Last season, it was understandable. Larsson had never played more than 40 games in a season before, so an 82-game stretch, plus a 24-game postseason, might be a bit much, even for a first round draft pick.

Apr 7; Newark, NJ, USA; New Jersey Devils defenseman Adam Larsson (5) skates with the puck while being defended by Ottawa Senators left wing Zack Smith (15) during the first period at the Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

But this season, with a defensive mess in New Jersey — in terms of eight potential players filling six slots — Larsson deserves to be in the lineup each and every game. It could be argued that his goal in game two against the Philadelphia Flyers was the spark that sent the Devils on their way to a five-game victory into the Eastern Conference Final last May.

Against the Islanders, newly-named captain Bryce Salvador played with Marek Zidlicky, Andy Greene and Mark Fayne stayed together from last season and Henrik Tallinder was paired with Anton Volchenkov. For the most part, the first two pairings work well together. Zidlicky is a puck-mover and Salvador is as responsible, defensively, as they come. Fayne and Greene can both move the puck when they need to and have played together for some time.

The last pairing, however, raises some questions. It’s been well-documented over the past few years that Volchenkov can’t move the puck and he’s losing speed by the day. Tallinder, on the other hand, is coming off a serious injury last season that sidelined him for nearly the entire playoffs. If a move is made, expect it to be there.

Volchenkov is making $4.25 million this season, and will continue to do so until 2015-2016. If he’s losing his legs now, who knows what he’ll be like in three years.

If Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello can find a place for Volchenkov elsewhere, he’ll likely make that move. He’s said since day one that he believes Larsson is an everyday player on this team, and that move would make the most sense. Not to mention, of course, Larsson is making much less money over the next two years and is much younger, moves the puck well and is smarter defensively, than Volchenkov.

It’s hard to imagine that the Devils would keep this predicament going forward throughout the season. Depth is always good in hockey, but having to scratch two defensemen every night is something that likely won’t continue.

Meanwhile, if teams start losing games early and are in need of defensive help, Lamoriello and the Devils will listen to calls, probably referring to all eight defensemen they have. In the end, a move has to be made somewhere.

Feb 9; Newark, NJ, USA; New Jersey Devils defenseman Andy Greene (6) skates with the puck while being defended by St. Louis Blues left wing David Perron (57) during the first period at the Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-US PRESSWIRE

The New Jersey Devils enter the 2012-2013 season with many questions. Though there may be uncertainty up front after the loss of Zach Parise, there is a beneficial problem in their own end. Too many quality d-men and not enough roster spots.

The Eastern Conference Champions have eight NHL quality defensemen, along with solid prospects waiting in the wing.  The result? A log jam, that will not only push each player to play their best in order to keep seeing ice time, but it also allows the Devils to look into some trade possibilities.

Here are the cap numbers of the eight defensemen currently under contract who saw substantial time last season: (Source: GapGeek.com)

The question remains, who starts the season in the top six? You can make a strong case for all of these players, but there have already been rumblings of a possible trade. Parting with one of these eight players makes sense. Though it is nice to have depth, what good does it do to have a NHL caliber player not dressing on a consistent basis?

The knee-jerk reaction based on performance, would be to trade Anton Volchenkov. That won’t happen though, because he has a no-trade clause and he has vastly underperformed his 4.25 million cap number. Even trading Marek Zidlicky would be tough, not only because of his limited NTC, but his cap hit of 4 million, accompanied with his age makes him a tough piece to move.

Logically, moving Andy Greene or Mark Fayne makes the most sense, because they could yield the greatest return.

June 2, 2012; Newark, NJ, USA; New Jersey Devils defenseman Mark Fayne (29) dives to knock the puck away from Los Angeles Kings left wing Dwight King (74) during the first period in game two of the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals at the Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim O

Greene is a durable, solid, second pairing defenseman who is well liked on the team and has value. He hasn’t missed a lot of games and at only 29, with a cap hit of 3 million per, he could fit in well almost anywhere. The Devils lack depth at right wing and perhaps Greene, accompanied by a combination of prospects or picks could turn into a solid acquisition to bolster the scoring depth.

Another trade option would be Mark Fayne. Why Fayne? He showed steady improvement last season and after gaining more experience with the deep playoff run, he is showing he can be a solid NHL contributor. Is he going to knock your socks off with his play? No, but his reasonable cap hit of 1.3 million is an easy pill for any team to swallow. He has value as an up-and-coming young player and the Devils wouldn’t be losing a leader like they would be in trading away Greene.

As for veterans Bryce Salvador and Henrik Tallinder, they will most likely stay put. Salvador is not only a leader, but may end up wearing the “C” before the season ends. If he plays close to as well as he did in the playoffs last season, he’s easily the best defenseman on the team.

As for Tallinder, he’s a solid veteran who can continue to mentor Adam Larsson and with his major injury from last year, it is doubtful that other teams would take a chance with him.

Peter Harrold seems like a perfect candidate to play the seventh defenseman role. Not only is he cheap, ($525,000 per) but he has playoff experience as well and at the age of 29, he’s not likely to field may offers.

The fact is, General Manager Lou Lamoriello is always looking to improve this team and the Devils can be a much better team by finding a way to move one of their extra defensemen to gain some scoring help. While it would make perfect sense to do so, only time will tell. One thing is for certain, having a glut of d-men is never a bad thing.

Here’s the projected Devils defensive pairings for the 2012-2013 season:

Bryce Salvador – Marek Zidlicky

Anton Volchenkov – Henrik Tallinder

Adam Larrson – Mark Fayne

What combination of players do you think gives the Devils the best chance to succeed this season?

Thanks for reading.  All feedback is appreciated.

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