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My "It's All OK" Diatribe: Marty, Zach, the 2012-2013 Seas


ThreeCups

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So where to begin...

We fall 2 wins short of hoisting our 4th Stanley Cup in franchise history, and then the circus begins.

Hour(s) after the Kings hoist the Cup, David Clarkson drunkenly stumbles into a light post, Zubrus has chicks on his lap in a cab. Sykora sees the whole situation going down and gets out of dodge. Greene is blowing lines off of hookers in an alley way...

OK, I'm kidding...enough of the TMZ nonsense.

While the majority of fans thought Marty would comeback for a one year farewell tour at a modest salary, the announcement comes out that he hired Brisson as his agent. UH OH! I have told many of my Devils friends from midseason that I expected Marty to try to get a 2 year deal. His playoff run solidified that in my mind, and apparently Marty's also. 2 years, $9 mill later...we will not have to stomach seeing the great Martin in another NHL uniform. Crisis averted, all is well in the world. (well at least in DevilLand...for most except Tri) Marty is THE franchise and he earned it. Hopefully he can play well these next 2 years, and play even better in the postseason. (Sidenote: If he can win 30-35 games/year over the next 2...he will be back for a third, lmao)

The Zach Parise Saga/KovalWatch 2.0: Man oh man. This was like a bad soap opera from the beginning. First, let me say I thought Lou dropped the ball on this big time when he failed to lock Zach up long term last year. Yes I know there were nonstop propaganda reports of him "trying" and "working on a deal", but in the end it DID NOT WORK. When he signed the 1 year deal, I pretty much anticipated that he would at least "test" free agency and would not sign prior to July 1. Now, it is hard to judge without knowing the exact details and offers, but I would think Lou tried lowballing him and Zach passed. Had Lou made a strong offer from the beginning, we may not be bitching about Zach today and he could be in a Devils jersey for another decade. Pure speculation, I would guess Lou made an offer somewhere in the ballpark of 8 years/$60 mill. Had he kicked it up to 12 years/$90 mill or so he may have signed on the dotted line right then and there. The world will likely never know. Now it is July 1...FREE AGENCY BEGINS!!! Nothing on day 1 whatsoever, snooze fest. People in many hockey markets sit at their computer all day furiously reloading Twitter waiting for some major news to break. Nothing. Fast forward a day or 2....Zach keeps a good poker face during an interview and says "we are closer than yesterday, it is a tough decision" etc etc. He also states he is going home to Minnesota and does not plan to come back to his agent's office for another day. INTERESTING. As others have pointed out, he was probably leaning towards the Wild all year long. He talked about him and Suter texting each other during the year talking about how nice it would be to play together?!?!? This sounds like a gay love interest plotline straight from "Sopranos" johnny-cake infested season. Gimme a break. You are a grown ass man, who was the CAPTAIN of the 2012 EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS. Sounds like a couple of middle school kids talking about transferring to the same school to play together. "Maybe we can bunk together too! I love bunkbeds!" I believe Zach did give us some consideration, but I do not believe it was ever that serious. He loved the allure of going home and playing with his buddy, and he made his choice. I hope the Wild never make the playoffs and every April on Zach watches his former mates contending for LORD STANLEY'S CUP. Had he exited a little differently than he did, I would not be as hostile towards him. But do not make statements like "Winning is the most important thing. I want to win." and then go and sign with a sh!t team. What happened Zach, the Oilers didn't make you an offer?!? Nothing from Garth Snow on Long Island??? They are some powerhouses on the verge of winning a Cup too. Zach was one of my favorite players, and it sucks to see him leave like this. It hurts more as a "fan" than it hurts the team. We will be just FINE without him. I truly believe that. I hope mom makes some good Sunday dinners Zach and it was all worth it. You may put up some OK numbers out there, but you will NEVER compete for a Cup. Another side note, it is sickening to know that Minny is nearly a slam dunk now for a Winter Classic. The Devils deserve one damnit!!!

