“The New Jersey Devils gave their blue line a boost on Friday by acquiring veteran defenseman Marek Zidlicky from the Minnesota Wild for three players and draft picks after Zidlicky waived his no-trade clause.

The Wild will receive defenseman Kurtis Foster, forwards Nick Palmieri and Stephane Veilleux, as well as a second-round pick in 2012 that the Devils previously acquired from Washington and a conditional third-round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft. The Wild will get that pick if the Devils make the Eastern Conference Finals this spring and Zidlicky plays in 75 percent of New Jersey’s games in the first two rounds.

Foster and Zidlicky were both scratched from their teams’ games on Friday night.

Zidlicky, 35, had been unhappy with the Wild and had said he’d be willing to waive his no-trade clause to facilitate a move after he and coach Mike Yeo expressed dissatisfaction with each other. Zidlicky had an assist in Thursday’s 3-2 shootout win at Florida and has no goals but 14 assists in 41 games this season. He is fourth all-time in scoring among Wild defensemen with 25 goals and 97 assists for 122 points in 241 games.

In his career, Zidlicky has 60 goals and 238 assists, along with 496 penalty minutes, in 548 games. He has one more season remaining on his contract with a cap hit of $4.0 million.

“We had an opportunity to get an experienced right shot, puck-moving defensemen, who can also quarterback a power play and has a lot of experience,” Devils GM Lou Lamoriello said of the trade. “In my opinion, we had a chance to get someone who is better-suited to playing 5-on-5 and moving the puck out of  the zone and jumping into the offense the way he can, with the type of forwards we have at this point.”

“We felt it was something we wanted to do and none of them (the traded players) are really playing regularly at this point.”

Lamoriello said he wasn’t sure if Zidlicky, who was in Dallas for the Wild’s game in Dallas, would be able to get to Newark in time for Saturday’s practice or the Devils’ Sunday afternoon game against Tampa Bay.

Asked if he would make any more moves before the trade deadline on Monday, Lamoriello replied, “You never know.If you make your team better, you do it, but I won’t get into discussions right now. I’m please with the addition right now.”

The key to the deal for the Wild appears to be Palmieri, a forward who was originally selected by the Devils in the third round of the 2007 NHL Draft. The 22-year-old has yet to play a full season in the NHL but has 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points in 78 games — including four goals and three assists in 29 games with the Devils this season.

The other two players are returning to the Wild. Veilleux was drafted by Minnesota in the third round of the 2001 NHL Draft and played 361 games during six seasons in Minnesota, totaling 43 goals and 47 assists. He still ranks eighth all time in games played in Minnesota. Since leaving the Wild as a free agent after the 2008-09 season, Veilleux played one season in Tampa Bay before splitting last year between SM-liiga in Finland and the Swiss League. He signed with New Jersey last summer and has spent the season with the AHL Devils, scoring 11 goals and adding 11 assists,

Foster spent four seasons with the Wild from 2005-09. He became the first Wild player to score his first two NHL goals in the same game when he made his Wild debut in 2005. He went on to post 10 goals and 18 assists in 58 games that season.  After suffering a horrific leg injury in 2008, Foster worked his way back to appear in 10 games at the end of the 2009 season. That offseason he signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and has since played in Edmonton, Anaheim and New Jersey.

Foster started this season in Anaheim, playing nine games with a goal and an assist. He was later traded to New Jersey where he played 28 games and chipped in three goals and nine assists. He is just coming off a back injury

Foster and Veilleux will be unrestricted free agents this summer; Palmieri will be a restricted free agent.”

No “preview” here! What you are getting is a collection of random info and stats about the New Jersey Devils vs today’s opponent, the Vancouver Canucks. Based on these stats, I’ll come up with the likely outcome. Enjoy.

CANUCKS (39-16-6) at DEVILS (35-20-4)

Last 10: Vancouver 8-1-1, New Jersey 8-1-1.

Click here for tickets to this game.

