The New Jersey Devils acquired winger Luke Evangelista from the Nashville Predators in a trade that broke late Tuesday night.
New Jersey sent back a conditional 2028 first-round pick from Colorado and its own 2028 second-rounder to land him.
That's a real bill for a 24-year-old who has never played a single game outside Nashville.
Evangelista put up 56 points last season, 12 goals and 44 assists over 81 games, with a career-high 16:37 in ice time a night.
He was Nashville's power play trigger man too, chipping in 16 assists with the man advantage.
His last 10 games were rougher. Six points, a minus-4 rating, and zero power play production down the stretch.
The Devils, though, are betting on the bigger sample. Five points in his final five games, three of them goals.
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Why this fits into a crowded Devils top nine
Evangelista walks into a lineup that already runs through Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, and doesn't need to be the guy.
Hughes put up 77 points in just 61 games last season. Bratt added 71 more.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe now has real traffic jam problems in the middle six, and that's a good problem to have.
New Jersey also brought in Evan Rodrigues and Anthony Mantha this summer, so Evangelista is the third significant addition to that group.
Is this a stacked top nine or an expensive game of musical chairs? Ask Keefe in October.
The Devils finished 42-37-3 last season, missing the mark against a tough Metro. They beat Nashville twice, including a 4-2 road win.
Nashville finished 38-34-10, a step behind, and GM Barry Trotz just cashed in one of his best young forwards for future assets.
A first-rounder and a second-rounder is a fair return on paper.
But give up a 56-point winger who's still just 24, and Predators fans have every right to ask if Trotz got real value or just future hope.
Evangelista was a second-round pick himself back in 2020, 42nd overall, out of Toronto. Now he's heading home to the Atlantic Division to chase what Nashville couldn't give him.
The final year of his deal, worth 3 million a season, runs through this campaign, and Metha will have a decision to make on term before next summer even arrives.
Did the Predators just give up too much talent for future draft picks?
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