The New Jersey Devils have agreed to trade center Brian Boyle to the Nashville Predators in exchange for the Predators 2019 second round pick
The deal is Brian Boyle to NSH. NJ gets NSH 2019 2nd round pick in return. Done deal.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) February 6, 2019
Devils Trade Brian Boyle to Nashville
The New Jersey Devils completed a trade Wednesday, February 6th with the Nashville Predators. The Predators have acquired center Brian Boyle in exchange for Nashville’s second-round pick in 2019
Key Players
In Boyle, the Predators get a physical center who can play anywhere in the lineup. He has been a huge presence on the powerplay with a career-high six goals with the man advantage this season. This season, he scored 13 goals and 6 assists for 19 points, adding 22 minutes in penalties. His possession numbers are 47.3 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of -0.5. Those totals are comparable to last season, where he scored 13 goals, 10 assists for 23 points. Over his 12-year NHL career, Boyle has played for the L.A. Kings, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils. In that time, he has 119 goals and 92 assists for 211 career points in 740 career games. He was originally drafted 26th overall of the 2003 NHL draft by the L.A. Kings.
What This Means for the Future
With Boyle set to be a free agent at the end of the season, he is meant to be a rental player with the Predators since they will be unlikely to re-sign him with the Ryan Ellis extension starting next season. When with the Devils Boyle played on the bottom six this season. He will step into the Preds lineup as a key bottom 6 player and a penalty killer. Boyle will likely play 4th line center behind Ryan Johansen, Nick Bonino, and Kyle Turris when he’s healthy. This adds depth to the Predators roster for a Stanley Cup run this season.
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
