Hello everybody, I am back. I am sorry I have not been able to write in a while I have been very busy with summer work, hockey, etc. Enough excuses. Lets get this train moving!
What an off season it has been for the Devils. Massive turnover from last year. After resigning David Clarkson to a 3 year, $8 million deal, the Devils chose to let Paul Martin walk and did not resign him. Paul Martin, who since Brian Rafalski left for the Red Wings had been the Devils best defenseman, signed a five year, $25 million deal with the rival Penguins. Lou did not panic after losing his top defense man; on the contrary, he went out and got who many people was the best defensive free agent in the market, Anton Volchenkov, in a 6 year, $25.5 million deal, which has an average annual cap hit of $4.25 million. He also went out and got puck moving defenseman Henrik Tallinder, the defensive partner of Rookie of the Year recipient Tyler Myers, to a four year, $13.75 million deal. The defense went from a no name defense last year to a defense that now has size and strength in its defensive zone, and with Andy Greene manning the point and Henrik Tallinder contributing, the Devils will be able to make up for the loss of Paul Martin’s offensive talents. The Devils then managed to gain leadership, size, and skill down the middle at center in a trade for Jason Arnott in exchange for a 2nd round pick and a decent prospect in Matt Halischuk. The Devils also managed to lock up a solid backup goaltender in Johan Hedberg, who had backstopped Atlanta successfully despite for having a mediocre at best team around him.
However, the big question all off season was where Ilya Kovalchuk, the prized jewel of the free agent pool, would land. After going back and forth between the Devils and Los Angeles Kings, Kovy signed a 17 year, $102 million dollar deal. However, the deal was rejected by the NHL and after a lengthy arbitration, the rejection was upheld. The Devils submitted a contract last week back to the NHL for a fifteen year, $100 million deal. Two nights ago, at 3 AM, the NHL and NHLPA finally managed to agree on corrections to the CBA and allowed for the Kovalchuk contract to be grandfathered in. So finally, the Devils managed to land the grand jewel of their magnificent offseason.
However, the job is not finished. The Devils are over the cap by a bit more than 3 million dollars, and have to send players out to get under the cap limit and save a bit more room for injuries, last minute signings, and call ups. They have to either trade, waive, loan, or send players to the minors to get under the cap. The best option obviously is to trade players. Bryce Salvador and Dainius Zubrus are the most likely players to be leaving New Jersey. Bryce Salvador is a popular trade option because he has a reasonable $2.9 million per year contract and a no trade clause. Teams that missed out on top defensive free agents and top trading block options such as Tomas Kaberle would be interested in trading for the steady defense man. I honestly think that Salvador has been steady, but he does not fit the Devils system and he is very on and off in terms of how well he plays. The Devils can likely trade him to a team like the Dallas Stars or Anaheim Ducks for a 2nd or third round pick and a decent prospect. Dainius Zubrus is also a likely candidate because he is making a reasonable $3.4 million per year with a no trade clause. I would really hate to see him go though. He was one of few players that showed any heart last year in the playoff exit versus the rival Flyers, and he can contribute in a lot of ways. However, he really is being pushed out of the top two lines as Kovalchuk will most likely end up with Elias and Arnott on the 2nd line. If the Devils can keep him that would be great, but I think unlikely. For the sake of pure speculation, the Devils could possibly trade Zubrus to Toronto, who is in desperate need for a top 6 forward, for a good prospect or a high pick (maybe we can pull off a first rounder, seeing as how Burke has shown his lack of care for draft picks in the past like the Phil Kessel trade.) But then again, this is pure speculation. I would love to see a second round pick and a good prospect head down to Jersey from Toronto for Zubrus. But there are plenty of teams who would be interested in his services. But don’t expect all that much from teams because the Devils are in desperation to clear some cap room. Zubrus may also be lent to a European team, similar to what the Blackhawks did with Huet. Salvador is also a candidate to be waived.
The Devils can also look into trading Colin White and Brian Rolston. However, both have no trade clauses and are unlikely to move. I like White for his size and he still just seems to have that physical presence that can help. He suffered a lot from the incompetent play of Mike Mottau, and I think if he was paired with a better defenseman like Andy Greene he could have a good season. Brian Rolston has an extremely high cap hit at $5 million per year. If the Devils traded him, they would probably have to include a midlevel prospect with him and get little back in return. However, if the Devils are going for broke this season and aiming to win the cup with the best team possible, trading Rolston along with a prospect like Tyler Eckford would not be the worst option.
