For a while now, the Metropolitan Division, and the Eastern Conference for that matter, has been dominated by the likes of the Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, and New York Rangers. But last season, the Columbus Blue Jackets managed to break through unexpectedly, and this season they, the New Jersey Devils, and New York Islanders have stepped up their game to dominate the division so far.
On November 28, however, the New Jersey Devils traded away their top line center and fan-favorite Adam Henrique. The trade saw the 27-year-old drafted by the Devils in 2008 move to the injury-stricken Anaheim Ducks, who also received 23-year-old left wing Joseph Blandisi – who played 27 games and scored nine points for the Devils last season – and a 2018 third round pick.
Adam Henrique shipped to the Anaheim Ducks – file photo courtesy of Lewis Bleiman
In return, the Devils got a conditional third round pick that’s dependent on Henrique re-signing with the Ducks before his contract expires at the end of next season, as well as defenseman Sami Vatanen. Despite the loss, this trade may help the Devils to propel themselves to an even stronger season.
First of all, Adam Henrique is a major loss. One of the reasons why Taylor Hall’s arrival was lauded last season – besides the fact that he’s an elite-level scorer – is the fact that he already had chemistry with Henrique, having played together for the Windsor Spitfires in the OHL for three years. However, while the Devils have been flying high this season, looking to return to the playoff for the first time since they lost in the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals, the defensive side of their game has been rather poor.
Despite their high standing, the other threats have the Devils sitting at +410 to win the division in the NHL betting odds, with the Blue Jackets as favorites at +270, and the Capitals and Penguins lurking close by at +550. This is greatly down to the Devils’ defense. While they’ve been scoring for fun, their overall defensive play has been weak, but Vatanen should help that.
Even though he never managed to play all 82 games of a season for the Anaheim Ducks, Sami Vatanen has proven himself to be a solid top-four defenseman possessing strong defensive skills as well as contributing offensively fairly regularly. The 26-year-old Finn immediately becomes the Devils’ best defenseman and will eat up plenty of minutes playing at even-strength, on the powerplay, and on the penalty kill.
Sami Vatanen traded to New Jersey Devils in surprise transaction – file photo courtesy of Lewis Bleiman
The trade greatly improves their team and shows quite an opportunistic bit of work from Devils general manager Ray Shero. Acquiring Sami Vatanen would cost most teams a fair bit more than the Devils gave up, but because of the plague of injuries that has struck the Anaheim forward corps, particularly at center, Adam Henrique posed quite the trade chip for the Devils. Given the huge amount of depth that the Devils have in their forward corps, and that the Ducks have at their blueline, the trade was a good move for both teams, despite the big-name that left New Jersey.
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