Wednesday night New Jersey Devils President and General Manager, Lou Lamoriello, announced that the team had acquired veteran forward and former Devil Alexei Ponikarovksy from the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for a 4th round pick in 2014 and a 7th round pick in 2013.
My thoughts on the trade:
First and foremost, this move was made in large part due Dainius Zubrus' injury uncertainty. He will miss anywhere between 4-6 weeks.
By acquiring Ponikarovsky, he adds another healthy body, and a big one at that, who can effectively use his size to his advantage. Ponikarovsky is very tough to knock off the puck, works hard and has shown Pete DeBoer in the past that he can play DeBoer's system and have success in it.
During his time as a Devil last year, Ponikarovsky had the most success he's had since his days in Toronto when he was used primarily on the top line. Ponikarovsky had 18 points in 32 regular season games and added nine more points in 24 playoff games en route to an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final.
Another thing Ponikarovsky adds is depth and versatility. He can play on any line in the top-9, adjust accordingly and fit in. Ponikarovsky allows DeBoer the option to change up any of the top-9 lines when struggling, and if someone isn't playing well, let's say Stefan Matteau for example, DeBoer can move Ponikarovsky onto the top line and move Matteau down to the 3rd or 4th line. That way the Devils protect Matteau until he snaps out of his slump.
What happens when Zubrus returns? Who will sit? Nobody has answers to that right now, but the play of each player individually and the possibility for more injuries will determine that.
The Devils strengths are depth, good system play and buying into the team first mentality.
Ponikarovsky fits into those moulds and as they say, you can't be a good team without depth. The Devils add more here.
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Quick note: The Devils reassigned centre Andrei Loktionov to Albany to make room for Ponikarovsky.
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