Minnesota Wild swapped defensemen with the New Jersey Devils. The Devils received defenseman Ryan Murphy and the Wild ended up with defenseman Michael Kapla in return. This one is surely not a blockbuster deal, but both of the D-men already have NHL experience.
TRADE:
To Minnesota #Wild
D Michael KaplaTo New Jersey #Devils
D Ryan Murphyhttps://t.co/pOmLyOX15A#BellLetsTalk #BellCause— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) 31. januára 2019
Devils Swap Defensemen with the Wild
Ryan Murphy has participated in two NHL games this season with Minnesota. Last year, Murphy skated in 21 games with the Wild recording five points. Murphy was originally selected by the Carolina Hurricanes as the 12th overall choice in the first round in the 2011 NHL Draft. Even though he is a first-round draft pick, his career has not taken off as expected. He has played in just 174 games in the NHL. Murphy is a 25-year-old right-hand shot defenseman.
Michael Kapla, undrafted, has skated in five NHL games with the New Jersey Devils in the 2016-2017 season and didn’t record any point that year. During the current campaign, Kapla played in 45 games in the AHL tallying one goal and 16 points in total. He served as a captain for UMass-Lowell team in the NCAA before signing with the Devils in March of 2016.
What This Means for the Future
The New Jersey Devils already find themselves without defensemen Ben Lovejoy and Sami Vatanen. It´s quite obvious that the Devils wanted a little bit of help on their blue line. Murphy seems like a very low-cost addition and short-term help for them. Although he is a first-round draft choice, the Ontario native hasn’t skated in many NHL games. On the other hand, Murphy is still just 25-year-old and already has some NHL experience.
From the Minnesota Wild perspective, this doesn’t seem like a trade to help them at all. While the Devils might use Ryan Murphy in the next couple of games, acquisition of Michael Kapla seems like a simple boost for left-handed defensive depth for the Iowa Wild in the AHL.
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