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Rather than previewing a Devils vs Islanders matchup for the second time in as many days, I figured I'd use this space to talk a little bit about the trade that happened yesterday.

In case you've been living under a rock, or have better things to do than scroll through Twitter on a Saturday afternoon/evening, the Devils traded forward Sergey Kalinin to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for defenseman Viktor Loov. Kalinin will report to the Marlies while Loov will start out in Albany.

On the surface, it seems like an inconsequential trade and that's because it is. Kalinin is a decent shot suppressor and penalty killer but that's all he offers to a team. That's not a knock on Kalinin -- every team needs a handful of capable penalty killers -- but he offers so little offensively that the Devils would be better served dressing someone like Joseph Blandisi (or even Devante Smith-Pelly, who scored last night) instead. Kalinin is an expiring contract as well and clearly had no future with the club so both sides were better off parting ways now.

Loov is an interesting player. He had a couple decent seasons to start his AHL career but his production has dipped significantly this year (he's tallied six points in 41 games) and he seemingly fell out of favor with the Marlies.

At 24, it's a little early to write him off completely but he should be approaching the prime of his career, if not in the early stages of it, so his output is a little disappointing.

I don't think Loov will ever be a full-time NHLer but he's still a worthwhile addition as the Devils don't have a lot when it comes to defense prospects and he'll help out Albany. The Devils will need to recall a defenseman when Kyle Quincey is traded so Loov will help fill the void that will soon be created.

The Maple Leafs don't have much at center organizationally while the Devils don't have much on the back end. This move doesn't change much at the NHL level but both teams improve their depth while parting with players that didn't figure into future plans.

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