Devils pull off heist on Vegas in Nikita Gusev addition

The New Jersey Devils continued their summer upgrade on Monday, trading a third-round pick in 2020 and a second-round pick in 2021 for left wing Nikita Gusev of the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Knights brought Gusev, 27, over from the Russian Kontinental Hockey League for the Stanley Cup playoffs last season, but he didn’t see any action. Gusev became a restricted free agent, and it became clear to Vegas that his asking price and their offer — reported to be $2 million apart — weren’t in sync.

Who came out ahead in the swap? We grade both GMs:

The deal:

Devils get: LW Nikita Gusev

Golden Knights get: 2020 third-round pick, 2021 second-round pick

New Jersey Devils: A