The New Jersey Devils have acquired forward Marcus Johansson from the Washington Capitals in exchange for a second-round pick and a third-round pick in 2018.

In related news, the Capitals signed Evgeny Kuznetsov to an eight-year, $62.4 million extension earlier in the day. With $4.5 million in cap space cleared with the trade, the Capitals have just over $9 million in cap space to attempt to sign seven other players, including Andre Burakovsky and Philipp Grubauer.

Johansson was a first-unit power-play regular on what has been one of the league’s most consistent power plays over the last few seasons. Over the last four seasons, he would consistently score between 15-20 power-play points. He will bring his power-play experience to a Devils’ team that has only had one player reach 20 power-play points (Kyle Palmieri in 2015-16) over the last three seasons.

Johansson will easily slot into the Devils’ top-6 because he can play all three forward positions. His presence shouldn’t hurt any Devils’ forwards simply because they don’t have many true scoring assets. However, expect Johansson to dip slightly in power-play points and overall points in the short term because the Devils don’t have the kind of scoring options at the moment that the Capitals do. It will take time for players like Nico Hischier and Pavel Zacha to blossom while Palmieri and Taylor Hall continue to shoulder the scoring load.

Over in Washington, several players will be counted on to make up for the loss of Johansson. The big winner might be Kuznetsov, who should solidify a role on the first-unit power play after spending considerable time last season on the second unit. This move should make Kuznetsov good for another 5-10 points in power-play points alone, although he also loses his even-strength linemate.
 

Story on Kuznetsov extension and Johansson trade updated with some more analysis of the situation https://t.co/0A40CzJHjF

— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) July 3, 2017

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The aforementioned Burakovsky should be ready to move into the top 6 as well as a greater power-play role because of the deal. There is big improvement to be made in this category, as he has scored no more than five power-play points in his three NHL seasons. Brett Connolly was mentioned as a potential beneficiary of Justin Williams signing in Carolina, and his stock should rise even further now that Johansson has left as well. Jakub Vrana should also be ready for a full-time NHL role after posting near point-per-game numbers in AHL over the past two seasons.

Fantasy players this helps, in order:

1. Kuznetsov
2. Burakovsky
3. Connolly
4. Vrana
5. All Devils’ forwards

Fantasy players this hurts, in order:

1. Johansson

Fantasy owners are weighing in on the Forum – give your take here!