It went down to the wire Monday afternoon before the NHL trade deadline, but the Devils did trade pending unrestricted free agent Marcus Johansson to the Bruins in exchange for a 2019 second-round pick and a 2020 fourth-round pick.
Earlier Monday, the Devils dealt goalie Keith Kinkaid to Columbus for a 2022 fifth-round pick.
Johansson is now teammates with Brad Marchand, who concussed Johansson last year and whom Johansson ripped for the vicious elbow which caused Johansson's second concussion of the 2017-18 season. Johansson was injured on Jan. 23 last year and didn't return until Game 3 of the first round of the playoffs on April 16.
"It was stupid," Johansson said last year of the elbow. "There is nothing else to say about it. There was no point in doing that. There was no hockey play whatsoever there. It's sad to see that there are still guys out there trying to hurt other guys. There's nothing else to say about it. It's sad and stupid. I hope it doesn't come to him ending someone else's career before it's enough. It's not why we play the game.
"There are always situations where you try to hit someone or try to make a hockey play. Things go wrong. But then there are plays like this where I think that it's got nothing to do with hockey. It's sad to see. I guess I'm unfortunate to be on the receiving end of that."
Johansson reportedly mentioned the elbow in a conversation with Bruins GM Don Sweeney on Monday and it appears Johansson is expecting to coexist with Marchand.
Sweeney said that Johansson commented on the Marchand elbow during their conversation this afternoon: "I'd much rather play with Marchand than against him."
- Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) February 25, 2019