Devils all-time regular season record vs Vancouver Canucks:
W: 19 L: 28 T: 4 OTL: 2 SOL: 0
GF: 151 GA: 172

Devils all-time regular season record at home vs Vancouver Canucks:
W: 13 L: 10 T: 2 OTL: 2 SOL: 0
GF: 86 GA: 74

Devils all-time regular season record at home in February vs Vancouver Canucks:
W: 3 L: 2 T: 1 OTL: 0 SOL: 0
GF: 21 GA: 18

Devils all-time regular season record at home in February on a Friday vs Vancouver Canucks:
W: - L: - T: - OTL: - SOL: -
GF: - GA: -

This season:
First & Only Meeting

Last Vancouver Game:
Thursday, February 23rd – at Red Wings – 4-3 win (SO).

Last Devils Game:
Tuesday, February 21st – at Leafs – 4-3 win (OT).

Leading Devils Scorer vs Vancouver (Career):
Patrik Elias – 14 games: 7g, 5a – 12 points.
This season: 0 games: 0g, 0a – 0 points.

Leading Vancouver Scorer vs Devils (Career):
Chris Higgins – 18 games: 5g, 5a – 10 points.
This season: 0 games: 0g, 0a – 0 points.

Starting Goalies (Career vs opponent):
Martin Brodeur – 6-11-0, 2.90 GAA, 1 SO.
This season: 0-0-0, -.– GAA, .— SV%.

Cory Schneider – 0-0-0, -.– GAA, 0 SO.
This season: 0-0-0, -.– GAA, .— SV%.

Predictions!
(Predictions are made in the order listed below).
Coin toss:
Season: 5-4
Devils

Speaking of the.. Prediction:
Season: 6-3 (Exact score: none)
Devils 3 – Vancouver 2

NHL12 Simulation:
Season: 7-2 (Exact score: twice)
New Jersey 3 (SO)(Salvador, Greene) – Vancouver 2 (Burrows, D. Sedin)
W – Brodeur (27 shots/25 saves) L – Schneider (27 shots/25 saves)

LET’S GO DEVILS!

Last 10: St. Louis 6-2-2, New Jersey 7-2-1.

Devils all-time regular season record vs St. Louis:
W: 26 L: 21 T: 6 OTL: 1 SOL: 0
GF: 176 GA: 175

Devils all-time regular season record at home vs St. Louis Blues:
W: 15 L: 9 T: 2 OTL: 0 SOL: 0
GF: 79 GA: 66

Devils all-time regular season record at home in February vs St. Louis Blues:
W: 2 L: 0 T: 0 OTL: 0 SOL: 0
GF: 9 GA: 4

Devils all-time regular season record at home in February on a Thursday vs St. Louis Blues:
W: - L: - T: - OTL: - SOL: -
GF: - GA: -

This season:
First & Only Meeting

Last St. Louis Game:
Tuesday, February 7th – at Sens – 3-1 win.

Last Devils Game:
Tuesday, February 7th – at Rangers – 1-0 win.

Leading Devils Scorer vs St. Louis (Career):
Patrik Elias – 15 games: 4g, 9a – 13 points.
This season: 0 games: 0g, 0a – 0 points.

Leading St. Louis Scorer vs Devils (Career):
Matt D’Agostini – 8 games: 2g, 4a – 6 points.
This season: 0 games: 0g, 0a – 0 points.
Jamie Langenbrunner – 10 games: 3g, 3a – 6 points.
This season: 0 games: 0g, 0a – 0 points.
Alex Steen – 14 games: 4g, 2a – 6 points.
This season: 0 games: 0g, 0a – 0 points.

Starting Goalies (Career vs opponent):
Johan Hedberg (confirmed) – 13-7-1, 2.52 GAA, 8 SO.
This season: 0—0, -.– GAA, .— SV%.

Jaroslav Halak (unconfirmed) – 2-3-1, 2.46 GAA, 0 SO.
This season: 0-0-0, -.– GAA, .— SV%.

