The big news today is the pair of moves that Nashville made. The Predators traded the rights to defenseman Dan Hamhuis to the Flyers for Ryan Parent and a conditional draft pick. While this move does affect some of the Devils offseason plans concerning our defense.
However, the Predators' second move is much, much more relevant to the Devils. The Preds traded their Captain Jason Arnott to the Devils for the Devils 2nd round draft pick in 2011 and prospect Matt Halischuk. (H/t to Marty's Better #30 for reporting this earlier)The Devils immediately address a big need in the form of a 2nd line Center, while the Preds get a skilled forward and a 2nd round pick in the proverbial war chest. With the trade, the Devils take on a big $4.5 million cap hit, which means the Devils have 16 players signed with $11 mil in cap space (per capgeek), and Martin and Kovalchuk not signed. And if Lou knows what's more important, keeping the team's best defenseman and probably the most effective free agent defenseman on the market is probably a high priority.
The big concern about this trade is probably going to be Arnott's health. He's suffered three concussions in the last three years, and has suffered various lesser injuries as well. It's also affected his game, he's much less physical (24 hits this season, down from 65 in 2008-09). As for what Arnott can do offensively, he's still got a bit left in the tank. He was 4th on the Preds in scoring, and was 5 points short of the team lead, despite missing 19 games. More importantly, his contract expires in 2010-11, meaning prospects like Adam Henrique and Jacob Josefsson will get time to mature in the AHL/Sweden (in Josefsson's case). Also, the $4.5 million cap hit and salary comes off at the end of the season, meaning the Devils will have more flexibility with the roster in the short term. I personally feel that this deal was a good move, but what do you guys think about the big trade?