Where would they put Schmid if they trade for DeSmith?

Penguins decline

We just got Palat, no reason to move him.

I don't see the appeal of this trade for either side. The Devils give up Palat for a fourth liner and a goalie worse than Schmid, then proceed to sign Bertuzzi on a more expensive deal? The Penguins pay to take on Palat's contract when they should be rebuilding?

I mean the reason is that he’s a massive cap anchor who is only going to get worse over the length of his contract.

He has been here for one injured season. We haven’t even seen him in playoffs yet (which is why we got him in the first place).

Maybe in a couple of years, but I think at this point we would very much want to keep him.

Paying a 32 year old 6M to hopefully show up for the playoffs is such a wild misuse of the cap it still blows my mind.

It’s impacting how the devils operate already and I’d leap to get out from underneath it given the chance