Predictions!
(Predictions are made in the order listed below).
Coin toss:
Season: 5-3
Devils

Speaking of the.. Prediction:
Season: 6-2 (Exact score: none)
Devils 3 – St. Louis 1

NHL12 Simulation:
Season: 6-2 (Exact score: twice)
St Louis 3 (Perron, Crombeen, Oshie) – New Jersey 0
W – Halak (26 shots/25 saves) L – Hedberg (21 shots/20 saves)

LET’S GO DEVILS!

Last 10: New York 6-3-1, New Jersey 7-2-1.

Devils all-time regular season record vs New York Rangers:
W: 79 L: 71 T: 21 OTL: 2 SOL: 5
GF: 540 GA: 566

Devils all-time regular season record on the road vs New York Rangers:
W: 28 L: 39 T: 17 OTL: 2 SOL: 2
GF: 243 GA: 296

Devils all-time regular season record on the road in February vs New York Rangers:
W: 5 L: 5 T: 3 OTL: 0 SOL: 0
GF: 38 GA: 41

Devils all-time regular season record on the road in February on a Tuesday vs New York Rangers:
W: 1 L: 0 T: 1 OTL: 0 SOL: 0
GF: 6 GA: 5

This season:
January 31st – New York 3 @ New Jersey 4 (SO) GWG: Ilya Kovalchuk
December 20th – New York 4 @ New Jersey 1 GWG: Marian Gaborik

Last New York Game:
Sunday, February 5th – vs Flyers – 5-2 win.

Last Devils Game:
Sunday, February 5th – vs Penguins – 5-2 win.

Leading Devils Scorer vs New York (Career):
Patrik Elias – 70 games: 18g, 44a – 62 points.
This season: 1 game: 0g, 1a – 1 point.

Leading New York Scorer vs Devils (Career):
Brad Richards – 34 games: 5g, 26a – 31 points.
This season: 2 games: 0g, 0a – 0 points.

Starting Goalies (Career vs opponent):
Martin Brodeur (confirmed) – 44-27-20, 2.13 GAA, 8 SO.
This season: 1-1-0, 2.93 GAA, .870 SV%.

Henrik Lundqvist (confirmed) – 23-9-5, 1.83 GAA, 5 SO.
This season: 1-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .968 SV%.

Predictions!
(Predictions are made in the order listed below).
Coin toss:
Season: 4-3
Devils

Speaking of the.. Prediction:
Season: 5-2 (Exact score: none)
Devils 3 – New York 2 (OT)

NHL12 Simulation:
Season: 6-1 (Exact score: twice)
New York 4 (Anisimov (2), Callahan, Dubinsky) – New Jersey 3 (Zubrus, Greene, Kovalchuk)
W – Lundqvist (22 shots/19 saves) L - Brodeur (25 shots/21 saves)

Last 10: Philly 6-2-2, New Jersey 6-3-1.

Devils all-time regular season record vs Philadelphia Flyers:
W: 88 L: 72 T: 15 OTL: 3 SOL: 0
GF: 538 GA: 553

Devils all-time regular season record on the road vs Philadelphia Flyers:
W: 33 L: 45 T: 9 OTL: 2 SOL: 0
GF: 246 GA: 302

Devils all-time regular season record on the road in February vs Philadelphia Flyers:
W: 2 L: 6 T: 1 OTL: 0 SOL: 0
GF: 22 GA: 33

Devils all-time regular season record on the road in February on a Saturday vs Philadelphia Flyers:
W: 0 L: 1 T: 0 OTL: 0 SOL: 0
GF: 3 GA: 4

This season:
January 21st – Philadelphia 4 @ New Jersey 1   GWG: Scott Hartnell
November 3rd – New Jersey 4 @ Philadelphia 3 (SO)   GWG: Patrik Elias
October 8th – Philadelphia 3 @ New Jersey 0   GWG: Claude Giroux

Last Flyers Game:
Thursday, February 2nd – vs Predators – 4-1 win.

Last Devils Game:
Thursday, February 2nd – vs Canadiens – 5-3 win.

