Who do We sign?

So with already several departes from our line up who do the Devils turn too to fill the holes...Rupp and Madden will be filled from within the organization with Pelley beeing our new John Madden...The back-up roll will be a vetran back-up tbd or Jeff Frazzee...but do we go after someone like Kovalev or Havlat or even Sykora to fill a spot...or do we go with Zubrus and Rolston on a line with Elias...We still need 2-3 forwards to fill out our top 12 forwards...


Elias-Zubrus-Rolston
Parise-Zajac-Langenbrunner
Shanahan*-Pelley-Clarkson
Pandolfo-XXXXX-XXXXX

Oduya-Martin
White-Mattau
Salvador-Green

Broduer
Frazzee/Weekes*

There is an offseason thread.

Fair enough but this kinda gets to the piont with out having to go through 10-12 pages of posts and replys...

Fair enough but this kinda gets to the piont with out having to go through 10-12 pages of posts and replys...

I agree I hate having to go through all the pages to see what I missed.

i agree

In Lou I must trust...i'm nervous...

Center
Depth Forward (or two if we can find Pandolfo a new home)
Defenseman

Jeez, stop being lazy and read the threads, you might enjoy them. ;)

We need a 2nd centre and depth. I'm looking for the young guys to step it up, and evolve into our next core.

Saku Koivu.

Brendan Shanahan.

Jeez, stop being lazy and read the threads, you might enjoy them. ;)

We need a 2nd centre and depth. I'm looking for the young guys to step it up, and evolve into our next core.

i agree, its just hard watching all these crazy trades

id like to see the devils maybe take a stab at koivu or lang on a ONE YEAR DEAL

Insert Phaneuf. Minus Mottau.
Insert Sundin/Sakic/Koivu/Comrie. Minus Zubrus.

well i will patiently wait and see. Lou must see something in the youngsters or not. Lou will be fired this year if they cant compete. Every vet on this team must be pissed off/ Parise, langs, Elias, Brodeur, Oduya especially

Sakic? blech

I would love comrie, but i thought ottawa was surely signing him

well i will patiently wait and see. Lou must see something in the youngsters or not. Lou will be fired this year if they cant compete. Every vet on this team must be pissed off/ Parise, langs, Elias, Brodeur, Oduya especially
I doubt anyone is pissed off. And I doubt even more that there's a chance Lou'll be fired.

well i will patiently wait and see. Lou must see something in the youngsters or not. Lou will be fired this year if they cant compete. Every vet on this team must be pissed off/ Parise, langs, Elias, Brodeur, Oduya especially

I doubt they're pissed off.. Our top vets will probably see a lot of ice team with a different look

if they cannot compete, this will be seen as one of the worst decisions ever. I mean christ, this ass goes and says if we can make our team better we will. Wat a dik, we coulda done it ten times over Lou you moron. Not one sniff on any player. This was mor eof a crippling than an upgrade

rupp-easily replaced by pl3
madden-easily replaced by pelley
gionta-step down, for now, but replaced by bergfors
clemmensen-easily replaced by bag o poo
weekes-replaced by frazee and fraser(to make sure we meet our black player quota)

sign

zubov
koivu/a center

if they cannot compete, this will be seen as one of the worst decisions ever. I mean christ, this ass goes and says if we can make our team better we will. Wat a dik, we coulda done it ten times over Lou you moron. Not one sniff on any player. This was mor eof a crippling than an upgrade

If you were Lou, what contract would you have given out? Granted the player even wants to play in NJ

What about Tanguay?

What about Tanguay?

i think we have enough lwers. we already have elias, parise, rolston and zubrus who all play best at lw, atleast one of them will have to play out of position

I would love comrie, but i thought ottawa was surely signing him

Comrie does not come off as a Lou player.

Antropov

5 years/$25 million

Antropov

5 years/$25 million
Hah. That would be a no.

Antropov

5 years/$25 million

Hell no. He's already overrated, no need to make him grossly overpaid and get a Zubrus clone. For that money I'd rather have kept Gionta.

Jesus Christ this is frustrating as ****

rupp-easily replaced by pl3
madden-easily replaced by pelley
gionta-step down, for now, but replaced by bergfors
clemmensen-easily replaced by bag o poo
weekes-replaced by frazee and fraser(to make sure we meet our black player quota)


Rupp can play a full shift and can contribute while PL3 is a liability and shouldn't be an every day player
Pelley is virtually another Pandolfo offensivly, not to mention a little less defensive ability than Madden but it was time to bring him up
Gionta more so is being replaced in the line up by Rolston

Koivu and Beauchemin/Leopold ?

