Devils’ Busy Offseason Rolls on with Gusev Trade

If there was one offseason move the New Jersey Devils still needed to make, it was adding a top-six talent. They took care of that yesterday when they acquired Nikita Gusev from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for a 2020 third-round pick and 2021 second-round pick.

Soon after the trade was made official, the team announced they had signed Gusev to a two-year, $9 million deal ($4.5 million AAV). The 27-year-old left-wing finished with 82 points in 62 games in 2018-19 and won the KHL Golden Stick as regular-season MVP in 2018.

Who Is Gusev?

Maybe you haven’t heard of Gusev before, and that’s understandable. He was a seventh-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2012 but never played a game for them, opting to remain in the KHL instead. The Golden Knights received his rights as part of a trade package when they acquired Jason Garrison from the Lightning during the Expansion Draft in 2017.

Gusev signed a one-year, entry-level contract before the NHL playoffs began in April, but he never played in a game. In doing so, he did not gain pro status and missed out on being a Group 2 RFA. This means he had no arbitration rights and could not receive an offer sheet from another team.

For those concerned he may not make it in the NHL, Evgenii Dadonov and Panarin have done incredibly well since they made their way over a few years ago, and Gusev’s KHL numbers are pretty similar. His style of play should translate well, too, as the league moves more towards speed and skill. He’s going to be a big improvement for their offense, and it gives them another scoring threat behind Hall. Time will tell if he makes them a playoff team, but there’s no doubt things are looking up after his acquisition.