Looking ahead:

We still have a solid nucleus and some young kids in the mix. Let's toy around with some potential line combinations. I think I would like to see something like this:

Elias-Henrique-Kovy

Zubrus-Zajac-Clarkson

Tedenby-Josefson-Sykora

Bernier-Carter-Gionta (are these boys good enough to make them our THIRD line?!?!?)

Doesn't seem too bad does it? I would be happy going into the season with this crop of forwards. I wouldn't mind Lou bringing in Semin as a project, but he is not a Lou type of player right now at all. But again, Kovy was not either and his transformation over the past couple of seasons has been nothing short of amazing. If Semin came in, worked hard and changed his ways...he could be a force in the black and red. I won't hold my breath for this signing though.

As far as the Captaincy...I know most are saying to give it to Kovy, but I would not. Patty is the most deserving, but as we know he does not want the C. I would give it to Zajac, with Kovy and Elias donning the A's.

All in all, as a fan it pains me to lose Parise. But the on ice product will not suffer as much as some people think. Life goes on, and we will be a playoff contention team once again....

LET'S GO DEVILS!!!

Edited by ThreeCups
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As far as the Captaincy...I know most are saying to give it to Kovy, but I would not. Patty is the most deserving, but as we know he does not want the C. I would give it to Zajac, with Kovy and Elias donning the A's.

I have no interest in seeing Zajac wearing the C when he has the chance to bolt next free agency as well. The C needs to go to Kovy.

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9 wasn't coming back and never wanted to. 17 is getting the 'C'. Giving it to anyone else would send the wrong message to him and the team. The Devils have gone over a complete transformation in a lot of ways. The Langenbrunner era is but a memory with the exception of Zajac who will be gone soon enough... Which will piss a lot of people off around here but they shouldn't be surprised.

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One of the many cookie jars Lou hopefully has his hands in as we speak is getting Zajac locked up long-term. I've had enough of the summertime shenanigans every year. It seems like even when we keep our own guys, we have to always sweat it out, and I'm tired of it. I don't need the stress. Give him 6/36 and be done with it.

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The only edge we have in locking up Zajac now is the CBA rules could change on long term deals. You might not be able to do 10+ years at a good cap number in October. Once Lou solves the wing issue, Zajac better be the next call.

We have one other edge: both of Zajac's brothers are in the organization. Lou learned from the Nieds situation. :P

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One of the many cookie jars Lou hopefully has his hands in as we speak is getting Zajac locked up long-term. I've had enough of the summertime shenanigans every year. It seems like even when we keep our own guys, we have to always sweat it out, and I'm tired of it. I don't need the stress. Give him 6/36 and be done with it.

Would love to see it, but ol' man Lou doesn't roll like that. I expect him to walk next July

The only edge we have in locking up Zajac now is the CBA rules could change on long term deals. You might not be able to do 10+ years at a good cap number in October. Once Lou solves the wing issue, Zajac better be the next call.

Is that a rumored change to the CBA? A maximum length on all contract?

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I started writing out how i feel about ZP leaving after ive had time to think about it, but it was starting to become a book so im just going to bullet the main things:

.this team will be fine without zach. Zach is one of the hardest working players in the league but hardest working doesnt mean most talented. I felt for this whole season that Kovy was more of a big time player than zach.

.with that being said, it hurts that ZP left. There were so many great memories of his coming up through the ranks and eventually being covetted as the "face of the franchise"

.this team needs to fill the void left by him. Everyone has their own opinion of who they should bring in, but whoever it is needs to put up similar numbers. This team was 2 wins away from a cup with zach and we are only a piece or two away. Say we get a semin or ryan, and he fits in that spot on the top line and puts up 70 points, we are exactly where we were last year, but the intangible is if the kids step it up in their 2nd season and put the devils over the top. If im Lou, im aggressive in getting this team AT LEAST back to where it was with zach.

