The New Jersey Devils have acquired defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler from the Washington Capitals in exchange for a 2021 3rd round pick.
New Jersey makes a nice move here as they anticipate losing pending UFAs Ryan Murray, Sami Vatanen and Dmitry Kulikov at the looming trade deadline. Siegenthaler can step in and replace one of them. The Capitals have a lot of defensemen, so Siegenthaler has been a healthy scratch for most of this season. He has put up strong expected goal numbers in the past, with a 51.38 xGF% last year and 57.45% the year before. He is young and showed last year that he could be an above average defensive defenseman. A third rounder is a bit of a high price considering Siegenthaler\’s lack of experience, both in total and this year. The Devils did have two third rounders, and could add another by trading a pending UFA. Siegenthaler is cheap, with a $800k cap hit before becoming an RFA at the end of the year.
Siegenthaler, 23, has no points and 10 blocked shots in seven games this year. In his NHL career in Washington Siegenthaler has scored twice with 11 assists for 13 points with 159 blocked shots in 97 games.
The Caps have eight defensemen, and Siegenthaler has easily played the least among them. He has some potential, but the contending Capitals open up a roster spot without having to waive someone. They get a third rounder, which is solid value for a player with less than 100 career games. Plus, they can flip it for a rental soon.
CarterHud 