Rupp can play a full shift and can contribute while PL3 is a liability and shouldn't be an every day player
Pelley is virtually another Pandolfo offensivly, not to mention a little less defensive ability than Madden but it was time to bring him up
Gionta more so is being replaced in the line up by Rolston

i dont understand lou's obsession with leblond hes not good at all so hopefully he will be like the 13th forward and only play against tougher teams, and as long as they dont start matching lines using pelley then im fine with him taking maddens role preferably as 4th line center and pk duty

Parise-Zajac-Langenbrunner
Elias-Rolston-Bergfors?
? - Zubrus - Clarky
PL3 - Pelly - Pando

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeech

Gionta more so is being replaced in the line up by Rolston

thats true so really bergfors just has to replace rolston from last year

btw, getting top 6 minutes one way or another and it wont be at center

Does anyone know how much cap room we have this year?

Right now you guys have a bit more than 11M in cap space left.

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/cap-central/team.php?team=NJ

No idea why Hockeybuzz and NHLnumbers both have Oduya at $3M.

If I had to guess, I'd guess that Zajac gets somewhere between 3-4M a year.

Which would leave between 8.7M and 7.7M left to fill 2 forward spots, a defenseman spot and a back-up goalie spot.

If I had to guess, I'd guess that Zajac gets somewhere between 3-4M a year.

Which would leave between 8.7M and 7.7M left to fill 2 forward spots, a defenseman spot and a back-up goalie spot.
Defenseman is Corrente, save cap space for the trading deadline. Goalie is cheap. One forward is probably Shanahan. I'm still hoping the other is LaRose.

Defenseman is Corrente, save cap space for the trading deadline. Goalie is cheap. One forward is probably Shanahan. I'm still hoping the other is LaRose.

I could see that. I don't see Lou signing a big priced forward or d-man because he has to re-sign Martin who could command big bucks next offseason and you guys have only 6M coming off the books (mostly in RFAs).

How about signing Kovalev for 1year -4.5millions ?

Parise-Zajac-Langenbrunner
Rolston-Elias-Kovalev
Clarkson-Zubrus-Bergfors
Shanny-Pelley-Halischuck

Res: Pl3


Martin-Oduya
Salvador-White
Mottau-Corrente


Brodeur
Frazee

That wouldn't be too bad.

No idea why Hockeybuzz and NHLnumbers both have Oduya at $3M.

That his salary this year, not his cap hit

That his salary this year, not his cap hit

No. Hockeybuzz has Oduya making $3M all 3 years. That's his cap hit, according to him.

Same thing with NHL numbers.

That his salary this year, not his cap hit

they have it as his cap hit too.

BTW, if I'm Lou, I look into trading for Andrew Brunette. He's cheap, has only 2 more seasons on the books, and would be a solid soldier for the Devils.

BTW, if I'm Lou, I look into trading for Andrew Brunette. He's cheap, has only 2 more seasons on the books, and would be a solid soldier for the Devils.

The Devils are pretty deep on the wings. They still have Rolston who is much faster than Brunnette, plus theres Bergfors. The only player I really would like to see signed is Koviu but if its not meant to be then oh well.

zajac wont get more than parise

3.5 is what im saying

BTW, if I'm Lou, I look into trading for Andrew Brunette. He's cheap, has only 2 more seasons on the books, and would be a solid soldier for the Devils.

he just had ACL surgery, that kind of scares me. I like him and all but he's getting old. If we got rid of Pando then I'd be all for it.

How about signing Kovalev for 1year -4.5millions ?

Parise-Zajac-Langenbrunner
Rolston-Elias-Kovalev
Clarkson-Zubrus-Bergfors
Shanny-Pelley-Halischuck

Res: Pl3


Martin-Oduya
Salvador-White
Mottau-Corrente


Brodeur
Frazee

That wouldn't be too bad.


Im thinking of another hab/ex-hab, and some top 4 d-man under 4mil.



ZZ-pop
Elias-Koivu-Bergfors
Rolston-Zubrus-Clarkson
Shanny/P3L-Cormier-Halischuk

Martin-Oduya
Beauchemin-Salvador
White-Corrente
Greene/Eckford

I want LaRose and Seidenberg or Beauchemin.

