Devils add Curtis Lazar

  The New Jersey Devils made a minor swap on the final day of the NHL trading season as the team traded a 2024 fourth-round draft pick to the Vancouver Canucks for forward Curtis Lazar.

The twenty-eight-year-old Lazar has scored three goals with two assists with Vancouver this season after signing with the team in July.

Lazar is essentially a fourth-line player that builds depth for the stretch run and there is a reason that New Jersey will be the sixth team that he has played at a relatively young age.

Lazar can play on the wing or at center, so there is some versatility with him and he can be used as a penalty killer as well.

Lazar will be under contract to the Devils for two more seasons at an affordable one million per year, so he's not going to be a cap killer and he won't be a rental either, which means someone thinks that he can helpful for longer than the playoff run.

Lazar seems (for this season anyway) to be an attempt to replace some of what was lost when Fabian Zetterlund was sent to San Jose in the Timo Meier trade as a bottom-six-line member.

New Jersey continues to try and build a bench crew and at the cost and length, there really isn't a downside to this trade.

Hughes scores first goal in 1-0 win!

The New Jersey Devils received one goal from their future franchise player and perhaps their goaltender of the future made that one goal held up as the Devils began that thing known as a winning streak with a 1-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks at the Rock.

Jack Hughes (1 power play) took a Taylor Hall pass in the first period and zipped it by Vancouver goalie Thatcher Demko for the only goal of the game and more importantly the first of Hughes's career.
Mackenzie Blackwood finished with 25 saves in earning the shutout for the Devils.
The Devils now have six days off before their next game at home against the Arizona Coyotes.

Hell Raisers

1) You had to feel good for Jack Hughes to score his first career goal with lots of family and friends in attendance and his brother Quinn, who happens to play for the Canucks.
Hughes had a few near-misses on the season, but expectations are always high for top overall picks and you can't blame Hughes for pressing a bit.
Still, you can see just how good Hughes can be and how the Devils can build on his shoulders.

2) Ordinarily, the biggest news of the day would have been the Devils signing of their other top overall pick of recent years to a long-term contract, if not for the win and its circumstances.
The Devils signed Nico Hischier, the first overall pick in 2017, to a seven-year contract worth over fifty million.
Hischier would have become a restricted free agent at the end of this season, but the signing not only locked Hischier up for more than just his restricted years and at what could prove to be a reasonable cost.
Hischier is currently out of the lineup with bruised ribs that are not thought to be serious.

3) Mackenzie Blackwood was very good in net with several saves that saved the Devils bacon.
I'm not sure why Blackwood has been criticized so much for a young goalie that doesn't have a great defense in front of him, but I suppose that's part of a losing fan base.

4) Andy Greene returned from injury to the lineup.
Greene played over 21 minutes in his return, 3rd among the six defensemen.

5) I really liked the fire from Mirco Mueller, who jumped in and exchanged a few swings with the Canucks Brandon Sutter.
It wasn't much of a fight, but both players were given five for fighting.
It was the Devils' first fighting major of the season and it doesn't seem like the pace will pick up soon, but kudos for Mueller for jumping in and helping a teammate.

6) The NHL schedule makes zero sense.
The Devils played four games in a week, take six days off before playing Arizona and then take another five days off.
After that, the team plays seven games in ten days.
Who makes this stuff up????