I know what you're saying "Redwing, you hyporcrit. The Devils aren't your team." True, but I've had a soft spot for them since Lou practically sprinted to the podium and announced Parise's name like a 4 year old sprints downstairs on Christmas Morning, opens the present he has been talking about all year long. You might be saying "You're just saying that because Lou is a college guy." Yeah, he spent time with Providence College and as an administrator with Hockey East. And yeah I consider him to be a big reason why HEA gets so much press compared to other college hockey leagues despite it not being as dominant historically compared to the WCHA (different argument).
Today, Lou Lamorello pulled the trigger on a blockbuster trade sending rookie Niclas Bergfors, Johnny Oduya, a 1st round pick, and a 1st round dumb*** Patrice Cormier for Ilya Kovalchuk and a rookie defenseman Salmela. To me, this is a great move, at least in the short run.
Oduya and Bergfors are good players, for sure, but Kovalchuk is a proven commodity as well and will pay huge dividends to the Devils. Salmela is an unknown to me.
The big question mark is that first rounder. That's a long term "Will it bite us in the backside?" type deal. If the Devils find some way (unlikely) to retain Kovalchuk past this year (and still keep Parise and Zajac), the Devils will win hands down. Since finances, salary caps, and that sort of thing is like Chinese to me, I have absolutely no clue if this is even possible.
The bonus in all of this is that Patrice Cormier is no longer Lamorello's problem. Being traded to Atlanta will keep Cormier where he belongs: an irrelevant goon on an irrelevant team.
So, to recap: Atlanta gets a future top prospect, a solid dman, a rookie wing that can score, and a bum. New Jersey gets a serviceable, if unknown dman and a top line premier scoring forward. Short term? NJ wins. Long term? Unkown at this time.
I solidly believe that Lou is one of the best (if not THE best) GMs in the NHL.
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