I'm interested to see what Koivu's price is, though.

It really all depends whether or not Lou thinks one of Elias/Rolston can be an effective center for the second line. If he does, sign LaRose. If he doesn't, sign Koivu.

I want Zubrus as our third line center.

no top 6 lwers, either a center or elias moves to center and rolston plays lw and we get a rwer

zajac wont get more than parise

3.5 is what im saying

But that is more than Parise.

But that is more than Parise.

hmmmmmmmmm

i was going off the top of my head, what is parise making 3.3/3.4?

zajac will get like 2/3k less than parise

hmmmmmmmmm

i was going off the top of my head, what is parise making 3.3/3.4?

zajac will get like 2/3k less than parise

3.125 I think.

http://nhlnumbers.com/

Live it. Learn it. Love it. Use it.

im usually pretty good with players contracts around the league and usually very good with my own team, thats embarrassing

http://nhlnumbers.com/

Live it. Learn it. Love it. Use it.
Use hockeybuzz's cap central. It's really only peripherally aligned with Ecklund and its numbers are always more accurate.

Use hockeybuzz's cap central. It's really only peripherally aligned with Ecklund and its numbers are always more accurate.

It may in fact be the best around, but I'm not giving Pecklund one ****ing hit on his "website." Can't believe people actually check that site every day. Bumbling hack.

i use nhlscap.com which i think is run by irish(the admin) and it gives a link to hockeybuzz for the salarys

Use hockeybuzz's cap central. It's really only peripherally aligned with Ecklund and its numbers are always more accurate.

I've rarely seen a difference between the two numbers wise. Plus nhlnumbers has a better layout. They both have the Oduya contract wrong.

I've rarely seen a difference between the two numbers wise. Plus nhlnumbers has a better layout. They both have the Oduya contract wrong.
Or they both have it right and everyone else is wrong. I know for the most part hockeybuzz (IB) gets his numbers from the NHL.

Or they both have it right and everyone else is wrong. I know for the most part hockeybuzz (IB) gets his numbers from the NHL.

Perhaps. I'll take TG's figures for now.

Hopefully we got it for 3, but I think the league got it wrong here, not uncommon.

http://nhlnumbers.com/

Live it. Learn it. Love it. Use it.

That is a much worse site than nhlscap, which is run by HF's very own Irish Blues.

NHL Numbers has been wrong so many times in the past.

Hopefully we got it for 3, but I think the league got it wrong here, not uncommon.

Lou is just using his Jedi mind tricks on the league.

"It really IS only 3M."

That is a much worse site than nhlscap, which is run by HF's very own Irish Blues.

NHL Numbers has been wrong so many times in the past.

Phenomenal site and great layout. Currently right on everything.

Saku Koivu.

http://www.njdevs.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/pray.gif

Lou is just using his Jedi mind tricks on the league.

"It really IS only 3M."

"When was it 3.5? I never said 3.5..." :laugh:

Jedi Lou just has a good ring to it, too.

Sorry.... All of u are wishing and ur not going to get. The mystery guy will be a forward prob a center the D is set now with greene re-signing he might get a back up goalie but i think he is done.

Here are your 09-10 Devils

Parise Zajac Langs
Elias Rolston Bergfors
Zubrus Pelley Clarkson
Pando ??? P3L
Halischuk/Or another AHLer

Martin Oduya
Sal Greene
White Mottau
Leach Corrente

Dont kno the Order of the Dman Leach will bounce between Lowell and NJ i think

PP
Parise Zajac Clarkson
Langs - Martin

Elias Zubrus Bergfors
Rolston Corrente/Greene/Oduya

PK
Zajac Langs
Martin Sal

Pelley/Elias Pando/Rolston
White Oduya


I dont think Lou is going to do anything this year and wait to bring over the swedes next season. Shanny i dont see coming back. Weekes maybe


Enjoy

I have the strange feeling, that this year won't be awesome.

And you guys need to stop to think Pelley is our new John Madden and that Bergfors can easily replace Gionta. As far as I know, Bergfors hasn't done anything great so far.

Me wants:

Koivu
Beauchemin or Leopold (preferably Beauchemin)
Shanahan

Not going to happen but whatever.

I wanted us to stand pat on July 1st, and we did. I think Lou did a stupendous job so far in FA. Oduya is back, Zajac will be back, and we didn't overpay on the flavor of thew day just to "improve." At some point youth has to be injected into the team. That time is now.

