Jonas Siegenthaler was traded to the New Jersey Devils by the Washington Capitals on Sunday for a conditional third-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.
The 23-year-old defenseman did not score a point in seven games for the Capitals this season and was a healthy scratch for 30 of their past 31 games, including the past 15. A second-round pick (No. 57) by the Capitals in the 2015 NHL Draft, Siegenthaler has scored 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in 97 regular-season games and no points in 11 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in three seasons.
The Devils acquired a conditional third-round pick from the Arizona Coyotes in the trade for forward Taylor Hall on Dec. 16, 2019. If the Coyotes' third-round pick is unavailable, the Devils will trade their third-round pick in the 2021 draft to the Capitals.
"I know that Jonas wants to play … so I hope it is a good fit for him," Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. "He's a terrific kid. When you are not able to get in the lineup and you want to play, there are always two roads you can go down, and he worked hard every single day. Even though you might be upset you are not in the lineup, he never vocalized that or never made waves with what he was doing, and he wanted to play and I respect him for that. But he worked his tail off and I wish him the best and I hope he has a good place in New Jersey where he can get going and play some games and have fun playing hockey."
Siegenthaler was teammates with Devils captain Nico Hischier on Switzerland at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship and scored six points (one goal, five assists) in five games.
"I don't know a lot, but [he's] a big defenseman and a real good penalty killer," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "I think he can really help that part of our game. So that's probably the extent that I know. He can defend well, and it might be a good pair for one of our offensive guys."
New Jersey (14-20-6) is in seventh place in the eight-team MassMutal East Divison, 14 points behind the fourth-place Boston Bruins; Washington (27-11-4) is tied with the New York Islanders for first. The top four teams will make the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Devils traded forwards Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac to the New York Islanders on Wednesday for forwards A.J. Greer and Mason Jobst, a first-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, and a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.
