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I think another thing that plays into this trade is maybe Conroy just wanted to get one of the to-do items checked so he can concentrate on the bigger deals. 7 UFAs is a lot to deal with for an experienced GM, let alone a rookie one.

Maybe he thought it just wasn’t worth waiting till draft day to squeeze the 3rd round pick into a 2nd round pick when he needed to focus on a Hanifin deal and making draft selections and other moves. Things can get crazy hectic in draft day and if you can make things a bit easier it might be beneficial.

If he gets a 2nd instead of a 3rd, it looks way better but does it really change things in the long run? Also, the Devils don’t have a 1st so that 2nd is even more valuable to them. The draft is so deep that the 3rd might have the value of a 2nd compared to other years.