At this years draft.
To New Jersey:
Teuvo Teravainen (2 years x 5.4 remaining)
Tyler Bertuzzi (3 years x 5.5 remaining)
Frees ~1.2M in cap
To Chicago:
Dawson Mercer (2 years x 4M remaining)
Simon Nemec (1 year 1M/ELC remaining)
Ondrej Palat (2 years x 6M remaining)
Adds ~1.2M in cap
tl;dr, NJ gets quality scoring depth at center and wing to improve their bottom-6 for several playoff runs, and CHI gets promising young players to grow with and become part of their young core.
Who says no? What would be needed to balance this out?
Detailed explanation below.
Why NJ does it:
The Devils desperately need both a 3rd line center AND top-6 insurance in case Hughes gets injured again. Teravainen fills both roles. He's a vet with a long playoff pedigree and acquiring him now gives NJ two potential playoff runs with him. NJ is more concerned with adding offensive firepower since the bottom-6 is pretty pathetic. We have plenty of bigger/tougher/more defensively responsible wingers who would compliment him well.
Bertuzzi gives NJ added scoring depth and they don't necessarily mind his term if it means getting away from Palat. If CHI really wants to keep him NJ wouldn't mind Mikheyev or Reichel or any other 3rd/4th line depth winger who could give them some juice on offense.
It's possible both Mercer and Nemec find their game in Chicago and this move makes them look foolish, but since Chicago is in the west it's unlikely this comes back to bite them and they have major holes that need to be filled now. They free up a bit of cap but add more term, which NJ won't mind at all because all of their core is locked up long term.
Why CHI does it:
They get to buy low on two talented young players who could potentially be cornerstone pieces for them going forward, Mercer had two very strong years early in his career, but seems to have stagnated in NJ. He's only 23 years old but has a 328 game iron man streak since his NHL debut. Your typical 'grizzled young vet.' He was 1 goal away this year from having 20 goals in 3 straight seasons. Better as a winger but can play center and is very good on the penalty kill, surely CHI would prefer a younger yet experienced player who can grow with their core.
The writing is on the wall with Nemec after NJ signed Pesce and Kovacevic on the right side. Very impressive rookie year, this season he was injured before camp and just simply never got up to speed. 2nd overall right-shooting defenseman don't grow on trees and this is one who just turned 21 in February. He seems unhappy not getting playing time in NJ and I suspect he'd flourish in a more open system.
NJ needs to dump Palat in order to make the cap for this deal work. The issue with Palat is not necessarily the term or the the money, it's the fact that he's bad. NJ could deal with that contract if he was giving them 45-50 points a year, but he didn't even hit 30 this year. Chicago doesn't really care about his on ice impacts. Swapping him for Bertuzzi lets them stay cap compliant whole turning a 3 year albatross into a 2 year albatross.