Leading Devils Scorer vs Flyers (Career):
Patrik Elias – 73 games: 32g, 39a – 71 points.
This season: 3 games: 0g, 1a – 1 point.

Leading Flyers Scorer vs Devils (Career):
Danny Briere – 43 games: 13g, 10a – 23 points.
This season: 3 games: 0g, 0a – 0 points.

Starting Goalies (Career vs opponent):
Johan Hedberg (confirmed) – 8-10-1, 3.02 GAA, 1 SO.
This season: 1-0-0, 2.77 GAA, .870 SV%.

Ilya Bryzgalov (unconfirmed) – 3-1-0, 1.75 GAA, 1 SO.
This season: 2-0-0, 0.50 GAA, .980 SV%, 1 SO.

Predictions!
(Predictions are made in the order listed below)

Coin (it’s actually a puck) toss:
Season: 4-2
Pick: Flyers

Speaking of the.. Prediction:
Season: 4-2 (Exact score: none)
Pick: Flyers 3 – Devils 2

NHL12 Simulation:
Season: 5-1 (Exact score: once)
Pick: New Jersey 5 (Greene, Zubrus (2), Ponikarovsky, Kovalchuk) – Philadelphia 2 (Bourdon, Read)
W – Hedberg (26 shots/24 saves) L – Bryzgalov (27 shots/23 saves)

Last 10: Montreal 4-4-2, New Jersey 6-3-1.

Devils all-time regular season record vs Montreal Canadiens:
W: 57 L: 37 T: 8 OTL: 1 SOL: 0
GF: 300 GA: 262

Devils all-time regular season record at home vs Montreal Canadiens:
W: 32 L: 15 T: 4 OTL: 0 SOL: 0
GF: 165 GA: 134

Devils all-time regular season record at home in February vs Montreal Canadiens:
W: 6 L: 2 T: 0 OTL: 0 SOL: 0
GF: 30 GA: 19

Devils all-time regular season record at home in February on a Thursday vs Montreal Canadiens:
W: 2 L: 0 T: 0 OTL: 0 SOL: 0
GF: 8 GA: 5

This season:
December 17th – New Jersey 5 @ Montreal 3 GWG: Patrik Elias
December 10th – Montreal 2 @ New Jersey 1 GWG: Erik Cole

Last Montreal Game:
Tuesday, January 31st – vs Sabres – 3-1 loss.

Last Devils Game:
Tuesday, January 31st – vs NYR – 4-3 win (SO).

Leading Devils Scorer vs Montreal (Career):
Patrik Elias – 53 games: 22g, 21a – 43 points.
This season: 2 games: 2g, 0a – 2 points.

Leading Montreal Scorer vs Devils (Career):
Tomas Kaberle – 47 games: 5g, 30a – 35 points.
This season: 4 games: 0g, 3a – 3 points.

Starting Goalies (Career vs opponent):
Martin Brodeur (confirmed) – 41-18-5, 1.79 GAA, 9 SO.
This season: 1-1-0, 2.52 GAA, .900 SV%.

Carey Price (confirmed) – 5-6-1, 2.26 GAA, 1 SO.
This season: 1-1-0, 3.03 GAA, .906 SV%.

Predictions!
(Predictions are made in the order listed below)

Coin (it’s actually a puck) toss:
Season: 3-2
Pick: Devils

Speaking of the.. Prediction:
Season: 3-2 (Exact score: none)
Pick: Devils 3 – Montreal 1

NHL12 Simulation:
Season: 4-1 (Exact score: once)
Pick: New Jersey 5 (Ponikarovsky, Parise, Greene, Zubrus, Kovalchuk) – Montreal 1 (Plekanec)
W – Brodeur (20 shots/19 saves) L – Price (22 shots/17 saves)

Last 10: New York 7-3-0, New Jersey 5-4-1.

