I wouldn't make this trade, but it's not not the worst one I've seen here. the devils need a top 6 center and two top 4 defensemen. murphy looks like he would fit nicely in the top 4, although they need a little more help on the left side. anisimov isn't the top 6 center they need. kempny isn't an improvement on what they have already and they don't need to dump contracts (they have cap space to take bad contracts in exchange for assets). and none of these guys are really worth a 1st round pick.

First line centers then top pair dman then 2nd line centers...so 3rd hardest thing to find in the NHL...to me anyway. If NJD actually finds a 2nd line center that's perfect...theyll probably have to give up a lot more than one 1st rounder. I hear ya that anisimov may not be the preferred #2 center, but there really aren't many options available for NJD to trade for. Even pending UFA rentals will be more than the 1st for a #2 center.

I totally agree with you on those points. my take on this is that the devils are playing with house money right now and, if they make a move to improve this season, they really need to improve. I just don't see anisimov moving the needle. I don't know enough about murphy to say whether his mediocre nhl production before this season is simply a measure of being on terrible coyotes teams, but some of his underlying numbers and contract are good enough to make an offer. maybe a 2nd round pick and blake speers? keep in mind that moving him does free up cap space for the hawks.

ultimately, I'm not sure the devils have the types of assets to get the kind of players they need that don't also set themselves back somewhat. I still think they are better off missing the playoffs and pointing taylor hall toward the lottery balls and telling him that winning the lottery gets him an $80 million extension. build for next year instead of wasting assets on players that don't make them better.

by the way, I would like to point out that the devils would have checked off one of their impossible to find needs had they drafted any of barzal, provorov or werenski in 2015 instead of zacha. that kills me to this day, and likely will for years to come...

@youiswhatyouam good thoughts. Thanks for contributing.