The Vegas Golden Knights have traded left winger Nikita Gusev to the New Jersey Devils for a 2020 3rd round pick and a 2021 2nd round pick.
The Devils have signed Gusev to a two-year contract at $9 million.
Chris Westcott: Gusev will get $5 million this upcoming season and $4 million the following year.
Gusev was drafted 202nd overall in the 7th round of the 2012 draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Vegas Golden Knights: Golden Knights GM George McPhee:
“We did our best to accommodate Nikita and his salary request but were unable to do so. He is a good person, a good player and we wish him well in New Jersey,” said Vegas Golden Knights General Manager George McPhee. “When you have a roster comprised of players who are deserving of a certain salary range you are not always able to make room for everyone. This is the reality of having a good team in the salary cap world.
After this trade, we now own nine picks in the first three rounds of the next two drafts. These picks will help boost our organizational depth and add to our pool of prospects. Although we were not able to make this work I am really happy with where we are at with our roster.”
Thoughts from the media
Jesse Granger: “Sources tell The Athletic the Golden Knights gave Nikita Gusev’s camp permission to meet with the New Jersey Devils this weekend, to see if a deal on a contract could be reached.”
Dobber Hockey: “Gusev is underrated and not given enough legitimacy. But he was head-and-shoulders above any other KHL forward – more so than Panarin was when he got signed. This is going to be huge.”
Amanda Stein: “#NJDevils Ray Shero has always talked about his strongest asset: Cap Space. He uses it to lock in Gusev.”
Adam Gretz: “Gusev was more productive than Panarin and Dadonov in the KHL. I don’t know what that means for his future, but I’d be willing to give up assets and give him some money to take a chance.”
Kevin Kurz: “Is anyone having a better offseason than the Devils? I know some luck was involved in getting Jack Hughes, but still…”
Andy Graziano: “Just a brilliant move by Shero, in my opinion. Trades two insignificant picks, only locks Gusev in for two years. Well worth the risk.”
Neal McHale: “Gusev scored 1.3 points-per-game last season for his best KHL season. A slight bit more than one Artemi Panarin did as a then-23 year old. Also did so one year prior to his NHL debut.”
After acquiring 27 y/o F Nikita Gusev, the #NJDevils sign him for 2 years $4.5M Cap Hit. Covers 1 UFA year
-17G 82P in 62 KHL GP
-4G 16P in 10 GP for Russia at World’sRep’d by JP Barry @CAAHockey https://t.co/3fqPK4Qla1
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) July 29, 2019