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Triumph

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I intend this to be maybe a 4-part series on how the Devils can spend their money this off-season. Now while a lot of you think the Devils have a salary cap crunch coming next season, they've actually got plenty of money for next season; it is 2010-11 that poses the greatest impediment to the Devils improving their team for the coming year. Some people have also noted that a lot of one-year contracts will be signed this year, taking the example from baseball, and I think they are right - but remember that those contracts were signed largely in January and February, somewhat close to the start of the season. Playing that kind of game of salary chicken could prove disastrous for New Jersey. However, some players might be compelled into taking one-year deals because of one simple word: escrow. Players lost some % of their salary as a result of the revenue-sharing plan and I am fairly sure they will lose some % again this coming season.

Anyway, I figure Lou's got to look at it like this - first, lay out the barest lineup possible, then fill in the holes. So here's your New Jersey Devils of 09-10 without any major additions:

Parise-Zajac-Langenbrunner

Elias-Rolston-Bergfors

Pandolfo-Zubrus-Clarkson

PL

Edited by Triumph
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The two most expendable contracts in 2010-11 are the Salvador and Pandolfo ones - neither player contributes any offense, and both players' contributions on the other side of the puck wavered at points during the season. If the Devils could sh!tcan these deals in 2010-11, they open up 5.4 million dollars to play with - first I'll play with the money saved by jettisoning Pandolfo, then the money saved by waiving Pandolfo and Salvador.

Triumph: though I completely agree with your asessment that Pandolfo's salary is expendable, amongst the other 29 teams in the league would there be any legitimate takers for Jay Pandolfo at his current salary cost and playing abilities?

I just don't see how Jay can be moved elsewhere unless he's packaged as part of a bigger deal, and even then that is highly doubtful...chances are LL will have to keep him here or if his fade continues, eat up his cap hit.

With us, Jay still provided/provides value because of his 1-2 combo with Madden over the years and our insistense on a shutdown checking line which is part of our defense-oriented system. However, with another team, Jay's role will clearly be significantly less than what it is here with the Devils. So if we then assume that we are unable to ship him off and need to hold on to Jay, and with Madden possibly leaving town and Zubrus hopefully NOT just being a checker per se, Jay's already diminishing value is going to take a knockout blow. What value will Robin add to the team if Batman disappears into the night...

Just a thought. Looking forward to the rest of your analysis and proposed plan...

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I would think Salvador is tradeable (not that I really want to unless the Lowell kids are indeed ready)

I also think you might want to swap Clarkson and Halischuk on your lines... Clarkson is more the 4th liner, and Halischuk is more of a checker

I do like the idea of a 4th line being PAID like one next year though :P

(the other relevant question is will Sutter LET the young players... actually... PLAY?)

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Jeez, the salary picture on that bare-bones roster is bleak. Kinda makes it painfully obvious how important it is to find a way to drop Pandolfo.

Can't we just send Pandolfo down to Lowell, or would his age dictate his salary still counting against the cap?

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Can't we just send Pandolfo down to Lowell, or would his age dictate his salary still counting against the cap?

Ah I don't remember. I know there was some kind of clause that came into effect with Malakhov and McGillis regarding this very scenario because of their ages, but the details escape me.

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bergfors hit next year is 818k FYI. halischuk is 875k.

i'll respond to the other points soon enough, but:

not so, that's only because entry-level bonuses counted against the cap - i don't think that will happen next year.

edit: ah yes, okay, here's how it works - " When teams calculate how much room they have under the cap to add players, any potential bonuses that a player can earn must be included in the player's cap count. For 2005-06 through 2007-08, teams could exceed the Upper Limit by up to 7.5% [the "Performance Bonus Cushion"] in order to pay such bonuses (for 2007-08, teams could effectively have an Upper Limit of $54,072,500) with the provision that any team doing this would have its Upper Limit reduced for the following season by the amount it exceeds the current year's Upper Limit. If the bonus is not paid, no penalty is imposed. [As mentioned above, the Performance Bonus Cushion is not available in 2008-09.] As the season progresses, if a player becomes ineligible for a bonus it will come off the player's cap count and that amount will become available to the team - but only for that season."

so in other words, the full amount of the contract + bonus does count against the devils' cap (i.e. you are right), but they can exceed the cap by that amount if necessary.

