The New Jersey Devils have traded forward Blake Coleman to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Nolan Foot and a 2020 1st round pick.
The 1st round pick originally belonged to the Vancouver Canucks and was acquired by the Lightning in the J.T. Miller trade.
The pick is lottery protected. If the Canucks miss the playoffs, the pick transfers to 2021.
The 28-year-old Coleman was drafted 75th overall in the 3rd round of the 2011 draft by the Devils. He carries a $1.8 million salary cap hit for one more season.
The 19-year-old Foote was drafted 27th overall in the 1st round of the 2019 draft.
Caley Chelios: “Come playoffs you need guys that are ultra competitive and Blake Coleman is ultra competitive.” He said he had been targeting Coleman for a while, feels he’s a great player who is outperforming his cap hit.
Bryan Burns: “What I felt we couldn’t afford to do was not give this group of players a chance to have as good a spring as possible. That’s why I decided to pay the price and add him to the group.”
Thoughts from the media
Abbey Mastracco: “A week or two ago I didn’t see the Devils trading Blake Coleman. I wrote that the team needs to sell the fans on hope and Coleman provided that. But things change quickly this time of year and Tom Fitzgerald said he is open to trading almost anyone.”
Sean Gordon: “Coleman is under-the-radar good, and has a year left on a below-market deal. But he’s also 28. What I’m saying is this seems like a more than reasonable haul for NJ, so might deadline prices be high this year? Something to think about as Mtl flogs its wares.”
Dmitri Filipovic: “That’s a big price for the Lightning to pay, but a) they get to add Blake Coleman to an already stacked lineup without subtracting anything from it and b) his $1.8M cap hit will be super valuable next year when he slides up the lineup after they cut salary this summer.”
Blake Coleman
What are the #GoBolts getting?
👉🏼 top 4 most impactful F on the #NJDevils
👉🏼 Defensive dynamo – high D deployment, very strong xGA
👉🏼 16 5v5 goals ranks 18th in NHL
👉🏼 shoots a lothttps://t.co/rPaylOLwWf@BoltsJolts @TBLightning #tradedeadline https://t.co/YKdjIVebq9 pic.twitter.com/LcRhcxDODY— Jason Paul 🦊 (@WaveIntel) February 17, 2020
Blake Coleman
Nolan Foote