Confirmed with Link: Viktor Loov traded to NJ for Sergey Kalinin

[Bleedred]

Eh. It was his first pro year and you visibly saw Kalinin adjust to the NHL game over time. He also came to the Devils with no Russian players and seemingly knowing very little Russian as well. I think there were some clear tools Kalinin had. His size/boardwork combo was very Zubrus-esque but it seemed like he lost some of his effectiveness there this year. He also showed some bursts of speed last year off the rush that I think made people think he could be an effective crash the net type fourth line forward who would be a pain to play against.

I could definitely see where people had some hope for Kalinin from last year. But at the same time, he never looked strong at center and at LW he's got tons of competition who are just as good if not better than him so I don't blame the Devils from moving on. I like the idea in getting Kalinin, but it clearly didn't pan out.

Well, he had the patented ''power move'', which happened at least monthly and I don't even think ever resulted in a goal.

Yeah I mean, he had some good boardwork and all, I just never thought he had a ceiling that was higher than a career 4th liner.

 

[Zippy316]

Well, he had the patented ''power move'', which happened at least monthly and I don't even think ever resulted in a goal.

Yeah I mean, he had some good boardwork and all, I just never thought he had a ceiling that was higher than a career 4th liner.

Which I think is all he would've been.

He definitely had the tools to be a hard-to-play-against fourth liner. I personally hoped he could be more consistent and more effective at driving to the net and along the boards, but he clearly didn't get better this year. Thought maybe a full year under his belt in NA would help him out, but after the Kalinin-Fiddler-Lappin line fizzled out, he did nothing.

I'm happy with the trade, because as I said, he was redundant with the left-handed LW/Cs we have coming up. I like Loov as a Helgeson replacement and he still has some upside on the left-side where the Devils clearly need some work.

 

[Bleedred]

Which I think is all he would've been.

He definitely had the tools to be a hard-to-play-against fourth liner. I personally hoped he could be more consistent and more effective at driving to the net and along the boards, but he clearly didn't get better this year. Thought maybe a full year under his belt in NA would help him out, but after the Kalinin-Fiddler-Lappin line fizzled out, he did nothing.

If he was able to give us 15 points over a full season as a 4th liner, that would have been a success to me.

I just doubt very much that he could do something like that without the aide of Zajac/Palmieri/similar skilled player/PP/etc.

I'm not sure if Loov is just a ''Take back a contract'' type deal, but I'd be willing to give him a chance over Helgeson. Is Helgeson still on the roster? Don't remember him getting sent down.

 

[Oneiro]

From Lou's perspective, the idea might have been to see if he could become a poor man's Zubrus.

Ironically, the way DSP played last night, goal or not, was pretty similar to vintage Zubs.

 

[thethinglonger]

 

[JimEIV]

They love each other so much they needed to stop the game to hug... Apparently

 

[ghdi]

I'm not sure if Loov is just a ''Take back a contract'' type deal, but I'd be willing to give him a chance over Helgeson. Is Helgeson still on the roster? Don't remember him getting sent down.

He is a take back a contract deal. There's no other reason why Toronto offers us a player for Kalinin when they could've taken him on waivers (Kalinin cleared before the trade). If they take him on waivers, they also have to re-expose him since they can't send him down to the Marlies otherwise (its the same situation we had after we re-acquired Boucher). Toronto is also in a playoff hunt, Kalinin via waivers takes them to 50 contracts and leaves no wiggle room for other possible moves. Giving us a player for Kalinin eliminates that. Maybe Loov sees a few games in Newark, but w/e. Any minutes Loov would be getting I'd rather see Josh Jacobs getting a look up here, but I wouldnt complain if Loov got the call up instead.

Helgeson is still in Newark. He's been a healthy scratch the last few games.

 

[devilsblood]

Some of those hit's by Loov were looking very head hunterish.