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Ah I don't remember. I know there was some kind of clause that came into effect with Malakhov and McGillis regarding this very scenario because of their ages, but the details escape me.

I'm pretty sure there is a clause in the CBA that stops teams from just burying older players on the decline with high salaries in the minors to circumvent the cap. If anyone can clarify that, I would appreciate it.

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The age thing refers to contracts signed by the player after their 35th birthday. In this case waiving the player does not remove them from the salary cap. However if injured they can be put onto LTIR, the Mogilny case was one of the incidents that created this exception. I am not sure about buyouts, but my gut says that they still count the majority of the contract against the cap. Pando does not apply to this, but Rolston does.

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The age thing refers to contracts signed by the player after their 35th birthday. In this case waiving the player does not remove them from the salary cap. However if injured they can be put onto LTIR, the Mogilny case was one of the incidents that created this exception. I am not sure about buyouts, but my gut says that they still count the majority of the contract against the cap. Pando does not apply to this, but Rolston does.

Ah, okay. Then I really can't see what is standing in the way of just sending Pando down to Lowell. He's useles to this team at his salary, and is even more useless without Madden.

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Tri, I think you also need to budget for at least an extra forward/defenseman. Greene may end up as that #7 defender again, i dont see them using a rookie there unless its in a rotational position. Additionally, there would need to be a 13th foward, but thats as simple as adding someone like Patrick Davis .517 or Zharkov (dont know his cap hit) to the roster.

A little on an unrelated note, but in Rich Chere's latest article, he mentioned that Vrana is still in the teams plans. After this years disastrous year for him, I have to wonder what capacity that is in. After his last full AHL year, he seemed too good to play there, but not yet ready for the next level. Perhaps he is qualified to keep his rights, then the let him go wherever.

Ok enough polluting your thread with my ideas, ill probably just make my own like everyone else.

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The thing is that this board is so fickle.

Last year Pando was a hero, as was Madden with the seasons they were having.

This year they are goats. Granted they had bad seasons.

I agree they are getting older, but making them out to be useless (as with Rolston) is really one season's tunnel vision.

I say much of this depends on whether Sutter stays and what kind of team he tries to run. I'm firmlly convinced that MAdolfo got so much ice time due to his lack of faith in the defense (or some Brodeur mandate about limiting their involvement).

If they have a fair shot at a top D they can do away with the checking line strategy.

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re: pandolfo - he's on the team next year. where's his replacement? petr vrana? sign matt cooke for 1.5 million? if you're going to boot him off the team, you're going to have to find a LW to replace him outside the team.

Not really much of a concern to me, seeing as how we could replace Pandolfo with a moon rock and get better production. 4th line LW isn't really high on my priority list. However, getting some cap relief from Pando's contract- near the top of my priority list.

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Tri, I think you also need to budget for at least an extra forward/defenseman. Greene may end up as that #7 defender again, i dont see them using a rookie there unless its in a rotational position. Additionally, there would need to be a 13th foward, but thats as simple as adding someone like Patrick Davis .517 or Zharkov (dont know his cap hit) to the roster.

this is just a skeleton. lou's shown he's willing to go with 20 players if that's what it takes. i do intend to put leach/rupp in there later.

A little on an unrelated note, but in Rich Chere's latest article, he mentioned that Vrana is still in the teams plans. After this years disastrous year for him, I have to wonder what capacity that is in. After his last full AHL year, he seemed too good to play there, but not yet ready for the next level. Perhaps he is qualified to keep his rights, then the let him go wherever.

i saw that, but i thought it was just chere talking. even if vrana is in new jersey's plans, i doubt new jersey is in vrana's plans. he very quickly fell out of favor. he'd be an excellent forward in the czech or russian leagues, IMO.