Patrik Elias is also a candidate for trade. I do not see him being moved for his no trade clause, but there have been rumors for him to be traded to Edmonton for Sam Gagner or Andrew Cogliano and an above average prospect. This is interesting because the Devils would lose a lot in Elias, but would manage to get under the cap in one fell swoop and could land a very good center, and a very good prospect like Jordan Eberle or Magnus Paajarvi- Svensson coming to New Jersey would be great. But I don’t see this happening and I don’t think this trade would benefit the team right now, which is really what we should be aiming for as we try to win Marty one more cup, which, on paper, this team can and should be able to do.
Another name up for trade is captain Jamie Langenbrunner, but he comes very cheap and is a great captain in my opinion and I do not expect him to go anywhere.
Let me put this to rest now, Travis Zajac is not going ANYWHERE. I have heard rumor after rumor about the Devils trading their star center, and it is absolutely ridiculous. He was the only true center last year for the Devils, and trading him would create a situation like last year, only having one center in Jason Arnott. It is ridiculous to think of trading Zajac anywhere. He is a Devil now and hopefully will be for the rest of his career.
This is what I see happening for the rest of the offseason: Zubrus goes to Toronto for a 2nd round pick and a prospect after Toronto buries Jeff Finger in the minors, and Salvador ends up with the Stars for a third rounder and a prospect. I think the rest of the team will stand pat.
I would also like to see, but not expecting, for the Devils to sign Marc -Andre Bergeron cheap. He has a cannon of a shot and scored 13 goals last year. I know his defensive skills are substandard. But the Devils are in somewhat of a need for another offensive defense man. Signing him might put the Devils over the top if they can teach him how to play defense better. And he would also come cheap. However, the Devils can live without him if they have to with Greene and Tallinder.
I also see a good amount of Swedish infusion into the Devils team this year. Superfast winger Mattias Tedenby, two way center Jacob Josefson, and big defenseman Alexander Urbom all have excellent chances of making the team this year. I see all three making the team out of training camp.
I see the lines next year being something like this:
Parise- Zajac- Langenbrunner
Kovalchuk- Arnott- Elias
(Elias and Kovalchuk are both left wingers, but Elias has proven he can play any position at forward)
Tedenby- Josefson- Clarkson. Clarkson would protect the young forwards while providing offense and would allow the Swedes to get good chemistry for years to come together.
Rolston- Pelley- Zharkov/ Letourneau- Leblond. I think Zharkov would benefit well from playing with Rolston and the two could contribute a good amount of points together with Zharkov’s playmaking abilities and Rolston’s hard (albeit, inaccurate) shot. I put Leblond here depending on if the Devils are playing a team with a fighter. I question Pelley’s skills more than I think anybody for a fourth liner, but I doubt he would be a bad option for a fourth liner.
I also can see Adam Henrique, former Windsor Spitfire and linemate of top overall pick Taylor Hall, making the team and replacing Pelley, but I do not see that happening as of right now.
On defense, I see the pairings as…
Volchenkov- Greene. A great defensive defense man with a flourishing offensive defense man could work wonders for the Devils. It has before with pairings such as Stevens- Rafalski and Niedermayer- White in his prime.
Tallinder- Urbom. It might be asking a lot for a young defenseman to play the second pairing, and if he shows he is not ready this entire pairing will be dropped to third. But Tallinder can hopefully mentor Urbom to be good enough to stick, like he did with Tyler Myers
White- Fraser. White will shine as a third pairing defense man and Fraser is slowly but surely becoming a good offensive defenseman. I also see Eckford, Corrente, and Gelinas getting call ups for the team.
And obviously in net, I have Brodeur starting and Hedberg backing up. Hedburg I expect will play atleast 15 games, and maybe up to 25, which would be great and give Marty a nice rest for the playoffs.
I hope you enjoyed the article and I hope to be getting some great stuff in for the next few weeks. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at benfeder@gmail.com
Go Devils!