Grade the Devils trade deadline deals

[Ripshot 43]

I normally don’t get too caught up emotionally in what our GM does because we don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes. Goalie wise, we know that he was trying for much of the season and even the offseason to make a major upgrade. If the prices were too high then what is he to do?

Looks like we cleared the decks a little bit in preparation for the offseason while also allowing some more playing time for others (or less, see Goalies)

VV out and Allen half retained rids us of one issue that slowed a Markstrom trade.

TT did his job here but with us taking a step back and seeing how he fits, it’s a win to not sign and tie up more Cap.

I liked Miller a lot in his role but I’d assume he gets a multi year deal at a higher rate and we need to be using that spot for a lower priced D.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I do think people need to realize Fitz did not trade away Toffoli because he feels he is a bad fit.

He said he would trade for him again and wants to try again to resign him in the offseason.

 

[Billdo]

I said C- before the Vanecek deal but I'll say C now with the Vanecek deal. Toffolis return was mediocre at best, Miller is nice to get better piece than we gave up for him but it being two years away blows. Vaneceks contract being gone for a 7th while having a capable goaltender is a plus. Allen's deal should be fine as long as we sign a quality starter in the summer.

I HATED it before it was announced that Montreal is retaining HALF of it.

A 3rd round pick on a $1.9 million backup, so that Daws/Schmid aren't on the opening night roster next year and hopefully don't have to play more than maybe a few games combined is worth it.

I doubt he'll reach 40 games for it to turn into a 2nd.

It's 40 games and we have to make the playoffs. Odds are we aren't making playoffs if he's playing 40 games but who knows. I don't mind it, the poster saying it's a F- is out to lunch though, it's not that bad.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

Tempted to revise my vote after hearing Montreal retained half salary on Allen. That was slick of Fitz esp after moving Vitek out. Leaves plenty of cash to land any goalie he wants really.

 

[Guttersniped]

C-. It was schizophrenic. Were we selling or buying? Trying to make a playoff run or sending the message that the season's over? We got an upgrade in goal and dumped a bad contract, but we also traded our leading goal scorer and a serviceable D for mid round picks. Doesn't make sense.

The team made it clear why they wanted to upgrade on goaltending right now.

Vanecek wasn’t coming back from the IR anytime soon and they didn’t want play two rookie goalies for the rest of the year.

Plus we went from having Vanecek signed next year for 3.4m to Allen signed next year for 1.925m. The team presumably wanted to move on from Vanecek and now they have a cheaper back-up/1B option next season.

We traded Toffoli because he’s a UFA and Fitz couldn’t get him re-signed to an acceptable deal.

 

[MadDevil]

I do think people need to realize Fitz did not trade away Toffoli because he feels he is a bad fit.

He said he would trade for him again and wants to try again to resign him in the offseason.

It was a good trade, just unfortunate timing with the season going unexpectedly sideways. I don't think I want to get involved in a bidding war for him in free agency though, so I kind of hope Fitz doesn't go after him. It's pretty rare guys go back to teams that deal them at the deadline.

 

[MachoDiablo]

Not about to get upset at the Toffoli deal; the market is the market, I'm guessing Fitz wasn't sitting on a bunch of 1st rounder offers and just turned them down so he could get a '24 3rd and '25 2nd later. Rental wingers are what they are.

The work in goal makes a lot of sense to me, and takes the day up to a solid B. Getting Allen as a backup is solid enough (been hearing some Habs fans say his underlying stats indicate he's better than his current GAA, guess we'll see), but the big score is getting out from Vitek's contract and having a bunch more available space to find a new starter in goal. Just putting yourself in that position is a win, given how desperate this situation has gotten.

 

[kiwidevil]

It's good business when you consider it's not about this season. 2nd or 3rd round pick for Allen, assuming he's going to be solid is good business. He got rid of the big hurdle in acquiring a new goalie in Vitek and got what he could for Toffoli.

Everyone crying for Fitz to think about the future, and that's exactly what he did. But people still bitch as if he mortgaged the future to try and win a cup this year.

You can criticism him for not firing Ruff sooner and seeing what he had before it was too late. But with the GMs extorting the goalie market, it was probably smart to hold tight for now/write off the season. The combo of injuries and young D (have to admit Jim makes some good points on this) has made for a nightmare scenario.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Not sure I get the point of even issuing a grade. He did ok in a tough situation, but a large portion of that situation was of his own making.

 

[MadDevil]

Fitz did miss a glorious comedic opportunity in not trading for Kaapo Kakko to add to Kaapo Kahkonen.

 

[R8Devs]

Getting out of Vitek's contract for only a 7th was pretty good bc I thought it would cost more in the summer to move him or he would require a buyout. good for VV too now with less pressure on him so maybe he can bounce back and get traded as goalie depth to whatever playoff team has goalie injuries at the deadline next season. Best deal of the day just for that flexibility.

If Markstrom is truly the Devils #1 target for a goalie this offseason then I still have a bit of a reservation with the Allen trade because the Devils would be going into next season with two 34 year olds as their tandem. I guess in part with Allen only having 1 more season at 1.9 compared to the other backup options such as Kahkonen/Lankinen who may want multi year deals is a deciding factor but the Devils did pay for that (not that I think a 3rd is super valuable in terms of picking the prospect but it's a good trade deadline piece that they won't have for next season). So in that case why not just look at Kahkonen in the remaining games to see if he might be worth that and revisit the Allen trade in the offseason with even more flexibility. Daws has 16 games left to waiver status so him and Kahkonen splitting duties shouldn't really threaten that if Kahkonen takes the load and worst case they can bring up Kallgren/Poulter to secure his waiver status.