If we can find affordable upgrades on short contracts, I'm all for signing them. No albatrosses please.

I think everybody really needs to see Bergfors isn't replacing Gio's stats. Rolston will finally be given a chance to earn his paycheck. He's more of a proven goal scorer than gionta, lets just hope the tank isn't empty.

Anybody interested in Robert Lang? I know some people have mentionted him at a one year deal. He's been hurt lately but he's basically good for 45-50 points which is what we usually get from our second line centers. I like him on the PP as well.

ZZPOP line
Elias Lang Rolston
Zubrus Pelley Clarkson

I know this really limits the playing time for bergfors. Lou will have to make a decision on this kid since he can only play with 1/2nd line type of talent. Not really a great year to experiment with our scoring lines with unproven talent with the strength of the Atlantic.

I think everybody really needs to see Bergfors isn't replacing Gio's stats. Rolston will finally be given a chance to earn his paycheck. He's more of a proven goal scorer than gionta, lets just hope the tank isn't empty.

Anybody interested in Robert Lang? I know some people have mentionted him at a one year deal. He's been hurt lately but he's basically good for 45-50 points which is what we usually get from our second line centers. I like him on the PP as well.

ZZPOP line
Elias Lang Rolston
Zubrus Pelley Clarkson

I know this really limits the playing time for bergfors. Lou will have to make a decision on this kid since he can only play with 1/2nd line type of talent. Not really a great year to experiment with our scoring lines with unproven talent with the strength of the Atlantic.

Lots of people are throwing Lang's name out there but for crying out loud we keep talking about getting younger and letting the kids get a shot and Lang is the exact opposite of that - he's 39 if not 40 already.

If we're getting 1 year holdovers until the kids are truly ready for top 6 duty, I'd rather get a 30-35 year old holdover with speed and jump rather than just another set of good hands and "experience". We have Shanahan for that and the PP duty and I think he'd be happy to take another ride on the Lou-go-round.

no...not a very good year to insert a rook who sucks into second line, primary offense. Becaus that is what we are going to find, Begfors just ain't got it and won't get it. And one thting that will piss me off is if we only learn he's just not a team player. I could be very wrong, but I just have a bad feeling when it comes to the Bergfors and him being anywhere near elias.

I wanted us to stand pat on July 1st, and we did. I think Lou did a stupendous job so far in FA. Oduya is back, Zajac will be back, and we didn't overpay on the flavor of thew day just to "improve." At some point youth has to be injected into the team. That time is now.

If we can find affordable upgrades on short contracts, I'm all for signing them. No albatrosses please.

he did his job, i don't know about calling it stupendous. I dont think it would have been a hard call for any team to let the overpayed-underachievers walk.

no...not a very good year to insert a rook who sucks into second line, primary offense. Becaus that is what we are going to find, Begfors just ain't got it and won't get it. And one thting that will piss me off is if we only learn he's just not a team player. I could be very wrong, but I just have a bad feeling when it comes to the Bergfors and him being anywhere near elias.

You are wrong, Bergfors does have it. He just needs a chance.

I do have a good feeling about Bergfors. I would love to see Elias-Koivu-Bergfors. :nod:

i agree he deserves the chance. do you feel he has improved significantly between his first game this past season and now? You've probably seen more of him than me, so i'm asking...has he? Is he a better player today than he was yesterday?

i agree he deserves the chance. do you feel he has improved significantly between his first game this past season and now? You've probably seen more of him than me, so i'm asking...has he?

Other than Frazee, he was easily Lowell's best player. Pelley was also very good this year and the captain too.

i definitely think Pelley is ready for the jump, more so than bergfors. I was surprised we didn't see him last year.

The Fact of the matter is Lou had said he wasnt going to let Bergfors play on a 3rd line it was going to be with top 6 talent so unless something crazy happens at the start of the year he will be on the second line.


As for the What about Lang i want Koivu.... Lou just isnt going to do it this year. I really think he feels that its time for a few of these young kids to show us something.

he did his job, i don't know about calling it stupendous. I dont think it would have been a hard call for any team to let the overpayed-underachievers walk.

The problem with us is, that we let everyone walk, just to not overpay them. We did it with Rafalski, we did it with Gomez, we did it with other players. Sure, they might be overpayed, but with us letting them walk, we just got worse year for year.

