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Not done yet: Predators trade Jason Arnott to the New Jersey Devils

Image (1) Arnott1-thumb-200x300-14081.jpg for post 2154

This afternoon has suddenly turned busy. Just hours after trading the negotiating rights for Dan Hamhuis to the Philadelphia Flyers, the Nashville Predators have traded their Jason Arnott to the New Jersey Devils. From the team’s press release:

Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has sent captain Jason Arnott to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for forward Matt Halischuk and New Jersey’s second-round selection in the 2011 Entry Draft.

Halischuk, 22 (6/1/88), split the 2009-10 season between New Jersey and Albany (AHL), posting a pair of points (1g-1a) in 20 NHL games and 22 points (11g-11a) in 32 AHL contests. In his rookie professional season of 2008-09 the Toronto, Ont., native amassed 29 points (14g-15a) in 47 games for Lowell, and also made his NHL debut with the Devils, notching one assist.

Arnott, who is now the former captain of the Predators, heads back to New Jersey where he experienced the most team success of his career. As part of one of the most dangerous top lines we’ve ever seen in the NHL with Petr Sykora and Patrik Elias, Arnott scored the Cup-clinching goal for the Devils in 2000 with he knocked in a one-timer 8:20 into double overtime against the Dallas Stars in game six.

He was later traded to Dallas as part of the deal that sent Joe Nieuwendyk and Jamie Langenbrunner to New Jersey, perhaps the most unpopular trade in Dallas sports history, and now heads back to the Devils to join Langenbrunner as a teammate.

Arnott is entering the final year of his contract and is slated to make $4.5 million next season, according to CapGeek.com, and the trade suddenly gives the Nashville Predators an insane amount of cap space with 17 players under contract for next season. It seems that the Predators are gearing up to make a big splash in free agency, as they have now traded away two of the top players on their team (although Hamhuis was highly unlikely to stay in Nashville).

For the Devils, you have to think that acquiring Arnott might mean the likelihood of signing Kovalchuk to an extension is now extremely low. They get back a player who enjoyed success as a Devil and who -- although he’s near the end of his career -- can certainly provide some needed offensive punch.