The New Jersey Devils have traded goaltender Remi Poirier to the Washington Capitals for a 2027 seventh-round pick.
The deal was announced Sunday, and it's a small one on paper. The Devils sit 9-5-0 through 14 games, so this isn't a roster in crisis mode.
Poirier is 25 years old and 6'3, 210 pounds, a native of Farnham, Quebec. He was drafted by the Dallas Stars in the sixth round, 185th overall, in 2020.
Here's the part that stands out. He has no regular-season NHL games played, either this season or over his career, and no playoff games either.
So Washington is buying a name with no NHL résumé. That's not unusual for a depth goalie, but it tells you how the Devils valued him: a seventh-round pick, and nothing more.
For New Jersey, the return is about as modest as a return gets. Seventh-rounders rarely turn into NHL players, and the Devils know that.
Washington enters Sunday at 8-4-0 and winning three straight, with Minnesota coming to town tonight. Spencer Carbery's group sits third in the Metropolitan Division.
What the Poirier trade says about Devils goalie depth
Moving a goaltender with no NHL games is a depth decision. The sheet doesn't tell us who is ahead of him in the organization, and it doesn't say why the Devils made the move now.
That leaves a real question about the Devils' plans in net. A club that moves a goalie for a seventh-round pick usually has a reason, but New Jersey hasn't offered one in its announcement.
Still, the timing is worth noting. Sheldon Keefe's team is 7-3-0 over its last 10 and won 5-2 at Vegas on Friday, so the group is playing well enough that this looks like housekeeping, not a reaction.
The Devils' own announcement was brief. New Jersey said it acquired the pick from Washington for Poirier, and that was it.
-
Poirier was also on a deal that runs through 2026-27, with restricted free agency waiting at the end. Washington now holds that decision.
New Jersey's next test comes Tuesday, November 3, against the Edmonton Oilers. Sunny Mehta's front office will have to show whether this was a one-off or the first of more moves.
Was a seventh-round pick enough for the Devils to move Remi Poirier?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Dylan Larkin trade update: Johnston reveals limited interest among approved destinations