Ok enough polluting your thread with my ideas, ill probably just make my own like everyone else.

oh man, c'mon - please pollute this thread with your ideas.

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re: pandolfo - he's on the team next year. where's his replacement? petr vrana? sign matt cooke for 1.5 million? if you're going to boot him off the team, you're going to have to find a LW to replace him outside the team.

Like I've said elsewhere, I don't know who's available this offseason, but all we really need is a second line center for Elias. Rolston shouldn't be playing center and he shouldn't be on the second line. Zubrus and Rolston should be anchoring our (ridiculously expensive but potentially effective) third line, they are our new Madden and Pandolfo.

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Like I've said elsewhere, I don't know who's available this offseason, but all we really need is a second line center for Elias. Rolston shouldn't be playing center and he shouldn't be on the second line. Zubrus and Rolston should be anchoring our (ridiculously expensive but potentially effective) third line, they are our new Madden and Pandolfo.

I know Tri has mentioned using Zubrus as the 3rd line center a lot lately. So ive been looking at the lineup to find wing pairs that work well together. Obviously Jamie and Zach, Elias and Gionta run hot and cold, but it seems that Rolston often has played some of his best hockey on the team with David Clarkson on his right side. We have Zubrus who does the work downlow, but rarely has guys to pass too that shoot the puck, Clarkson who is starting to demonstrate some skill working the puck from behind the net and who hasnt met a shot he didnt like, and Rolston who is a shoot first guy. Those three could form a nice line together. Place Zubrus in the middle of Rolston on the left side and Clarkson on the right. Not the fastest line out there, but they wont be outskated too often, enough defensive responsibility to keep any coach happy, and the potential for some offensive chemistry.

Tri regarding your contract for Zajac. I think Lou is going to try to structure it similar to Zach's, in that it scales up quickly. He may start it around 3.25 or so and top out at 5. Either way the cap hit of around 4 million is probably a close estimate.

Additionally for Mike Rupp. With the good chance that Sutter comes back, im pretty sure Pl3 takes Mike's spot. Sutter has always seemed less than thrilled with Rupp's willingness to battle night in and night out. The 4th line has to provide some sort of energy through forechecking, hitting or something, and Rupp just disappears from that aspect of the game way to often. I dont want 4th liners that need to be benched to accept their roles, something that Rupp needs too often.

Part of this comes from having watched the Caps a lot this year. Their 4th line of Bradley, Steckel, and Gordon is 3 hard working guys who skate reasonably well. They use their size to their advantage and play an up tempo game, and cause havok down low in the offensive zone. I want a 4th line that can get in there and wear down the other teams defense, its something that is key to winning in the playoffs. Right now we dont have many fowards outside of Zubrus and Clarkson that are capable of doing it.

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I know Tri has mentioned using Zubrus as the 3rd line center a lot lately. So ive been looking at the lineup to find wing pairs that work well together. Obviously Jamie and Zach, Elias and Gionta run hot and cold, but it seems that Rolston often has played some of his best hockey on the team with David Clarkson on his right side. We have Zubrus who does the work downlow, but rarely has guys to pass too that shoot the puck, Clarkson who is starting to demonstrate some skill working the puck from behind the net and who hasnt met a shot he didnt like, and Rolston who is a shoot first guy. Those three could form a nice line together. Place Zubrus in the middle of Rolston on the left side and Clarkson on the right. Not the fastest line out there, but they wont be outskated too often, enough defensive responsibility to keep any coach happy, and the potential for some offensive chemistry.

Exactly! Rolston's best stretch came with Madden and Clarkson. Zubrus is an upgrade in every possible way over Madden when it comes to offensive skills (except speed). I really like that as a third line.

I also agree with what you said about the fourth line. Three scoring lines and one line that bruises the opponents ... this is what we need.

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Exactly! Rolston's best stretch came with Madden and Clarkson. Zubrus is an upgrade in every possible way over Madden when it comes to offensive skills (except speed). I really like that as a third line.

I could tolerate this as a full-time 3rd line next year, I don't know why they ever went away from it personally

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