Confirmed with Link: Matteau to MTL for Devante Smith-Pelly

[Balance]

Wow, we won this trade so easily. Matteau will never be an NHL player, he was awful every game he played here.

 

[hockeyr5]

Scrub for scrub. In the long run this is an irrelevant trade.

 

[JimEIV]

TSN analysts seemed to like the trade.

Became a Canadian team won the trade.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Became a Canadian team won the trade.

They liked it for us.

 

[MadDevil]

I don't think either team really "won" this trade. They're both similar players who weren't working on their respective teams. It's basically a lateral move for both teams. Although DSP is a RW, and our depth there really needs some work.

 

[Whaddagoal]

I like it for us, but that's largely because i had settled on the idea that this org wasn't going to give him (Matteau) a chance, so we got a regular NHL caliber player in return, albeit not a fantastic one. That said, I wasn't too sold on Matteau's potential either, as he didn't show anything particularly great in any aspect of his game.

On the other hand, DSP is young, too. Let's give him a chance to show us what he's got.

People are hard on Hynes for his treatment of Matteau (i too was baffled by his non-usage)..... but Hynes took this very mediocre roster and made it a bubble team, let's see how he coaches DSP.

 

[Bologna 1]

I would drop DSP right into Stempniak's spot and see what you've got there

yep, nothing to lose, right?

 

[Oneiro]

There's a part of me that wants to believe that we drafted Matteau to **** over his dad.

 

[RSeen]

Sounds like this trade is pretty much useless player traded for useless player...We will see if we can get a productive 4th liner here but his skating seems to be an issue so probably not.

 

[Whaddagoal]

Here's a small highlight clip of DSP, just found without much effort.



He's got a lot more skill in his game than the average grinder. Definitely wouldn't call him a scrub or label him as useless as was Matteau was here with us (not his fault).

 

[Based Anime Fan]

No more Matteau? Nice.

The stink of that Kovalchuck penalty is starting to be excised.

 

[britdevil]

A few years ago I really wanted Palmieri and DSP out of Anaheim. Weird.

Decent deal.

 

[Devils Dominion]

It's not Rod Pelley folks.

DSP is a better player than Steff.

 

[JimEIV]

What's weird to me is how many people have such definitive opinions on a player has only played 44 games and has had virtually no opportunity for 2 years.

 

[JimEIV]

It's not Rod Pelley folks.

DSP is a better player than Steff.

So is Tootoo...

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

Sounds like this trade is pretty much useless player traded for useless player...We will see if we can get a productive 4th liner here but his skating seems to be an issue so probably not.

I think his skating's actually pretty good now after losing that weight. He could keep up just fine with some speedy line mates and there's times where his skating's just flat out good.

Definitely not an issue.

Here's a small highlight clip of DSP, just found without much effort.



He's got a lot more skill in his game than the average grinder. Definitely wouldn't call him a scrub or label him as useless as was Matteau was here with us (not his fault).

I've seen him make some very smart passes. There is potential there. He's had some promising moments imo. Defensively responsible.

I'm really hoping that Matteau is better then what he's shown Our GM gets a lot of flak (some warranted some not) but he's usually pretty good with these small moves.

At worst DSP is a serviceable 4th liner. He got into a bit of a thing with Galchenyuk a few months ago so his inconsistency 'could' be related to being a 'partier'. I still think that even at his worst he wasn't truly that bad.

 

[Whaddagoal]

What's weird to me is how many people have such definitive opinions on a player has only played 44 games and has had virtually no opportunity for 2 years.

It's not definitive, its just what's the point of thinking about that when the organization clearly didn't agree with us in that thought of ours?

I also felt all season we should wait on Matteau and either give him a real chance.....at least before we deal him, but the coach/gm made it so evidently clear that he wasn't really seen as a valuable asset here, at least valuable enough to play for us.

It does disappoint, but i can't fault myself or others for feeling relieved that we got some immediate NHL value for him, considering the chances the org didn't want to use him were high. I was actually shocked we got some real return for him.... not because i felt he awsn't valuable, but i felt the way the org treated him he would barely sniff anything useful if they were intending to deal him for something. The return is better than i expected.

Don't be perplexed at the posters, but at the Devils themselves.

 

[NJDevs26]

The organization themselves seemed pretty definitive in its statement by not playing him despite various chances to do so. Time will tell if they were too rash or not but either way he wasn't in their long-term plans, that was obvious so it's probably easier for me to accept than others who still felt if he just got in there something would happen positively. He wasn't going to get in there though and I have to think there was a reason.

And yes I would have ideally played him down the stretch this year THEN dealt him off but I kind of liked DSP from when he burst onto the scene that one playoff year with six goals. Of course he hasn't done much since then but neither did Stempniak before he got here, he was forgotten on third and fourth lines too.

 

[Bleedred]

DSP has been a much better player than Matteau, not sure what the problem here is.

I'm surprised Matteau was even worse that much. Good trade by Shero. We either got a guy that could possibly be a decent third liner, or another borderline 3rd/4th liner that has still been better than Matteau.

 

[Traitor Zach]

This was a worthy gamble to find a guy who might be a drastic improvement on the 4th line for us. He might only be a one year guy but Shero needs to clear out Ruutu, Gionta, Tootoo and bring in some fresh blood there. Maybe Farnham and Kennedy get shots to come back but the other three are absolutely terrible and don't belong in the NHL anymore.

Matteau had no future here and may not even be an NHL caliber player. DSP has regressed but he has at least shown he has enough skill and body of work to get one more shot.

 

[Camille the Eel]

Matteau has NHL skills as far as skating and size. The size with that speed is Western Conference potential. But he looked lost a good deal of his rather small time on the ice, deer in the headlights quality. And whether he has NHL hands, vision, instincts well we can't really say . . . he never got much of a look here really. He's a blank slate as far as what the Habs may be able to develop him into.

Is he still out of options at Montreal where they have to keep him with the big club or can he go back to the AHL for more seasoning now that he's moved from the Devils?

 

[kiwidevil]

Matteau has NHL skills as far as skating and size. The size with that speed is Western Conference potential. But he looked lost a good deal of his rather small time on the ice, deer in the headlights quality. And whether he has NHL hands, vision, instincts well we can't really say . . . he never got much of a look here really. He's a blank slate as far as what the Habs may be able to develop him into.

Is he still out of options at Montreal where they have to keep him with the big club or can he go back to the AHL for more seasoning now that he's moved from the Devils?

Pretty sure he would still have to clear waivers to be sent to the AHL.

 

[Jersey Fresh]

Matteau couldn't beat out Bobby Farnham, Tuomo Rutuu, or Jordin Tootoo. Enough said.

 

[Devils Dominion]

Stef has had too many red flags since juniors.

I was rooting for him but it just didn't work out.

I think conditioning was an issue.

 

[njdevils1982]

whatever