Paul Martin Out Another Month

I learned today that Devils defenseman and minute eater, Paul Martin will be out at least another month. He is still recovering from a forearm injury he suffered against the Penguins earlier in the year. Martin had minor surgery to the arm on Tuesday. Lou Lamoriello said that the outside of the arm was healing just fine, but the inside was not healing at the rate in which doctors were hoping for. This is certainly bad news for Martin, but is it for New Jersey? The Devils are playing excellent hockey and seem to have what was once role players and are now main-stays on the blueline, playing as well as any D unit in hockey. Andy Greene has been the best defenseman for them with 5 goals, 16 assists and a stellar +11. He has picked up the slack in ice time in which Martin left behind when he was injured, averaging 23:53 of ice time, which currently leads the team. The Devils would like to get Martin back on the ice as soon as possible in order to get him back into playing shape, but for now, the most important thing is for him to get that arm properly healed. We will continue to hold down the fort until he gets back, perhaps Johnny Oduya will pick his game up in the next month to help them out even more. Regardless of what happens, I am not worried about the status of the Devils blueline with the way Greene has palyed, the consistency of Mottau, Salvador and White is there and youngster Mark Fraser has done exactly what he has needed to do from what is asked of him. When Martin does get back on the ice, it will just improve the Devils even more, adding more depth and giving them another option when coming up with game strategies.

Paul Martin story from Tom Gulitti