| | EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Hoping to avoid another
first-round playoff loss, the New Jersey Devils added some punch
at Tuesday's NHL trade deadline by acquiring two-time 50-goal
scorer Alexander Mogilny from the Vancouver Canucks.
| |  | |
| Mogilny |
New Jersey, closing in on its fourth straight Eastern Conference
regular-season championship, sent centers Brendan Morrison and Denis Pederson to the Canucks to get the four-time All-Star.
Moginly, a 31-year-old right wing, tied for the league lead with
76 goals for the Buffalo Sabres in 1992-93 and scored 55 for the
Canucks three seasons later. But injuries have limited him to
53 goals over the last three campaigns, including 21 in 47 games
this season.
Still, Mogilny provides the Devils with one of the top scoring
threats in team history.
Despite its regular-season success, New Jersey has been knocked
out in the opening round of the playoffs each of the past two
years and has won just one postseason series since capturing the
Stanley Cup in 1995.
Morrison, a 24-year-old British Columbia native, was one of the
NHL's top rookies last season with 13 goals and 33 assists in 76
games. But the 1997 Hobey Baker Award winner held out during
training camp and was dissatisfied with his situation in New
Jersey. In 44 games this season, he has five goals and 21
assists.
An alternate captain, Pederson played only 35 games this season,
totaling three goals and three assists. The 24-year-old was the
Devils' first-round pick, 13th overall, in 1993.
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