Confirmed with Link: Vatanen to CAR for Janne Kuokkanen, Frederik Claesson and conditional 4th rounder

[NjDevsRR]

Don't worry, he'll get around to it when this team hits ten years with one playoff win.

Lol at this logic. Your own logic is making fun of Lou and you don’t even know it.

2011-2015: One playoff appearance under Lou

2016-2020: One playoff appearance under Shero/Fitz

Nice job.

I freaking love Lou, and everything he did for this franchise but I cannot take the gaslighting from some on here anymore, acting like Lou wasn’t responsible for the lack of playoffs at the end of his tenure here and the resulting mess he left behind. Newsflash, not Lou nor Shero nor Fitz or any other GM would have fixed this mess that was left behind in 2015 any quicker. Hell, we are actually on a faster timetable than where we should be due to luck alone with the lotto wins. Just stop it. Enough with this crap. This franchise was BURIED in 2015.

 

[StevenToddIves]

if he did well enough to warrant protecting, then that's great

but odds are he's gonna be subpar, and if he's the guy who ends up being taken, then great

Agree completely -- if Seattle takes Kuokkanen instead of a more valuable Devil, then the Vatanen trade is a huge success.

 

[Guttersniped]

I thought he was a center, now I’m somewhat less excited. Oh well.

 

[OmNomNom]

This organization is an utter f*cking disgrace. Lou must be laughing his ass off.

we weren't gonna get much.

 

[ninetyeight]

I thought he was a center, now I’m somewhat less excited. Oh well.

He's played center in the past, at one point he was even planned as the #1 center for the finnish U20 team, but failed to live up to the expectations. Seems like he's a natural winger now.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

Kuokkanen has played well vs the Oilers in preseason play (for whatever that's worth).

If you want a little taste of his skill set. He scored the 4th goal and made a nice feed on the 5th goal and got an assist on the 6th goal in this highlight video.

hope this helps!

 

[Guttersniped]

This organization is an utter f*cking disgrace. Lou must be laughing his ass off.

I don’t even get why people think Lou has ill will towards his former team when his busy with his 3rd GM job. I’m also mystified by what he would be laughing at exactly but whatever.

 

[NJDevils17]

 

[AfroThunder396]

Personally, I'd put Kuokkanen as our 4th-6th best prospect. Smith, Foote, and Boqvist are all clearly better. Where JK falls depends on how you value Anderson and Merkley.

I'd probably put him 4th above both of those guys with Anderson 5th.

Damnit I forgot Bahl, I'd put him at #5 ahead of Anderson. Man, it's crazy we added three top-5 prospects this season.

 

[jkrdevil]

Edit: as soon as I post they confirm.

 

[OmNomNom]

yeah i give a rats ass what any gm or fan thinks of us, as long as we're doing the right things instead of spinning tires. 20 years of success takes a toll on a system, esp if the GM running the show can't draft for shit

 

[NJ DevLolz]

Is this the only trade that hasn't been announced yet?

 

[Nubmer6]

Hmmm, two and half hours past the deadline and no official confirmation of the Vatanen trade. The did confirm the Domingue trade already.

Given the conflict in reports of the return. I wonder if something is up.

It wasn't conflicting reports. It was a poorly punctuated tweet that made it sound like we got a 2nd rounder.

 

[AfroThunder396]

 

[Tretyak 20]

What? We had a good haul for Hall, Coleman, Greene and Vatanen. I’m the one laughing at Lou because it looks like the Isles will end up being buried like we were in 14-15.

In case you haven't noticed, we've been buried since 2012. We'll be lucky to make the playoffs again by 24-25.

 

[R8Devs]

why don't teams ever put the conditions for the picks in the press release

 

[Pitaya]

LWs looking real strong with Boqvist, Foote, and now Kuokkanen

Just have to hope we can draft a top-10 talent this year at RW if a LHD isnt available

 

[OmNomNom]

i predict claesson will be #25

also, title of the thread has claessons name wrong

 

[NJDevs26]

why don't teams ever put the conditions for the picks in the press release

Makes the Tweet too long

 

[Guttersniped]

In case you haven't, we've been buried since 2012. We'll be lucky to make the playoffs again by 24-25.

Go root for the Islanders then.

 

[R8Devs]

Makes the Tweet too long

that's be fine but they didn't even put it in here lol: RELEASE: Devils Acquire Janne Kuokkanen, Fredrik Claesson and 4th Rd Pick

I don't understand why so secretive

 

[StevenToddIves]

Personally, I'd put Kuokkanen as our 4th-6th best prospect. Smith, Foote, and Boqvist are all clearly better. Where JK falls depends on how you value Anderson and Merkley.

I'd probably put him 4th above both of those guys with Anderson 5th.

Damnit I forgot Bahl, I'd put him at #5 ahead of Anderson. Man, it's crazy we added three top-5 prospects this season.

There's no way I would value Kuokkanen over Anderson. Outside of puckhandling/passing, there's not one aspect of Kuokkanen's game that's even close to Anderson's, and Anderson has a far superior motor/compete level/complete game.

Merkley has equivalent puck/passing ability to Kuokkanen and also a superior all-around game.

I like Kuokkanen, but what you're hoping for is that he can improve his skating enough to stick in a 2nd/3rd line role, where he can potentially be a nice source of depth scoring.

 

[Tretyak 20]

Go root for the Islanders then.

Nope. Probably won't be watching hockey much for the next 3-5 years. Maybe by then the vultures will have sold the team to someone who cares about winning.

 

[Triumph]

According to Cap Friendly’s waiver calculator, he’s waiver exempt until 2021-2022. I assume that’s right, waiver rules make my brain hurt so I use Cap Friendly.
Janne Kuokkanen Waivers Calculator - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

No, that is right. I think I inferred based on his going from junior to the AHL at 19 that he was a late 97 but he's a 98 birthday. Okay, I like this much better now.

 

[Jack Be Quick]

C'mon folks -- can we quit with the Lamoriello-bashing on these threads? Class act through and through; won three cups in NJ at a time when they were a candidate to leave Jersey altogether. Sure, I disagreed with a lot of his moves late in his term here, but let's talk about the future instead of harping on the past. Lamoriello should be a role model for, if nothing else, the superlative class he has shown at every step in his legendary career.

While I'm obviously quite grateful for his tenure here, let's drop the class act stuff. Because I'm pretty sure numerous former Devils employees would wholeheartedly disagree.

By many accounts he is a petty, bitter man, who used to be a brilliant front office hockey mind.

Thanks for the memories, have a blast in Brooklyn, guy.