The New Jersey Devils continued their summer upgrade Monday, trading a third-round pick in 2020 and a second-round pick in 2021 for left wing Nikita Gusev of the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Knights brought Gusev, 27, over from the Russian Kontinental Hockey League for the Stanley Cup playoffs last season, but he didn't play. Gusev became a restricted free agent, and it became clear to Vegas that his asking price and their offer -- reported to be $2 million apart -- weren't in sync.
Who came out ahead in the swap? We grade both GMs:
Devils get: LW Nikita Gusev
Golden Knights get: 2020 third-round pick, 2021 second-round pick
New Jersey Devils: A
My daughter's a big fan of those "blind boxes" you see at toy stores, where you purchase some sort of trinket sight unseen. You can glean some insight about what might be inside that box by its brand, its size and how much you're paying for it. With those established, you sort of know whether you're going to generally like what you're getting. But until you open the box, it's just that: an educated guess, with a baseline assumption of quality.
Which brings us to Gusev, a player who has yet to step on the ice for an NHL game. The Devils sent two draft picks to Vegas for his rights, and then signed the restricted free agent to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $4.5 million -- or $150,000 less than Kyle Palmieri, who had 27 goals in the NHL last season.
They know what he has accomplished in the KHL, where he has been one of the most accomplished offensive players in the Russian league: 332 points in 391 games, with 119 goals, winning its MVP award in 2017-18. They know what he has accomplished in international play: 34 points in 24 games at IIHF worlds, 12 points in six games at the 2018 Winter Olympics as Russia -- er, "The Olympic Athletes From Russia" -- won men's hockey gold. They know other exceptional offensive players have successfully made the KHL-to-NHL leap, most notably New York Rangers free-agent prize Artemi Panarin.
They know all of this ... but until he steps onto the ice, they don't exactly know what they have in him.
But it's worth buying the blind box to figure that out.
First, because the Devils are very much living in the now, so giving up two picks for what many expect will be a top-six left winger was justifiable. They've added P.K. Subban and Jack Hughes, and are trying to build a case for Taylor Hall to sign an extension. They had a hole at second-line left wing that Gusev would seem to fill, giving Hughes an offensive talent on his wing for his rookie season.
Second, because it's yet another example of GM Ray Shero smartly utilizing his cap space this summer to enhance his team. He was able to absorb Subban's cap hit to win that derby. He was able to offer an NHL neophyte the $4.5 million he was seeking and still has $12.445 million to spend on RFAs Will Butcher and Pavel Zacha.
Is there a chance we look back at this as a bust? Sure. Again, no one has seen Gusev in the NHL. But given his numbers overseas ... well, even if he's not the next Panarin, he could end up being the next Evgenii Dadonov. And who isn't giving up a second and a third for Evgenii Dadonov?
Vegas Golden Knights: C
The Knights originally acquired Gusev from the Tampa Bay Lightning at the expansion draft, along with a second-round pick in 2017 (which they flipped for Keegan Kolesar) and a fourth-rounder in 2018 (Paul Cotter). The deal was made to ensure the Knights would draft Jason Garrison instead of someone like Jake Dotchin or Slater Koekkoek, neither of whom are on the Lightning any longer. So maybe former Lightning GM Steve Yzerman was fallible. Or maybe the expansion draft drove everyone temporarily batty.
Getting this haul from the Devils for a player the Knights weren't going to sign (and for a player who has yet to appear in the NHL) isn't terrible. It isn't good, but it isn't terrible. What's terrible is the catalyst for the deal, which was the Golden Knights' inability to sign Gusev after bringing him over from the KHL for the Stanley Cup playoffs last season.
The gulf between the sides financially was too large for a Knights team that is cap-strapped. He would have bolstered their offense on the left side, and the overall offensive talent on the roster. They liked him enough to bring him over, but not enough at $2 million more than they wanted to pay him. They liked him enough to try to sign him, but not enough where he became a priority over the rest of the roster.
"We did our best to accommodate Nikita and his salary request but were unable to do so. He is a good person, a good player and we wish him well in New Jersey," Vegas GM George McPhee said. "When you have a roster comprised of players who are deserving of a certain salary range, you are not always able to make room for everyone. This is the reality of having a good team in the salary-cap world. After this trade, we now own nine picks in the first three rounds of the next two drafts. These picks will help boost our organizational depth and add to our pool of prospects. Although we were not able to make this work, I am really happy with where we are at with our roster."
McPhee is right that the more picks to play with, the better it is for the Knights in the future and in the present -- they could package those picks for the help on the blue line they still need. But there's also a chance they're going to regret not clearing room for what could be an offensive talent they whiffed on.