Jim Dowd?

So any idea what is going on with Dowd? Is he still injured? He is in the Devils yearbook which kind of surprised me being he hadn't actually signed a contract. Just curious if anyone knows anything more on thim.

He's still rehabbing. Last I heard he was going to keep rehabbing for "as long as it took" to get back and help the team.

I really want Dowd in the lineup for the second half of the year and the playoffs. Really bad. I think Dowd in the lineup as fourth line center gives us the potential for four kickass lines.

Parise - Gomez - Gionta
Elias - Zajac - Langenbrunner
Pandolfo - Madden - X
Brylin - Dowd - X

That would be so awesome.

He's still rehabbing. Last I heard he was going to keep rehabbing for "as long as it took" to get back and help the team.

I really want Dowd in the lineup for the second half of the year and the playoffs. Really bad. I think Dowd in the lineup as fourth line center gives us the potential for four kickass lines.

Parise - Gomez - Gionta
Elias - Zajac - Langenbrunner
Pandolfo - Madden - X
Brylin - Dowd - X

That would be so awesome.I think Brylin would remain on Madden's line and the fourth line would be Rasmussen - Dowd - Janssen.

I think Brylin would remain on Madden's line and the fourth line would be Rasmussen - Dowd - Janssen.

I agree completely. I thought the Madden line was AWESOME last night. Brylin played a great game (and Mad Dog was as good as I've ever seen him). The chemistry is really good there, no need or good reason to demote Brylin to six minutes on the crash line.

As an aside, RE: lines, loved the come from behind win, and all that good stuff, but still think Elias looks a little lost on the second line. It is obviously very early, so no die has been cast as to future success, but the team might be more successful reuniting the EGG line and let Parise continue to develop along side Zajac. This has been discussed before on HF threads, but I felt it all game long (despite the late heroics from Gionta).

I think Brylin would remain on Madden's line and the fourth line would be Rasmussen - Dowd - Janssen.

Before this season is over, I have a feeling that our 4th line could look like this:

Rass - Dowd - Clarkson.

That would give them a 4th line with potential to bury some pucks.

Before this season is over, I have a feeling that our 4th line could look like this:

Rass - Dowd - Clarkson.

That would give them a 4th line with potential to bury some pucks.

Love the idea of Clarkson. I think he is down primarily due to cap concerns, after a fantastic camp, since we are still riding the very edge of the salary cap (some have us less than $1,000 under the cap...) So his extra $400K over LaCouture is a stumbling block if no future moves are made.

I think Brylin would remain on Madden's line and the fourth line would be Rasmussen - Dowd - Janssen.

Janssen would add NOTHING to that line. He'd actually bring it down. Dowd is, IMO, a premier defensive forward in this league. He sucks balls at everything else, but he can play defense and do it spectacularly. If you guys had a guy like Ortmeyer to plug in there with Ras and Dowd, that would be an absolutely spectacular 2nd shut-down line. Not much offense, but you'd be hard pressed to score against them.

Cam just slows the line down and doesn't add much to it.

Janssen would add NOTHING to that line. He'd actually bring it down. Dowd is, IMO, a premier defensive forward in this league. He sucks balls at everything else, but he can play defense and do it spectacularly. If you guys had a guy like Ortmeyer to plug in there with Ras and Dowd, that would be an absolutely spectacular 2nd shut-down line. Not much offense, but you'd be hard pressed to score against them.

Cam just slows the line down and doesn't add much to it.

Said essentially the same thing on the "4th Line" thread... That "Rass- Dowd - LaC" was a serious improvement as a fourth line, with better hockey skills and PLENTY of grit. And that Clarkson would also be an improvement over both Janssen and LaCouture, as well, as others have suggested in other threads.

(And I actually like and enjoy Janssen, who I think you hate somewhat more than the average for clobbering Rangers left and right... Ryan Hollweg in particular... Like eight times.)

Problem with both of those ideas is the extent of Dowd's injury and his potential return to playing shape is unkown (and could be serious and protracted), and Clarkson makes around $850K, and with the Devils still skating thinly across the cap threshold (some poster has the team currently less than $1,000 under the cap...!) he might not be able to be recalled from Lowell simply because of salary.

So it looks like the short term options include only Rass, LaC, Cam & Rupp for a fourth line combo... Kinda iffy at best.

Said essentially the same thing on the "4th Line" thread... That "Rass- Dowd - LaC" was a serious improvement as a fourth line, with better hockey skills and PLENTY of grit. And that Clarkson would also be an improvement over both Janssen and LaCouture, as well, as others have suggested in other threads.

(And I actually like and enjoy Janssen, who I think you hate somewhat more than the average for clobbering Rangers left and right... Ryan Hollweg in particular... Like eight times.)

Problem with both of those ideas is the extent of Dowd's injury and his potential return to playing shape is unkown (and could be serious and protracted), and Clarkson makes around $850K, and with the Devils still skating thinly across the cap threshold (some poster has the team currently less than $1,000 under the cap...!) he might not be able to be recalled from Lowell simply because of salary.

So it looks like the short term options include only Rass, LaC, Cam & Rupp for a fourth line combo... Kinda iffy at best.

So true about Clarkson being a cap casualty. As for Janssen, he is definitely useful, although he doesn't bring any offense to the table, he does bring an aggressive attitude and teams know when he's on the ice that they need to keep their heads up. Plus he is entertaining. And hopefully, sometime this season we will be able to add Clarkson.