In the 2022 offseason, the New Jersey Devils signed Ondřej Palát to a five-year contract, hoping he’d take them up a notch. The veteran forward from the Tampa Bay Lightning, with two Stanley Cup titles, was the kind of player a young, rebuilding team wanted in its middle six. 

Palát’s skills never translated. He scored 38 goals and 55 assists in 248 games, and whether it was the Jack Hughes line, the Nico Hischier line, or the bottom six, he never fit in. That five-year contract with a $6 million average annual value became more of a liability than a luxury. 

Eventually, the Devils moved on, trading Palát to the New York Islanders. There’s a common belief that teams avoid making deals with teams within their division, and despite this perception, the teams got a deal done. 

The Trade

The Devils traded Palát to the Islanders plus added a third-round pick in the 2026 draft and a 2026 sixth-rounder. The Islanders gave the Devils Maxim Tsyplakov, a Russian winger who struggled to fit into the forward unit in his brief time with the team. 

The catch, from the Devils' perspective and the general manager at the time, Tom Fitzgerald, was that the Islanders were taking on the veteran’s contract. For the Islanders, this was a low-cost move that could take a team on the playoff bubble and potentially get it over the hump. 

The Aftermath

It’s easy to look at this trade as a no-win trade where neither team improved afterwards. The Devils missed the playoffs last season, and the Islanders, despite adding Palát, failed to make the playoffs. Moreover, Palát is still struggling to make a significant impact with the Islanders, with only nine points in 44 games. 

For the Devils, this move not only freed up cap space but also gave them flexibility. When Sunny Mehta took over as the GM this offseason, he packaged Tsyplakov in the Šimon Nemec trade to the Calgary Flames, a deal that gave the Devils two conditional first-round picks (one of which Mehta flipped in the Luke Evangelista trade).

The Devils can look back at this trade as the start of a pivot and a successful retool on the fly. It opened up roster spots, specifically in the bottom six, for Mehta to replace with upgrades, whether it’s Anthony Mantha or Evan Rodrigues. 

The Islanders might regret this deal based on Palát’s skills. However, he’s been a key part of the roster dynamics, a veteran on a younger team. The Islanders have more prospects making a high-impact, and he’s one of the players guiding them. Plus, there’s still plenty of time for Palát to turn this season around and become a viable depth forward. 

Lessons For The Devils & Islanders 

Sometimes, a team must cut their losses and move on even if it doesn’t look like they’ll win the trade. Fitzgerald signed Palát and wanted him to be the piece that would put them over the top. He finally traded him while he could. 

It’s allowed the Devils to pivot. They now have multiple forwards playing the same roles Palát was supposed to play. Evangelista is a top-six winger on the Hischier line while Mantha, Rodrigues, and Jesper Boqvist make up the third line. The gave freed up cap space but more importantly, opened up roster spots. 

From a league-wide perspective, it shatters the myth that teams can’t trade within the division. GMs might tax a divisional rival because they don’t want a player becoming a star and facing them all the time. The Devils made this trade knowing the risks, but looking back, they feel much better about the deal, certainly better than they did at the time.