The New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders have traded a couple of fairly notable players for one another. New Jersey has sent Brian Rolston to New York in exchange for Trent Hunter, provided Hunter can pass a physical.
Rolston is 38 now, but he still scored 14 goals and 34 points in 65 games for the Devils last season. While the Islanders are a building young team, they can still certainly use a player like Rolston for offensive depth, and he should still have a bit left in the tank. Hunter only scored one goal and four points in 17 games last season before going down with a torn MCL. As a rookie, he had 25 goals and 51 points, but has sort of settled into, say, a 15 goal scorer or so.
However, this deal also has financial implications. The Devils get more cap space, presumably to spend on Zach Parise. Meanwhile, the Islanders get closer to the cap floor. As such, this deal is helpful to both teams. While in terms of talent the Islanders probably got the slightly better end of this deal, when you figure in the money this is a smart move for both teams, presuming New Jersey can get Parise signed.
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