Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Devils trade David Steckel to Maple Leafs for a fourth round pick; More moves coming?

Ottawa Senators v New Jersey Devils

NEWARK, NJ - MARCH 08: David Steckel #25 of the New Jersey Devils skates against the Ottawa Senators at the Prudential Center on March 8, 2011 in Newark, New Jersey. The Sens defeated the Devils 2-1. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Getty Images

When a deal comes together between Brian Burke and Lou Lamoriello it’s like a layer cake of analysis, even if it’s a small deal. New Jersey sent center David Steckel to Toronto in exchange for a 2012 fourth round draft pick. It’s not a big deal by any means, but it’s one that has curious effects on both teams.

For Toronto, Steckel enters a situation where the Leafs have a lot of depth at center. Tim Connolly and Mikhail Grabovski have the top two lines taken care of, but guys like Matt Lombardi, Tyler Bozak, and Philippe Dupuis are in the mix on the bottom two lines. Bozak was assumed to be the third line center while Lombardi would likely start on his wing, or vice-versa. Dupuis was set to be the center on the fourth line, but with Steckel and his league-leading faceoff winning abilities now in town, he likely slots in there.

The guy getting the squeeze here could be Bozak as Lombardi being healthy again after concussion issues makes him a bit redundant. Bozak is more of an offensive player but having him center a third or fourth line doesn’t make much sense and there isn’t room for him elsewhere in the lineup.

In New Jersey, Steckel was already squirreled away as the Devils’ third or fourth line center, but with him headed to Toronto now the door is open for the Devils young guys to take over. Devils GM Lou Lamoriello tells Tom Gulitti of Fire & Ice that the move opens the door for others to fit in better with the team.

“It certainly frees up a roster spot for a combination of us looking into seeing what we can do with Petr Sykora and also the young players (Adam) Henrique and Mattias Tedenby and Brad Mills, Cam Janssen, I think they’ve warranted being on the roster,” Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said. “But the coaches will have different options at that center position: Hernrique, Petr Sykora and Brad Mills.”

Sykora has yet to sign with the Devils. If he is sticking around, that move will happen soon enough.

It’s a blip on the screen when it comes to headline-grabbing deals, but it’s the sort of deal that could lead to other others happening to follow it up, especially in Toronto.