And Devils fans passed hard on that trade proposal. Devils fans are really split on Zacha, but most still agree he's worth more than Puljujarvi as he's already shown he's an NHL player, is very good defensively, and could/should develop more offensively. Puljujarvi is too much of a wild card at this point and since he would have to pass through waivers has to play at the NHL level (likely in a top 6 role to succeed) whether he earns it or not. A bottom feeder can afford him that chance - a team like NJ that's looking to make some noise this season, can't.
I agree the trade would benefit the Oiler's more. More importantly, it'd benefit Zacha more as he'd be 3C automatically and might be able to get more minutes and establish his offence a little more.
A lot of the posts above (and man can Zacha divide a crowd) seem to suggest he's at best a 4C on NJ due to tremendous depth. Some have even suggested he go to wing. Jesse could come in for around 1 mill and play on a wing with one of your Top 3 Centres and might make a lot of noise.
Don't get me wrong, if I were NJ, I wouldn't make the trade either. Mind you, is he going to get booed out of the building if the Czech rumour is true and he just signed for 3 years? I can't imagine 'almost signed in KHL' is a good PR move on his part. I do agree with other posters that the problem isn't so much Zacha (or Stefan) but the RFA situation which seems to be a powderkeg about to explode.
Your final line about NJ looking to make a lot of noise is devastating as an Oiler's fan... I was positive you'd never recover from trading away Larsson for Hall. Yes, that's sarcasm.