The Colorado Avalanche has traded defenceman Ryan Graves to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Mikhail Maltsev and a 2021 second-round draft pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.
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Ryan Graves Traded To New Jersey
New Jersey continues to make news today. First, it was the Michael McLeod signing. Now the trade for the defenceman, Ryan Graves. As part of the deal, the second-round pick the Devils sent to Colorado is the 61st overall. New Jersey acquired the pick from the New Islanders as part of the Andy Greene trade at last year’s deadline. Graves still has two years left on his contract carrying a salary cap hit of $3.166 million. No salary was retained by Colorado.
The defenceman scored two goals and 13 assists for 15 points in 54 games last season. He had one goal and five assists for six points in the first two rounds of the playoffs before Colorado was eliminated. During his three-year NHL career, Graves has played in 149 regular-season games, having scored 14 goals and 46 points. In the playoffs, the 26-year-old has appeared in 25 games and had nine points total.
He was originally picked 110th overall by the New York Rangers in the 2013 NHL Draft and traded to Colorado in 2018.
As for Maltsev, the Avalanche get a player who played in his first NHL season. In 33 games with the Devils, he scored six goals and three assists for nine points. Maltsev was a fourth-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft by the Devils.
What This Means For The Future
From the Colorado perspective, this is a smart move. They would likely lose Graves for Seattle in the expansion draft, now they got Maltsev and a pick in return for him. From the New Jersey perspective, it can be a good move but it all depends on how things will develop from now on. Graves is a good defenceman, very physical and that can make some smart moves. However, many of his mistakes were corrected by his teammates, which can be a problem for New Jersey. Though he will be a huge upgrade for their penalty kill. He is the type of player general manager Tom Fitzgerald wanted to add to this young team. Of course, he can be a huge help for the young Devils team with three NHL seasons on his back and playoff experience.
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