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1) The early returns of the Stefan Matteau for Devante Smith-Pelly trade definitely favored the Devils.

Smith-Pelly scored eight goals and tallied 13 points in 18 games with the Devils while Matteau continued to struggle in Montreal recording just one point in 12 games with the Canadiens.

The Devils almost certainly won the trade but Smith-Pelly is not the player we saw towards the end of the season and is in line for a drop in production.

While appearing in 64 games during the 2015-16 season Smith-Pelly scored 14 goals on 15% shooting. His previous career high in goals was seven (during his rookie year in 2011-12) and prior to last year he was a 7.5% shooter through his first 149 games.

Had he shot his career average last year he would have scored just seven times. Unless his shot is magically twice as good now as it was through the first four seasons of his career he is not going to match last year's goal total barring a) DSP playing in close to 82 games and; b) shooting much more frequently. I wouldn't bet on that happening.

Smith-Pelly is a useful player but if you're banking on 15-20 goals over a full year next season you will be left disappointed.

2) One thing I like about how GM Ray Shero has put together the Devils is that he has a lot of players signed to 'prove it' contracts.

Players like Jacob Josefson, Beau Bennett, Sergei Kalinin and Yohann Auvitu are all on cheap, one-year deals.

Due to injuries, lack of opportunity, etc. most of these guys haven't really shown exactly what they can become at the NHL level.

This season they will get the chance to prove their worth and have extra incentive to do just that as they're playing for contracts.

The Devils, meanwhile, will get another year to see exactly what they have before committing to any of these players as part of the future.

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