The New Jersey Devils have traded two draft picks, a 2020 3rd rounder and a 2021 2nd rounder, for Vegas Golden Knights forward Nikita Gusev.
The Vegas Golden Knights entered free agency with an interesting piece in the form of Russian winger Nikita Gusev in their possession. With rumors that he could be on the move, a flurry of potential suitors stepped forward, with rampant speculation from fan bases vying for his services. Well, now it appears that the cap crunched Golden Knights have found a buyer for their overseas prospect – the New Jersey Devils.
While the New Jersey Devils have always seemed in play for Gusev, things heated up Monday morning when multiple twitter accounts started speculation. Gusev getting moved seemed inevitable, but it was just a question of where and when.
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If that return holds true, it would roughly be in line with the projected return that Vegas wanted in a second-round pick for the restricted free agent.
New Jersey is without a second-round pick after this coming year’s selection was sent to the Nashville Predators as part of the P.K. Subban trade. That third round pick could be New Jersey sweetening the deal for Vegas’s patience in accepting a second round pick in the 2021 draft.
For Devils fans who have been dying to get Gusev, and made their opinions on social media well know, it seemed too good to be true. Unfortunately for them, the brakes were pumped on this news. Jesse Granger of the Athletic provided an update shortly after that although a deal was not official yet, it seemed all but imminent.
Chris Ryan of NJ.com officially confirmed that the trade was near and done. But it was the official New Jersey Devils twitter account that will probably go down in history with the best trade announcement of all time. OF ALL TIME:
Vegas fans will be sad to see Gusev go, but it’s an unfortunate reality of their cap circumstances. they should be happy they got a slightly better return than what they were asking for, although they were probably holding out hope for a first-round pick.
While there are some reservations from the Devil’s fan base around Gusev, namely his lack of North American playing experience, he’d be a great piece for the Devils to have. The team is in a state of flux with the likes of Jack Hughes, P.K. Subban and Wayne Simmonds joining the youth movement of Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt.
All of this while the franchise is in the middle of the ongoing quest to re-sign franchise Mr. Everything Taylor Hall. In locking up hall long-term, none of these acquisitions can be underrated.