so would you have re-signed them?

Gomez and Raffalski of course. i know its a little late but i just wanted to wait for the dust to settle.

would you have re-signed gomez and rafalski for what they are getting now by their respective teams?

Gomez- no, he had pretty much the same stats as he would if he were on our team. no way did he prove he was worth that 7.5 mil cap hit. i think a fair payment for him would be 4.5-5

Rafalski-no, he is only getting older and i think him being gone helped develop some of the younger D-men.

now we have alot of money to work with to get some guys that are really worth all that money

if we did re-sign them we would be stuck where we were since the lock-out which was 2nd round playoff elimination.

im glad lou didnt handcuff us by overpaying players that wouldnt have gotten us over the hump

your guys thoughts??

Would they have made enough of a difference to move on this year? No way, so no I'm glad we didn't sign them. Save the money for better players.

raflaski- yes

gomez- no

Would they have made enough of a difference to move on this year? No way, so no I'm glad we didn't sign them. Save the money for better players.

because the east is bad this year we may have made it to the 3rd round, i think we would have atleast beat the rangers

I would have resigned Rafalski, but definitely not for what he's getting in Detroit.

Would they have made the 07-08 Devils a better team? Absolutely

Were they worth the money that they got from DET and NYR? Absolutely not.

Lou made the right decision. But he has to use the money that he saved from last year for this offseason. I hope he doesn't sit on his hands.

Would they have made the 07-08 Devils a better team? Absolutely

Were they worth the money that they got from DET and NYR? Absolutely not.

Lou made the right decision. But he has to use the money that he saved from last year for this offseason. I hope he doesn't sit on his hands.

You're right on the money. Lou has done a good job of saving us money and setting us up to make some moves. It's the actual making the moves part that I'm worried about.

The one thing I would've done different? Signed Sykora instead of Vishnevski and Rachunek.

Rafalski - no
Gomez - no

I was praying that both would be traded since the 03-04 season.

I'm hoping for Malone and Hainsey. Those are my realistic choices.

My dream? Hossa.

I'm hoping for Malone and Hainsey. Those are my realistic choices.

My dream? Hossa.

malone would be a real nice pickup. especially if zajac performs well next season and elais stays at center

For what they got, hell no and hell no-er.

Would they have made enough of a difference to move on this year? No way, so no I'm glad we didn't sign them. Save the money for better players.Either one could likely have made a little difference which would have made a huge difference. The Devils finished with 99 PTS, three behind Pittsburgh for the Atlantic and four behind Montreal for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Either one could have tipped the ballance of power in the Eastern Conference.

I would have prefered signing Rafalski because I ranked him second to Brodeur last year in terms of their contribution to the team. He probably would have stayed for less money and time than he got from Detroit.

Lou screwed up by not keeping Rafalski and we turned into a pathetic team.

I'm going to go against the norm and say re-signed Gomez and not Rafalski. One of our weaknesses this year was at center, and picking up any playmaking center (even re-signing Gomer) would have made us a better scoring team. Scoring was a difficulty all year, and TBH I wasn't fond of Rafalski's playoffs last year.

Elias-Gomez-Gionta
Parise-Zajac-Langenbrunner
Pando-Madden-Clarkson/Asham
Zubrus-Rupp-Asham/Clarkson
Brylin (sorry)

God that 4th line is scary.

We would've lost in the 2nd round again...

Rafalski should have resigned.

Its takes years of developement or $7 million/ to get a d-man like that again

No to Gomez, he wasn't worth what he was wanting.

Rafalski definately yes. Not only does he make our blue line better, but he also improves guys like Zajac and Gionta who depend on his net shots to get garbage goal deflections and rebound shots. We see how much their production suffered this year without him.

I'm going to go against the norm and say re-signed Gomez and not Rafalski. One of our weaknesses this year was at center, and picking up any playmaking center (even re-signing Gomer) would have made us a better scoring team. Scoring was a difficulty all year, and TBH I wasn't fond of Rafalski's playoffs last year.

Elias-Gomez-Gionta
Parise-Zajac-Langenbrunner
Pando-Madden-Clarkson/Asham
Zubrus-Rupp-Asham/Clarkson
Brylin (sorry)

God that 4th line is scary.

We wouldn't have Zubrus.

good bye to both..,

shame lou did not trade gomez when he could for a high draft pick.

Rafalski should have resigned.

Its takes years of developement or $7 million/ to get a d-man like that again

Just wait and see how much Wings fans are going to love Raffy when Lidstrom leaves.

Raffy is worth $4.5-5M tops.

good bye to both..,

shame lou did not trade gomez when he could for a high draft pick.

Totally agree with you on that one!

I don't get Lou's thinking sometimes. If he knows his plans don't include keeping a set player, he should have made a move. Or, just sign them to a contract they agree to then trade them for a package that works for the Devils.

Especially with Gomer. EVERYONE knew he wasn't coming back! For people to say Lou didn't know would be ludicrous.

Totally agree with you on that one!

I don't get Lou's thinking sometimes. If he knows his plans don't include keeping a set player, he should have made a move. Or, just sign them to a contract they agree to then trade them for a package that works for the Devils.

Especially with Gomer. EVERYONE knew he wasn't coming back! For people to say Lou didn't know would be ludicrous.

Trading Gomez back at the Deadline and there's no more Atlantic divison championship, and I don't think so we would have finished btw... 1-5.

Sure, he could have traded him. Instead he kept him, and we got eliminated in the 2nd round.

good bye to both..,

shame lou did not trade gomez when he could for a high draft pick.

I agree. That smirky twit was leaving anyway we should have gotten something for him before he got the chance.

Gomez - No.
Rafalski - Yes. And yes he would have made a difference - even if just on the PP.

