Contrary to the belief of far too much of the fanbase, that headline was a little harsh considering its subject's job responsibility would have been optimistic at the start of his career, never mind its twilight. Therefore, I want to focus on the positives of what Ben Lovejoy brought to the Devils. Some will undoubtedly think this paragraph should end right...about...here, but the truth is that he was well-respected veteran leader off the ice and a great penalty killer on the ice while unquestionably easing Will Butcher's transition into the NHL. His struggles were exactly the type you'd expect a limited, defensive defenseman in his mid-30's to have while playing too many minutes out of necessity, which is to say they were more visible than his successes. Still, it would be foolish to ignore those successes, since the Devils would be a brand of dogshit so moist and messy that it would make Artemi Panarin's soiled pants feel better about themselves if not for maintaining a cohesive locker room and a penalty kill that's oft more exciting than their power play. To put it simply, Dallas traded for Ben Lovejoy for reasons other than complete desperation, so save the slander for the next whipping boy that's put in a position to fail on a defense that doesn't currently have the foundational pieces necessary to compete...
All that being said, another round of applause is owed to Ray Shero. Intangibles aside, he has now recouped both the 2nd and 3rd round pick he dealt at last year's trade deadline by moving a veteran 4th liner and an aging bottom pairing defenseman. Presumably due to alliteration, the name Connor Carrick stuck out to me as more memorable than his young career has been to date, as he's fallen out of favor with multiple franchises. However, even if he's a $5 scratch-off of a prospect, I would have been more than happy with Ben Lovejoy netting a 3rd round pick with nothing more than an actual $5 scratch-off as a sweetener. As someone who views this disaster of a year as nothing more than a stumble, I find it intriguing that the Devils have turned it into five picks in the first three rounds of the draft with far and away their best asset still awaiting his fate on the trading block. So yeah, I love the move and it brought me more joy than it should have during an otherwise depressing season, but don't just think that New Jersey's top-notch PK tanked for draft position when its efficiency inevitably dips. Ben Lovejoy's return is proof of how well he can fill a role, even if that return was surprisingly good for a team on which his role was troublingly big. Never forget...
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