The Columbus Blue Jackets gave themselves another option in net by acquiring Keith Kinkaid, and paid a wildly low price to do so, sending a 2022 fifth-rounder back to the New Jersey Devils.
Blue Jackets get: G Keith Kinkaid
Devils get: 2022 fifth-round pick
Blue Jackets: B
There's not much to say about this deal. Keith Kinkaid is a pending unrestricted agent on a bad team. Despite some promising flashes over the past two seasons, he's gotten more responsibility but floundered lately (4-10-0, .865 save percentage in his last 15 games).
So why acquire him? Well, Kinkaid is a veteran who is a likable locker room presence. The 29-year-old has been in the league since 2012-13, with a 64-55-17 record, 2.90 goals-against average, .906 save percentage and seven shutouts in 151 career games.
The Blue Jackets have had 24-year-old Joonas Korpisalo as their main backup this season, and despite some moments of brilliance, he's probably not ready to shoulder the load should Sergei Bobrovsky not be around for the playoffs (or should he struggle again). Korpisalo began the season strong but has had a few rough outings lately. This isn't a knee-jerk reaction to his last start, in which he made only 15 saves on 20 shots in a full game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the Blue Jackets know that performance won't fly this spring. GM Jarmo Kekalainen likely wanted assurance. This is all about depth.
And a fifth-rounder in 2022? For a win-now team, that's a problem for much, much later. And really, the price seems like not much more than a bag of peanuts at this point.
Devils: C+
We mentioned Kinkaid is a likable guy. So this hurts from a fan perspective in New Jersey. Kinkaid was one of the plucky heroes on last season's surprising playoff team.
But his future in New Jersey was murky at best, especially after he began to struggle this season. Though he had a reasonable $1.25 million cap hit on this contract, and we don't know what the future holds for Cory Schneider, it doesn't make sense to keep Kinkaid around -- and definitely not for the rest of this season, in which the Devils are already out of it. They've traded away Brian Boyle. Marcus Johansson is likely next. Why just a C-plus for GM Ray Shero? It's rare for the Devils to trade in-division, and especially because of that, New Jersey should have asked for more in return than a future (way in the future) fifth-rounder.
The Devils are rebuilding, yes, but they're hoping this season -- in which star Taylor Hall has now missed a significant amount of time -- could be a one-off. With a ton of cap space, they might be big players in free agency and get right back in it next season. Kinkaid is a stopgap, and of course nothing is stopping him from re-signing in New Jersey as a free agent.
But the real benefit of this deal is getting Mackenzie Blackwood back into the fold for valuable reps for the final few weeks of the season. Blackwood, 22, has impressed in 13 appearances with the Devils this season (2.37 GAA, .926 save percentage) and could be the future answer in goal. This extended audition at the NHL level will give New Jersey a better sense of that.