Under pressure to cut his payroll under the salary cap prior to the start of the season, New Jersey Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello has once again proven why he's one of the savviest in the business.

Lamoriello pulled off the unthinkable, trading "retired" defenseman Vladimir Malakhov along with a conditional first round pick to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for forward Alexander Korolyuk and defenseman Jim Fahey.

There's something a bit odd about this move. Malakhov claimed last week he was retired in Miami and that his knees were too banged up to play hockey. However, the reason Malakhov was traded is because he hasn't officially filed his retirement papers, meaning that for as long as he's under contract (even as a suspended player) he could be traded.

Korolyuk meanwhile had declined contract offers from the Sharks and rejected a $1.2 million  award from 2005 when the club  took him to arbitration.  He spent last season playing in Russia, although his rights still belonged to the Sharks.

The Sharks rid themselves of a forward who obviously had no intention of playing for them again, but why did they take on Malakhov's salary if he has no intention of playing pro hockey again?

Put simply, this was two teams swapping their problem children.

The Sharks will be on the hook for Malakhov's salary for this season, but they have the cap space to absorb the $3.6 million hit, and in return get themselves a conditional first rounder to build their future. With the Sharks also planning on dumping a goaltender at some point this season, they'll have cap space to bring in some additional depth if required later in the season.

A conditional first rounder was apparently worth doing Lou Lamoriello a favor.

This has to rank as a miracle for Devils fans. "Uncle Lou" has not only rid himself of $3.6 million, but got himself a decent, affordable defenseman in return with the acquisition of Fahey.

It remains to be seen if Korolyuk will ever suit up for the Devils, but if he doesn't that's of no real concern for the Devils GM, who now has freed up valuable cap space.

Should Lamoriello succeed in his quest to get Alexander Mogilny's salary written off due to long term injury, he'll have lowered his cap hit to around $38 million, leaving him more than enough room to officially announce the re-signings of Brian Gionta, Paul Martin and others to round out the roster.

That means no trading away Gionta or Scott Gomez as so many internet rumormongers had claimed.

Don't be surprised if there's some howls of protest from rival owners or general managers or outrage from some pundits, but obviously this deal stuck within the spirit of the CBA, otherwise the league wouldn't have approved it.

Lamoriello had painted himself into a corner with Mogilny and Malakhov's expensive contracts, but has also proved to be an amazing escape artist in getting himself out of it.

For Devils fans, Lamoriello is the magic man.