The New Jersey Devils made a minor trade today as they acquired forward Brian O'Neill from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a conditional draft pick.
LAK get conditional 7th-rd pick for Brian O'Neill going to NJD. O'Neill was AHL MVP last season. Conditions relate to GP/re-signing.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) October 6, 2015O'Neill is a 27-year-old undersized winger (5'9', 175 pounds) coming off a dominant season in the AHL where he scored 22 goals and recorded 80 points in 71 regular season games with the Manchester Monarchs. O'Neill followed that up with 20 points in 19 playoff games and played a key role on a team that won an AHL championship.
It sounds like the Kings didn't see a fit with him on their roster but wanted to acquire anything they could get for him rather than risk losing him on waivers.
If Kings hadn't traded O'Neill, almost certainly would have lost him on waivers. He's a 27-year-old fourth year pro. Small but fast/skilled.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) October 6, 2015The Devils now have 26 players (including Patrik Elias, who will go on IR) on their roster. That means the Devils still have two cuts to make in order to clear room for O'Neill. Easy money is on Pavel Zacha returning to Sarnia or Seth Helgeson being sent to Albany.
We'll find out by 5 p.m. eastern if that's the case.
Update: The Devils have assigned Pavel Zacha to Sarnia and Seth Helgeson to Albany.