The New Jersey Devils have acquired D PK Subban from the Nashville Predators in exchange for defensemen Steven Santini and Jeremy Davies, plus two second round picks.
For the Devils, Subban is a dynamic defenseman. He is coming off a bad year but is just a year removed from a 16 goal, 59 point season. He has three years left on his contract, but Nashville will not retain any salary, which explains why they didn\’t trade a first round pick. They lack defense, and Subban is a legitimate top pairing player.
Subban, 30, scored nine goals with 22 assists for 31 points in 63 games for the Predators this past year. In his NHL career for the Predators and Montreal Canadiens, Subban has scored 98 goals with 310 assists for 408 points in 645 games.
Subban has a $9 million cap hit. That is way too much for him, and the Predators also want to extend Roman Josi, who is a free agent after next year. They also could sign a player like Matt Duchene in free agency. They get a roster defenseman in Santini, and a prospect defenseman in Davies, plus two second rounders. He is also aging, now 30.
Santini, 24, scored one goal with three assists for four points in 39 games for the Devils this past year. In his NHL career, all with the Devils, Santini has scored five goals with 16 assists for 21 points in 39 games.
Davies, 22, scored eight goals with 28 assists for 36 points in 37 games for Northeastern University this year. He was drafted in the 7th round by the Devils in 2016.
CarterHud 