This year we let Gionta walk, Madden walk and if Lou doesn't want to overpay maybe we see Zajac gone too.

We don't have the players to replace them, and we won't sign players to replace them, because we don't want to overpay.

Lou needs to realize, that you have to overpay to get skilled players. At least one or two. But you can't just let all the quality FAs walk away and then do nothing to replace them.

We have 12 millions in capspace. For god's sake - spend it.

If you overpay for mediocre talent the Devils could easily find themselves in an NYR situation. Would you pay Gomez 7.3 million? Absolutely not, especially with the cap going down next year.

If you overpay for mediocre talent the Devils could easily find themselves in an NYR situation. Would you pay Gomez 7.3 million? Absolutely not, especially with the cap going down next year.

No I wouldn't pay him 7.3 millions. It was only an example. You don't have to re-sign everyone, but you have to keep the core players, no matter what. And if you really let them walk you need to replace them. We let Gomez walk and didn't sign another center. And we let Rafalski walk and didn't get another d-man. If you save the money, then you have to spend it otherwise. But to let guys walk and don't use the money you're saving wisely is not the answer.

No I wouldn't pay him 7.3 millions. It was only an example. You don't have to re-sign everyone, but you have to keep the core players, no matter what. And if you really let them walk you need to replace them. We let Gomez walk and didn't sign another center. And we let Rafalski walk and didn't get another d-man. If you save the money, then you have to spend it otherwise. But to let guys walk and don't use the money you're saving wisely is not the answer.

First of all, your wrong on both accounts. After we let go of Gomez we signed Zubrus and when Rafalski was let go Vishnevski and Rachunek were signed. Obviously they didn't pan out they way that Lamoriello probably had hoped, but if you were expected a big name you might as well be a fan of the team across the river.

I'm always weary of signing UFA. Even Rolston who I thought was close to a sure thing, had a horrendous season last year. We can't keep going in this direction, especially if we want to keep Parise and Martin next year. What do we have, 11 million in cap space? We don't have much coming off the books next year, and I'll bet you Martin commands 5 million and Parise commands at least 6.5. Spending a lot of money this year at the expense of next year is very short sighted.

Parise is still under lock and key for two more years. We don't have to worry about that one, yet.

Anyway, I do think Bergfors is ready. Remember, two years ago, he made the team straight out of camp. That shoulder injury against Tampa screwed him in the end. He's a good player, and next season with playing time will cement himself in the NHL.

Parise is still under lock and key for two more years. We don't have to worry about that one, yet.

Anyway, I do think Bergfors is ready. Remember, two years ago, he made the team straight out of camp. That shoulder injury against Tampa screwed him in the end. He's a good player, and next season with playing time will cement himself in the NHL.

I agree. He's gotten unlucky by getting injured at inopportune times. Had he been able to produce and possibly impress that year instead of having to rehab his shoulder, he might already be a regular. I don't think he'll put up stellar numbers his first year, but a player with his creativity and talent can't be awful playing with Elias and Rolston (who are increasingly likely to be his linemates). I think Pelley is ready too, he's already been up with the big club for significant amounts of time and knows how to play that role. He was only put back in the minors last year because we were experimenting with Fedor Fedorov and Bobby Holik at centre.

More than anything, this team still needs a lay-making center....Not sure who that's going to be...Koivu perhaps?

I think Koivu on a two year contract would be absolutly ideal if we do anything.

I think Koivu on a two year contract would be absolutly ideal if we do anything.

I think Koivu is going to Minnesota.

More than anything, this team still needs a lay-making center....Not sure who that's going to be...Koivu perhaps?

Had no idea this was a problem... Were guys having issues closing the deal with puck bunnies? :sarcasm:

First post! Alright!

Aside from signing Koivu, I don't really see what Lou could've done different this off-season. Gio got about a year and 9 million more then he was worth. Love him. But move on. Madden clearly lost a step last year and when your a defensive forward that can't score it's only a matter of time before losing a step translates to being a 4th line center at best. July 1st was nuts. When the market dictates giving aging players like Ohhlund and Spacek the money they got, its best to wait it out. Lou took care of business by resigning Oduya to a very affordable contract and tendering Zajac. When the cap falls or stays the same next year, and teams are in cap hell, the devils will be set up with young talent, and flexibility with their cap. And Lou will come out smelling like a damn rose.