Funny related item; did you notice 2 of the key players on the loss by the Rangers yesterday? Drury takes the 4 min high sticking call to give all the momentum to the Pens heading into OT. On the Hossa goal, Gomez tips the pass originally going near side and defelects it over to Hossa. Had he not touched it, probably no goal.

the 2 BIG acquisitions have direct impact on the Pens win...

The real Gomez finally showed up in this series. While he's a good player, he isn't a difference maker. BIG NO.

Detroit is a perfect fit for Rafalski, but lets see the day Rafalski he doesn't play with Lindstrom. However, I guess if the Wings win the cup, he was worth it to them. No. Not for the money and length of his contract.

Without those two, we finshed with a few less points and got knocked out in the first round instead of last year second round playoffs. Even with those two, doubt we would beat Pittsburgh, but may have beaten the Rags. Time to look to the future.

Trading Gomez back at the Deadline and there's no more Atlantic divison championship, and I don't think so we would have finished btw... 1-5.

Sure, he could have traded him. Instead he kept him, and we got eliminated in the 2nd round.

The thing of it all is that if Lou decided to do a Gomez trade...it would have it been for someone of significance & long term. (IMO) The question is...who that certain player would have been?

It's something we'll never know.

Neither of them are worth the salary cap hit that their respective teams are now taking on, so NO I wouldnt have resigned either of them at those figures.

Lou knew this year would be a rebuilding year, and he did the right thing.

As always; I drink the Kool-Aid

In retrospect, if raffy were to take something along the lines of 5/25, I would probably resign him.

No, not at those prices.

Gomez played the last 2 years for us like he wanted out. No way. Good Riddance

good bye to both..,

shame lou did not trade gomez when he could for a high draft pick.

It's not a shame.

Lou was looking to win and Gomez on our team at the time gave us the best chance

As for re-signing them.. . I wouldn't have re-signed them for the prices they received from NYR and Det...

Neither of them are worth the salary cap hit that their respective teams are now taking on, so NO I wouldnt have resigned either of them at those figures.

Lou knew this year would be a rebuilding year, and he did the right thing.

As always; I drink the Kool-Aid

Same here. I believe Lou is simply building another cup team, and Gomez and Rafalski just weren't in the blueprints. Where did we get with them? The 2nd round? Anything short of making the finals is a failure for this franchise, we weren't getting it done with those two, Lou let them walk, and took a rebuilding year. We now have loads of cap space and two excellent drafts coming up.

Same here. I believe Lou is simply building another cup team, and Gomez and Rafalski just weren't in the blueprints. Where did we get with them? The 2nd round? Anything short of making the finals is a failure for this franchise, we weren't getting it done with those two, Lou let them walk, and took a rebuilding year. We now have loads of cap space and two excellent drafts coming up.

Two excellent drafts and crappy picks. It would be a long shot for us to get the same calibur player as Rafalski and Gomez.

Gomez was destined to part with the organization, but Lamoriello should of kept Rafalski. Our blueline was pathetic this year, and I don't mean in terms of depth, I mean in terms of quality. Rafalski would of gone a long way towards helping our breakout and our power play. Age is a factor, but Rafalski's best asset is his vision. I'm pretty sure he would still have that by the end of his contract.

Rafalski would of gone a long way towards helping our breakout and our power play. Age is a factor, but Rafalski's best asset is his vision. I'm pretty sure he would still have that by the end of his contract.

And this team still wouldnt have won with Rafalski, and he's going to be 35 when camp begins next year, and he will be 38.5 when the contract ends. It didnt make much sense for Lou to sign him long-term. This team has a LOT of holes to plug, and I'd rather that $6M spent long-term on someone closer to 25 than 35.

If we did........ We still be watching other teams in the playoffs right now and not ours.

So No.

We saved money, move in a new direction and had the same basic result as we did with them in the lineup the two previous years.

If we did........ We'd still be watching other teams in the playoffs right now and not ours.

So No.

We saved money, move in a new direction and had the same basic result as we did with them in the lineup the two previous years.

Winner!

Neither of them are worth the salary cap hit that their respective teams are now taking on, so NO I wouldnt have resigned either of them at those figures.

Lou knew this year would be a rebuilding year, and he did the right thing.

As always; I drink the Kool-Aid

Word.

STOP WITH ALL THE WATERWORKS FOR GOMEZ AND RAFALSKI ALREADY!!! :rant:

IT'S BEEN ALMOST A YEAR ALREADY!!!

We are not a Championship caliber team due to attrition:

Stevens & Daneyko retired
Niedermayer, Gomez, & Rafalski left via free agency
Jeff Friesen took up knitting

That's an entire team right there. How the heck do you replace such an impressive core that left within 2 years?

Rafalski & Gomez were part of that core. Stop giving them ALL the success.

Things have changed since 2003, like for example, a HARD SALARY CAP?

Gomez & Rafalski would be great on the Devils, but only with Scott Niedermayer and if by dipping Stevens & Daneyko in a Fountain of Youth. Heck, while we are at it, dip Rafalski in that Fountain as well.

STOP IT ALREADY!

Gomez=hell no not for his cap hit, maybe if his cap hit was about 5.5 a year

Raffi=hell yea if he was willing to sign for 5 a yr

If we did........ We still be watching other teams in the playoffs right now and not ours.

So No.

We saved money, move in a new direction and had the same basic result as we did with them in the lineup the two previous years.

Right. It was hard to watch during the season because they would've obviously made us better, but in retrospect I'm glad our hands are not tied with their contracts.

Hmm, think about it. We have over $10 million in cap room, but had we kept both gomez and rafalski, we wouldn't have any money to sign anyone better...blessing in disguise.