State.
Dudek also played for Denver in one of the replacement games during the 1987 strike and ripped up the Oakland Raiders on a Monday night for 128 yards and two scores to be the NFL's player of the week.
Dudek would play the following week in the final replacement game and never played in the league again, although he would finish the season on the Broncos taxi squad.
For more on Joe Dudek, Grantland's article from 2012 can be found here.