Devils all-time regular season record vs New York Rangers:
W: 78 L: 71 T: 21 OTL: 2 SOL: 5
GF: 536 GA: 563

Devils all-time regular season record at home vs New York Rangers:
W: 50 L: 32 T: 4 OTL: 0 SOL: 3
GF: 293 GA: 267

Devils all-time regular season record at home in January vs New York Rangers:
W: 4 L: 1 T: 0 OTL: 0 SOL: 1
GF: 25 GA: 21

Devils all-time regular season record at home in January on a Tuesday vs New York Rangers:
W: 1 L: 0 T: 0 OTL: 0 SOL: 1
GF: 3 GA: 3

This season:
December 20th – New York 4 @ New Jersey 1 GWG: Marian Gaborik

Last New York Game:
Tuesday, January 24th – vs Jets – 3-0 win.

Last Devils Game:
Tuesday, January 24th – vs Sabres – 2-1 loss (SO).

Leading Devils Scorer vs New York (Career):
Patrik Elias – 69 games: 18g, 43a – 61 points.
This season: 0 games: 0g, 0a – 0 points.

Leading New York Scorer vs Devils (Career):
Brad Richards – 33 games: 5g, 26a – 31 points.
This season: 1 game: 0g, 0a – 0 points.

Starting Goalies (Career vs opponent):
Martin Brodeur (confirmed) – 43-27-20, 2.14 GAA, 8 SO.
This season: 0-1-0, 3.10 GAA, .850 SV%.

Martin Biron (confirmed) – 8-15-4, 3.16 GAA, 2 SO.
This season: 0-0-0, -.– GAA, .— SV%.

Predictions!
(Predictions are made in the order listed below).
Coin toss:
Season: 2-2
Devils

Speaking of the.. Prediction:
Season: 2-2 (Exact score: none)
Devils 3 – New York 2 (SO)

NHL12 Simulation:
Season: 3-1 (Exact score: once)
New Jersey 3 (SO)(Carter, Fayne) – New York 2 (Anisimov, Dubinsky)
SO – Zubrus (GWG – 6th Round)
W – Brodeur (30 shots/28 saves) L – Lundqvist (25 shots/23 saves)

Team Milestones:

The New Jersey Devils are two wins away from 1,100 regular season wins. Their regular season record stands at 1098 wins, 913 losses, 219 ties, 37 OT losses and 26 SO losses. They have 1,220 wins overall.

Player Milestones:

GOALS:

Ilya Kovalchuk is 12 goals away from 400 for his career. He has 388 goals in 745 NHL games.

Zach Parise is 22 goals away from 200 for his career. He has 178 goals in 468 NHL games.

Travis Zajac is 10 goals away from 100 for his career. He has 90 goals in 416 NHL games.

ASSISTS:

Petr Sykora is 11 assists away from 400 for his career. He has 389 assists in 983 NHL games.

POINTS:

Parise is 19 points away from 400 for his career. He has 381 points in 468 NHL games.

Alexei Ponikarovsky is three points away from 300 for his career. He has 297 points in 605 career NHL games.

Bryce Salvador is two points away from 100 for his career. He has 98 points in 658 career NHL games.

GAMES PLAYED:

Sykora is 17 games played away from 1,000 games played for his career.

Henrik Tallinder is 11 games away from 600 games played for his career.

Eric Boulton is 25 games away from 600 games played for his career.

Cam Janssen is four games away from 300 games played for his career.

SHUTOUTS:

Johan Hedberg is one shutout away from 20 for his career. He has 19 in 348 career NHL games.

Last 10: Buffalo 2-7-1, New Jersey 5-4-1.

Devils all-time regular season record vs Buffalo Sabres:
W: 47 L: 40 T: 13 OTL: 0 SOL: 3
GF: 312 GA: 310

Devils all-time regular season record at home vs Buffalo Sabres:
W: 25 L: 20 T: 6 OTL: 0 SOL: 1
GF: 149 GA: 148

Devils all-time regular season record at home in January vs Buffalo Sabres:
W: 4 L: 2 T: 1 OTL: 0 SOL: 0
GF: 27 GA: 28

Devils all-time regular season record at home in January on a Tuesday vs Buffalo Sabres:
W: 3 L: 0 T: 0 OTL: 0 SOL: 0
GF: 9 GA: 5

This season:
December 28th – Buffalo 1 @ New Jersey 3   GWG: Petr Sykora
November 16th – New Jersey 5 @ Buffalo 3   GWG: Patrik Elias

Last Sabres Game:
Saturday, January 21st – at Blues – 4-2 loss.