But I guess doing it now also gives the peace of mind with knowing you have a backup for sure for next season instead of the variability of the offseason where'd you need Montreal to connect on the deal again or make sure a UFA chooses you. In the end they have to get the next goalie tandem right so hopefully this was a step towards that

I thought Toffoli would get more as the biggest goal scorer on the market (as in at least a 2nd this year and a 1st was the ideal situation) but I assume Fitz traded him to the highest bidder and obviously had no 1sts on the table and the 2nd round being for next season could be just him wanting to have an extra 2nd for next year's deadline/scouts recommended a 25 2nd over a 24 2nd so it's whatever -- he probably did the best he could have done trade wise with the Toffoli situation. Glad he didn't bite on term

 

[My3Sons]

Did any team acquire a goalie yesterday other than NJ?

 

[NjdevilfanJim]

Imo can't rate it until we see what he does over summer....He's already talking getting a goalie so it's incomplete....Hopefully he plays it right and doesn't make a mistake....

 

[AfroThunder396]

Did any team acquire a goalie yesterday other than NJ?

Not any NHL goalies. Florida acquired Magnus Hellberg and St. Louis acquired Malcolm Subban, that's it.

 

[HBK27]

I gave Fitz a B...would've gone B- if that was an option.

I came into the day wanting him to deal Toffoli and Miller (and any other pending UFA's that had any value) as well as not getting a starting goalie to try to salvage this season and he at least accomplished that.

Toffoli return was disappointing as we were hoping for a 1st, but the rumored returns were probably never realistic to begin with. Teams don't usually give up a 1st for a non-star winger. Guentzel didn't return a first this year. Even when we moved Palmieri a few years back, we had to include Zajac as well to bump it up to a 1st. Fitz most likely got what the market dictated.

Hated, HATED the Allen trade when it was announced by after a cool down period and seeing that they retained 50% and that the 40 games played next season condition is unlikely to be met, I don't hate it. A 3rd rounder for a (hopefully) solid backup next season and allowing Daws/Schmid (if they're both still here and not used in a starting goalie trade) to properly develop in the AHL next season and have to earn their way up is not a bad move.

Was glad they got something for Miller, though a deferred pick isn't ideal...but I guess a 2026 4th rounder is better than a 5th or 6th in 2024 or 2025.

Vitek deal was solid - thought it would've cost more than a 7th to move him this offseason.

If we were to include the MacDermid deal, I'd knock it down to a C.

 

[glenwo2]

If it was just the Toffoli deal, it would be a C- (the minus is because the 2nd was 2025, not '24)

But then add the Allen deal which we gave up a 3RD that could be a 2nd under certain condtions, and that grade drops to a "D".

The Miller deal was eh for me but it was still better than the Allen deal so it increased my grade very slightly to a C- again.

Then he goes and GETS RID OF VITEK and gets an expiring contract (who happens to be a 27-year-old Goaltender in Kahkonen) that gets a 20-game (or so) audition, and that grade shoots up to a "B" for me.

Hence why I voted "B".

 

[glenwo2]

shutup nerd

 

[aero8279]

Did everyone complain when kinkaid was traded to Columbus for a pick that was 5-6 years away?

I don't see what the big deal is with the Miller trade being a few years out.

 

[devilsblood]

I don't get the whole "Fitz didn't get a good enough return" deal.

Do people honestly think he didn't call everyone to get the best deal possible?

I don’t blame fitz for the returns im just not overly impressed by them.

I do think people need to realize Fitz did not trade away Toffoli because he feels he is a bad fit.

He said he would trade for him again and wants to try again to resign him in the offseason.

Thats sounds a lot like GM speak.

 

[dougiebrown]

New Jersey Devils 2023-2024 season grade: D-
New Jersey Devils 2024 Trade Deadline grade: B

Cap flexibility going into free agency/draft. A #1 Goalie almost a certainty this offseason (especially knowing that Ullmark can be had). I'm not happy about this season. I'm excited for next season.

 

[glenwo2]

With the Schneider buyout off the books next year, we may wind up paying less for goalies next year than we did with the Vanecek/Blackwood combo + Schneider buyout from last year.

Depending if there's any retention on Markstrom.

Don't forget also :

For the first time in a MILLION YEARS (it felt like), next season will be the FINAL season for the Kovalchuk recapture penalty bullsh*t.

So that would be even more money becoming available albeit the following season, provided Fitz is still here and not sent packing.

 

[glenwo2]

If NJ trades for Markstrom as I think they will, then it’s a B. Improved goaltending, protects young goaltenders, get Hotakka back, gain assets to flip in the summer, Meier back to RW. Team defense improving by subtraction.

If they trade for Markstrom this summer, I will not be a fan of it and it will change my grade to a "C".

At his age, his play could fall off a cliff at any moment like Cory Schneider's did.

My preference is to bite the bullet and go after Ullmark or Saros.

 

[Mr Bojanglez]

Minor note re: Allen trade

"Allen plays in 40 or more 2024-25 games and if the club that Allen is a member of qualifies for the playoffs in 2024-25"

So while likely this relates to the Devils. In the odd chance Allen is traded - this aspect would need to be kept in mind.

Tempted to revise my vote after hearing Montreal retained half salary on Allen. That was slick of Fitz esp after moving Vitek out. Leaves plenty of cash to land any goalie he wants really.

Too late. Pencils down. I SAID PENCILS DOWN

 

[NJDevilsFan21]

C. Did the minimum of what should have been done, with goaltending to be revisited this offseason I hope.

Edit: C+ actually considering the salary movements.

 

[Mr Bojanglez]

Outside of Guentzel.... did any other winger moved get a good return?

Toffoli didn't get a great return - but could we say he did get the 2nd best return out of any other winger moved? I only did a quick review.