The positive for Bennett is the Devils are run by general manager Ray Shero, who drafted him when Shero was the GM in Pittsburgh. The difference is, at that time, Bennett was 18 and filled with potential. Today, he's 24 and has never played in more than 49 games in an NHL season. He has 16 goals in 129 games.
"Where we are in New Jersey, I have to take some risks somewhere," Shero said. "Certainly, he's a cost-controlled asset and younger, and we'll see where it takes us. When I talked to him I said, 'I drafted you in 2010 in L.A., so let's just start again. I drafted you again today, how's that?' It's a good opportunity for him and a good opportunity for us."
The Buffalo Sabres at least used Pysyk, the No. 23 pick in 2010, to help their team immediately. The Sabres got defenseman Dmitry Kulikov and the No. 33 pick from the Florida Panthers for Pysyk and picks Nos. 38 and 89.
Kulikov, 25, at 6-1 and 204 pounds, fills a need as a big, physical, left-handed defenseman. Pysyk (24, 6-1, 200) never filled that role on the right side of the defense.
"You can't give away a bad player to get a good player; you have to trade away a good player," Sabres GM Tim Murray said. "Mark is a very good player. Mark is kind of an analytics darling and we know that, so we knew there'd be a little push back on that, and that's fine. We got a guy who was a five or a five-plus in our ratings."
The Lightning saw DeAngelo, 20, struggle with Syracuse in the AHL this season to the point where he was a healthy scratch. They also saw the ability to get another defenseman they coveted in the draft, so they parted with a first-round pick to get a second-round pick they clearly feel is better.
Tampa Bay traded DeAngelo to the Arizona Coyotes for the No. 37 pick, which they used on Libor Hajek of Saskatoon in the Western Hockey League.