The winner or loser of a trade is near impossible to determine in the days or weeks after it first happens, let alone the minutes and hours after a swap is confirmed. And such is the case in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s acquisition of Blake Coleman from the Devils in a deal that sent 2019 first-round pick Nolan Foote and a 2020 first-round selection to New Jersey.
What we don’t know yet is how Coleman will fare in Tampa Bay. We don’t know if he’ll be that ever-elusive final piece of the playoff puzzle that takes the Lightning from perennial contenders to Stanley Cup champions.