Last Devils Game:
Saturday, January 21st – vs Flyers – 4-1 loss.

Leading Devils Scorer vs Sabres (Career):
Patrik Elias – 49 games: 8g, 27a – 35 points.
This season: 2 games: 1g, 3a – 4 points.

Leading Sabres Scorer vs Devils (Career):
Derek Roy – 24 games: 3g, 11a – 14 points.
This season: 2 games: 0g, 0a – 0 points.

Starting Goalies (Career vs opponent):
Martin Brodeur (confirmed) – 30-16-7, 2.16 GAA, 3 SO.
This season: 2-0-0, 2.00 GAA, .927 SV%.

Ryan Miller (confirmed) – 8-9-4, 2.23 GAA, 2 SO.
This season: 0-1-0, 3.05 GAA, .870 SV%.

Predictions!
Coin toss:
Season: 2-1
Devils

NHL12 Simulation:
Season: 3-0 (Exact score: once)
New Jersey 2 (Kovalchuk (2)) – Sabres 1 (Roy)
W – Brodeur (23 shots/ 22 saves) L – Miller (23 shots/ 21 saves)

Speaking of the.. Prediction:
Season: 2-1 (Exact score: none)
Devils 3 – Sabres 2

Last 10: Philly 6-4-0, New Jersey 6-3-1.

Devils all-time regular season record vs Philadelphia Flyers:
W: 88 L: 71 T: 15 OTL: 3 SOL: 0
GF: 537 GA: 549

Devils all-time regular season record at home vs Philadelphia Flyers:
W: 55 L: 26 T: 6 OTL: 1 SOL: 0
GF: 291 GA: 247

Devils all-time regular season record at home in January vs Philadelphia Flyers:
W: 5 L: 2 T: 1 OTL: 0 SOL: 0
GF: 26 GA: 20

Devils all-time regular season record at home in January on a Saturday vs Philadelphia Flyers:
W: 2 L: 1 T: 0 OTL: 0 SOL: 0
GF: 12 GA: 14

This season:
November 3rd – New Jersey 4 @ Philadelphia 3 (SO)   GWG: Patrik Elias
October 8th – Philadelphia 3 @ New Jersey 0   GWG: Claude Giroux

Last Flyers Game:
Thursday, January 19th – vs Islanders – 4-1 loss. (LOL!)

Last Devils Game:
Thursday, January 19th – vs Bruins – 4-1 loss.

Leading Devils Scorer vs Flyers (Career):
Patrik Elias – 72 games: 32g, 39a – 71 points.
This season: 2 game: 0g, 1a – 1 point.

Leading Flyers Scorer vs Devils (Career):
Danny Briere – 42 games: 13g, 10a – 23 points.
This season: 2 games: 0g, 0a – 0 points.

Starting Goalies (Career vs opponent):
Martin Brodeur (confirmed) – 44-28-9, 2.54 GAA, 9 SO.
This season: 0-1-0, 3.00 GAA, .897 SV%.

Ilya Bryzgalov (confirmed) – 1-1-0, 2.00 GAA, 1 SO.
This season: 1-0-0, 0.00 GAA, 1.000 SV%, 1 SO.

Predictions!
Coin toss:
Season: 2-0
Devils

NHL12 Simulation:
Season: 2-0 (Exact score one time)
Philadelphia 2 (Simmonds, Read) – New Jersey 1 (Henrique)
W – Bryzgalov (12 shots/11 saves) L – Brodeur (23 shots/21 saves)

Speaking of the.. Prediction:
Season: 2-0
Devils 4 – Flyers 2