The Devils seem to be listening to my advice on how to fix this team.
I have been preaching for weeks now that this team could turn a sharp corner if John MacLean was fired and veterans Rolston and Langenbrunner were banished. Two of those three things have happened.
Last week after another string of embarrassing losses, the Devils fired John MacLean. His replacement was our old friend; Jacques Lemaire. It has been made clear that Lemaire will only be on board for the rest of this season and his job is to analyze the team and use his expertise to find out how things can get turned around. It seems the Devils’ management has finally realized that their season is over as the Devils sit in last place in the league with a 9-24-2 record (20 points). The Islanders have a four point lead on the Devils with a game in hand. Had the Devils been in the Western Conference, they would be in last place trailing the Edmonton Oilers by 10 points.
Through no fault of Lemaire’s, the team got pounded in his first two games back behind the bench. He had literally no time with the team before they got crushed by a 5-1 score by the New York Islanders last Thursday. The Maple Leafs came to snowy Newark on Sunday to hand the Devils a 4-1 loss. On Monday the 27th, the coach was able to have his first practice with the team. Since then, he has worked them harder than they have been worked all season and it should show in tonight’s showdown with the surging New York Rangers.
The next move made by Lou Lamoriello was to assign Brian Rolston to Albany of the AHL. Rolston was first put on waivers on the 14th of December. He cleared after 24 hours without a team claiming him and played in the Devils last win; a 3-0 win over the Phoenix Coyotes. The Devils have no won a game since. According to the rules under the collective bargaining agreement, the Devils had 30 days to assign Rolston to the minors or he would stay in New Jersey and the Devils would have to wait another 30 days to place him on waivers again. Rolston stayed in New Jersey.
As the holiday roster freeze expired, Lamoriello got right down to business and assigned Rolston to Albany. Whether he actually reports to Albany or not remains to be seen. It seems that the main goal is to get Brian Rolston on re-entry waivers. It seems hard to understand why the Devils would do this unless they have found a team that would take him. For people that don’t understand the terms of the CBA (not many people actually do), a team would be responsible for half of Rolston’s salary and cap hit if they take him on re-entry waivers. This would leave the Devils on the hook for the other half. They would be paying him half of his salary and that same number (2,512,500) would be his cap number for the Devils even without him playing in red and black. These rules apply to Rolston because he was 35 years of age when he signed his contract with the Devils.
The signing that now looks like a mistake was not necessarily a head scratcher when it happened. Rolston had come off three 30+ goal seasons in Minnesota and was highly sought after by many teams in the league. It is even reported that he took less money to come back to the Devils. Since his return to New Jersey, he has been plagued with injuries and an inability to score goals when he is healthy. This year he has scored two goals. His contract is now one that would solve the Devils cap problems indefinitely if it were moved. Even shedding half of his salary would make owner Jeff Vanderbeek breathe a little easier.
Jamie Langenbrunner is next.
There have been many rumors floating around. Included in that are rumors that the Flames have contacted the Devils about Jamie and the Avalanche have publicly stated that they would love to have him. There have been some rumors conjured up by fans and media types that Langenbrunner would be a perfect fit in Dallas with his old friend Joe Niewendyk as the GM. Lastly, Niclas Bergfors has been a healthy scratch nightly in Atlanta and the Thrashers could use some veteran ‘leadership’ and I am sure the Devils would take Bergfors back. Imagine a Swedish line next season of Tedenby-Josefson-Bergfors.
A change of scenery is exactly what Jamie Langenbrunner could need. It is also probably a good idea to trade him and get rid of him before he walks in the summer and he is gone with the Devils getting nothing in return.
So yes, the Devils are reading my blog. They are taking my advice and running the team as I say they should. I will be expecting a check in the mail any minute…
My Jamie Langenbrunner scenarios are not ideas stemmed from any dislike for him as a player. He was always one of my favorite Devils. Sometimes you can just see that a player needs to move on. He has a lot left in the tank and it seems he would like that to happen in a different city. It is a good opportunity for the Devils to get younger and faster which they definitely need to do.
The Devils did not have a morning skate today according to Tom Gulliti of the Bergen Record. Vladimir Zharkov seems to have taken Rolston’s place.