Foster Heads to Jersey

			2011/2012 Stats				Contract Details
To New Jersey	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Years	Cap Hit
Kurtis Foster	Defense	30	9	1	1	2	1	$1.8 million
Timo Pielmeier	Goalie	22	0	0	0	0	1	$767,000
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To Anaheim	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Years	Cap Hit
Rod Pelley	Forward	27	7	0	0	0	1	$550,000
Mark Fraser	Defense	25	4	0	0	0	1	$550,000
2012 7th Round Draft Pick

A problem-solving deal went down on Monday afternoon, as the New Jersey Devils acquired veteran defenseman Kurtis Foster and prospect goaltender Timo Pielmeier from the Anaheim Ducks for forward Rod Pelley and defenseman Mark Fraser, plus a late round pick, in a deal that helps sort out some recent healthy scratches, plus a bit of a payroll release for the Ducks.

As you can see from the table above, there isn't a great deal of offense or games played happening from the players above, as most of them, with Pielmeier being the exception, have been roster players for the better part of the season and haven't figured into their former team's plans going forward.

Foster is the biggest name of the bunch, as the oft-injured blueliner was acquired from the Oilers in a deal that sent Andy Sutton the other way and has failed to do much with his time with the Ducks.  This has been a deal that has sputtered in both directions, as Sutton has just been suspended for the second time this season in Edmonton.

The 30-year old defenseman, when healthy, should be considered a fairly good puck mover and is thought to be reasonably responsible in his own end, but neither of those two selling points came through for the Ducks, so it was time for a change.

I would imagine that Pielmeier works out to be the clincher in this deal, as the Devils are going to be in a goalie-hunting mode and there's no better way of getting goalies than cheap, especially when they are still considered a prospect.

For the Ducks, they get some bottom-six and 4-5-6 defense help in both Pelley and Fraser, plus they get some cap relief and a late round pick to toy with.  Both Pelley and Fraser have seen plenty of games in the last few years to give the team a little bit more experience, possibly shoring up the back end.  I don't think the Ducks did bad in this deal, as they received two roster players for one roster player and a prospect that had a long time to wait for his shot at number one behind Jonas Hiller.

Foster is the only player of note in either pool in this deal and he only has roots in the sheet pool at the moment, but his lack of production in Anaheim has likely scared everyone away from him, unless he decides to rip up the Eastern Conference with the Devils.  Foster has already been dropped in the draft pool and for good reason.  I don't see a great deal of impact coming from this deal, unless the Ducks do get the bottom end roster help that they require to help win games, then Hiller may have received a bit of a boost.