.after this year, july 1st will be a day i never look forward to. Losing a player who was your captain hurts, and the worst part is that if a player thats being called "the future face of the franchise" can just leave like this, then what is stopping players like Zajac and Zubrus from doing it next year? I hope we can keep these guys cause they are a huge part of the team and losing Zajac would possibly hurt the team more than losing Zach. Darren Dreger is already talking about our UFAs for next season

.i have complete confidence that this team will be fine, but after going to the cup final and losing i want to be back there. Im hoping that after this free agency debacle things will start coming together and look more positive. Regardless of what happens, ill always be a devils fan. LGD

Edited by njd3b1ink
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Would love to see it, but ol' man Lou doesn't roll like that. I expect him to walk next July

Is that a rumored change to the CBA? A maximum length on all contract?

Yeah, well, I don't. I EXPECT Lou to get the fvcking job done and lock our top 2-way center, because really good 2-way centers are infinitely harder to replace than wingers, and I EXPECT nothing else.

Edited by MadDog2020
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One of the many cookie jars Lou hopefully has his hands in as we speak is getting Zajac locked up long-term. I've had enough of the summertime shenanigans every year. It seems like even when we keep our own guys, we have to always sweat it out, and I'm tired of it. I don't need the stress. Give him 6/36 and be done with it.

Look at Zajac's career numbers. Pretty crappy 2010-11 (and definitely not alone on that one), undecided 2011-12, though he did have a solid playoff. Are you 100% sure you want to lock him up? I'm not saying 100% DON'T do it...just that I don't think 6/36 is a no-brainer.

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Look at Zajac's career numbers. Pretty crappy 2010-11 (and definitely not alone on that one), undecided 2011-12, though he did have a solid playoff. Are you 100% sure you want to lock him up? I'm not saying 100% DON'T do it...just that I don't think 6/36 is a no-brainer.

Yes, I'm 100% sure. 2-way centers of Zajac's caliber don't grow on trees and fetch big dollars in free agency. Add to that a franchise has popped back up in his hometown, or who the hell knows, he could be texting with Parise about coming to Minnesota all year. Zach like's his texting with his buds, we all know that. I don't need the stress. Lock him up.

Edited by MadDog2020
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Here is why Zajac will go UFA in a year from now: Because unlike the vast majority of Devils fans, Lou actually respects his players' rights to explore free agency. I'm not saying Zajac is as good as gone, but I will be surprised if he re-signs early.

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Here is why Zajac will go UFA in a year from now: Because unlike the vast majority of Devils fans, Lou actually respects his players' rights to explore free agency.

Why should any fan really care about any of that? It's not Lous job to "respect" any players right to free agency. He should be locking up players who deserve it for a fair value.

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Here is why Zajac will go UFA in a year from now: Because unlike the vast majority of Devils fans, Lou actually respects his players' rights to explore free agency. I'm not saying Zajac is as good as gone, but I will be surprised if he re-signs early.

This makes no sense. Then why did Marty never go UFA until he's 40, and why did he try to work out a deal with Zach and resign the entire fourth line before July 1?

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Why should any fan really care about any of that? It's not Lous job to "respect" any players right to free agency. He should be locking up players who deserve it for a fair value.

THIS! Why are we "respecting" their right to explore free agency and possibly lose them?!?! Signing Trav to an extension should be Lou's #1 goal right now. (after signing Semin, lol)

absolutely. his job is to protect the team.

AMEN!

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I want Zajac's signature on a long-term contract by the end of August. Use the front-loading that's still allowed and some of the money saved by Pairse leaving and get it done. I would figure if it's not done by Labor Day weekend, we can forget it until after the new CBA.

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I want Zajac's signature on a long-term contract by the end of August. Use the front-loading that's still allowed and some of the money saved by Pairse leaving and get it done. I would figure if it's not done by Labor Day weekend, we can forget it until after the new CBA.

Don't hold your breath. Lou will sit on his hands and wait until 7/1/13....

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Yes, I'm 100% sure. 2-way centers of Zajac's caliber don't grow on trees and fetch big dollars in free agency. Add to that a franchise has popped back up in his hometown, or who the hell knows, he could be texting with Parise about coming to Minnesota all year. Zach like's his texting with his buds, we all know that. I don't need the stress. Lock him up.

This this this this. A legit 2nd line center on a deep team/1st on most teams...July 1st would be nuts for him.

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