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..

Cleaning out the inbox

Time for an inbox cleaning and we'll start with an ESPN article on the final victory of the career of Sandy Koufax 50 years ago on the final day of the 1966 baseball season.
The victory over the Phillies gave the Dodgers the National League pennant by one game over the Giants and the article discusses the game along with the impact on the 1966 pennant race...
The card to the left,is my actual Koufax card from 1965....

I've written many times about Jim Bouton's book Ball Four,but I've rarely,if ever mentioned the failed TV show based on the book and starring Bouton in 1976 on CBS.
Vice sports goes into detail on the show that lasted just five episodes.
I remember watching it as an eight year old,but honestly don't remember many specifics,other than former Raider Ben Davidson had a co-starring role.
The show takes place just before Bouton decided to make his big league comeback in 1977/78 and I would think that would have been unlikely to happen had the show been a success...



The New Jersey Devils season is a little over two weeks away and the Devils made a move to upgrade the defense as the team signed Kyle Quincey from the Red Wings to a one year contract.
The 31 year old Quincey played with the Wings for the last five years and scored four goals with seven assists last season in Detroit.
Quincey should challenge for one of the third pairings on the blueline.

A surprising,but welcomed move saw the Milwaukee Brewers moved their High A affiliate to Carolina with the Mudcats.
The Brewers had been with Brevard County of the Florida State league,but that team was sold to the Atlanta Braves and then moved.
Most observers thought that of the two remaining teams,the Colorado Rockies would win out with their low A (Asheville) and AA (Hartford) being closer to Carolina making more sense for the Rockies than being in the California league.
However,the Brewers won out and gave guys like me another new team to graph in the CL next season....

Joe Plum sends this from Atlas Obscura of a 40 year old Hermit Crab.
I used to try to keep Hermit Crabs and as much as I liked them,it was very hard to keep them alive for long.
If I remember right,I think I even had a few given to us by Joe!!!