Photo credit: NHL

The New Jersey Devils sent Graeme Clarke to the Minnesota Wild in a trade on Friday morning.

The Devils have been busy lately. Only a few days after acquiring goaltender Jacob Markstrom from the Calgary Flames, general manager and president Tom Fitzgerald made another deal.

New Jersey sent the 23-year-old forward Graeme Clarke to the Minnesota Wild for Adam Beckman.

Read the New Jersey Devils’ full announcement here:

“The New Jersey Devils have acquired forward Adam Beckman in a trade with the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Graeme Clarke. The announcement was made by President/General Manager Tom Fitzgerald and Devils’ Assistant General Manager/Utica Comets General Manager Dan MacKinnon.

Beckman, 23, has played in 23 career NHL games and made his NHL debut with the Wild on October 30, 2021, at Colorado. The 6’2», 180lbs. forward recorded his first NHL point, an assist, on November 6, 2021, at Pittsburgh. Beckman has three career assists and 14 career penalty minutes, all with Minnesota. In 2023-24, Beckham played in 11 games with the Wild, picking up two assists.

Beckman scored 33 points (19g-14a) last season for Iowa of the American Hockey League, leading the team in goals, and finishing fourth on the club in points. The lefthanded shot played in parts of four seasons with Iowa at the AHL level from 2020-21 to 2023-24 and totaled 108 points (57g-51a) in 181 regular-season contests. He also scored one goal in two games during the Calder Cup Playoffs in 2023.

Born on May 10, 2001, Minnesota selected the left wing in the third round, 75th overall, in the 2019 NHL Draft. Before his professional experience, he played three seasons (2017-18 to 2020-21) in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with Spokane and totaled 196 career points (97g-99a) in 153 games with the Chiefs.

Clarke played the last four seasons with the Devils organization at the AHL level with Binghamton/Utica He was selected by New Jersey in the third round, 80th overall, in the 2019 NHL Draft, five picks after Minnesota selected Beckman.

Both players are still young and played mostly in the AHL. However, they could be ready to make the jump to the NHL soon and play valuable roles for the Wild and the Devils.

Things are starting to get into motions for the New Jersey Devils. After a tough season, they already made a significant acquisition with Jacob Markstrom, and they look like they are setting the stage for other key moves.

General Manager Tom Fitzgerald mentioned that he was open to trade his 2024 10th overall pick. We could very well see the organization strike another home run before the draft, set to go down a week from today, in Las Vegas.

More to come.