Holik & Rolston?

[Tallahassee Warhogs]

From a quote on a Yahoo! NJ Devils Board.....................

"Thats the real issue here. You want to bring back 1995, but with a 37y/o Holik and a 35 y/o Rolston? And Holik CANNOT keep up with Zajac & Gionta. You would think he was a defenseman he would be so far behind the play.

I hate to say it, but the NYR pulled off a better trade giving up Fedor Tyutin for Zherdev and Fritsche. And don't say the salary cap had something to do with it. NJ had almost $12mil to spend. Zherdev has a tremendus upside and future. He will average better than a point per game as a hated Blueshirt."

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I kinda agree. They could have given up (maybe) Odyua and Zajac for the Zherdav and Fritsche. That is some really good young talent. Add in Naslund, and we will see.....................

Just my .02

[El Diablo]

Im with you -- why couldnt Lou pull any of those deals ? to bring in has-beens? bah .. Im beginning to really hate this team -- I hate the coach and I hated the players for having no balls and little talent last year and now the premise of another year with this bunch is totally un-inspiring .. I dont get it -- I thought they wanted fans to go to the Rock ..

[DevilinLA]

From a quote on a Yahoo! NJ Devils Board.....................

"Thats the real issue here. You want to bring back 1995, but with a 37y/o Holik and a 35 y/o Rolston? And Holik CANNOT keep up with Zajac & Gionta. You would think he was a defenseman he would be so far behind the play.

I hate to say it, but the NYR pulled off a better trade giving up Fedor Tyutin for Zherdev and Fritsche. And don't say the salary cap had something to do with it. NJ had almost $12mil to spend. Zherdev has a tremendus upside and future. He will average better than a point per game as a hated Blueshirt."

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I kinda agree. They could have given up (maybe) Odyua and Zajac for the Zherdav and Fritsche. That is some really good young talent. Add in Naslund, and we will see.....................

Just my .02

Thank God people like this are not, nor have any influence over our GM.

Giving up Oduya for anything like this is pure stupidity...of course, with ideas like these, this probably is one of the reasons I don't visit some of the other Devs boards.

[DevilinLA]

Im with you -- why couldnt Lou pull any of those deals ? to bring in has-beens? bah .. Im beginning to really hate this team -- I hate the coach and I hated the players for having no balls and little talent last year and now the premise of another year with this bunch is totally un-inspiring .. I dont get it -- I thought they wanted fans to go to the Rock ..

Ughhh....

the nice thing about the off season so far was the lack of these kinds of posts.

Sutter is the only coach so far to last a full season in how long??? He IS the best asset we have, someone Lou might actually listen to.

No balls and Bobby Holik....hmmm....I don't get it. Show me someone on the team who can use his size and his body nearly as much. You don't see improvement in that department???

Edited July 4, 2008 by DevilinLA

[RunninWithTheDevil]

Why the HELL would you EVER give up Oduya or Zajac? that's ridiculous. When the hell did Holik become a pansy? He's one of the biggest players on this team, and i have NO problem whatsoever with Rolston being back here.

[Tallahassee Warhogs]

Thank God people like this are not, nor have any influence over our GM.

Giving up Oduya for anything like this is pure stupidity...of course, with ideas like these, this probably is one of the reasons I don't visit some of the other Devs boards.

So your saying that Odyua or Zajac is untouchable? I have been a fan since day1 and no one in this " business" is untouuchable. At best Oduya will give you 25 points/year. Zajac, 60. You probably think that half wit Colin White is a top 5 defenseman too.

I guess what I am saying is that I hate to see the "Rival" make good moves while Lou sits on his hands. Tuytin is a quality defenseman, and you have to give up quality to get it in return. No direspect to you.

BTW, who is in the farm system to replace Marty if he goes down, GOD FORBID!?!?!?

[martysbetter30]

So your saying that Odyua or Zajac is untouchable? I have been a fan since day1 and no one in this " business" is untouuchable. At best Oduya will give you 25 points/year. Zajac, 60. You probably think that half wit Colin White is a top 5 defenseman too.

I guess what I am saying is that I hate to see the "Rival" make good moves while Lou sits on his hands. Tuytin is a quality defenseman, and you have to give up quality to get it in return. No direspect to you.

BTW, who is in the farm system to replace Marty if he goes down, GOD FORBID!?!?!?

what do u mean farm... we have kevin weekes moron

[zachattack9]

Only time will tell how the offseason transactions work out. Any one prediction is as good as another at this point. I do think Lou will make some kind of trade though.

[maxpower]

Anybody that doesn't understand Holik's worth, and thinks he's going to be put in a role where he's chasing around people on the ice, isn't worth listening to. We have some very dumb fans. Luckily, at some point in the future, we will tank and they will go away.

Holik is going to be a fourth line player who plays in some half court situations, on the PP and for faceoffs 5 on 5. Why would he be playing with Gionta and Zajac anyway? As if Zajac is known for his blistering speed.

[Confusious]

Silly me, I thought something new was going to be said in this thread...

YAWN.

Moving on.

[maxpower]

So your saying that Odyua or Zajac is untouchable? I have been a fan since day1 and no one in this " business" is untouuchable. At best Oduya will give you 25 points/year. Zajac, 60. You probably think that half wit Colin White is a top 5 defenseman too.

I guess what I am saying is that I hate to see the "Rival" make good moves while Lou sits on his hands. Tuytin is a quality defenseman, and you have to give up quality to get it in return. No direspect to you.

BTW, who is in the farm system to replace Marty if he goes down, GOD FORBID!?!?!?

Go take a look at the Rangers roster, it is garbage. They have zero depth and are relying on just as many "washed up" players as we are. Except, the washed up players they're depending on are their #1 defenseman and one of their top line wingers. I bet you don't even know who Zherdev is, if you did, you'd understand the guy is a one way talent who, if Renney is going to continue his system, is going to bitch and moan until he gets traded. He didn't like Hitchcock, but he's going to like a carbon copy system? They're not running, because they pay nearing $7 million for a goalie who will get DESTROYED if they play open-up hockey.

Who in the farm system is going to replace your beloved Lundqvist if he goes down?

The Rangers are a couple of name players and an army of kids that are going to have to perform, they are a weaker team than they were on June 30th. They are also going to be one of the pussiest teams to ever hit the ice. We're much tougher than them, and we're not even that tough.

Edited July 4, 2008 by maxpower

[DevilinLA]

So your saying that Odyua or Zajac is untouchable? I have been a fan since day1 and no one in this " business" is untouuchable. At best Oduya will give you 25 points/year. Zajac, 60. You probably think that half wit Colin White is a top 5 defenseman too.

I guess what I am saying is that I hate to see the "Rival" make good moves while Lou sits on his hands. Tuytin is a quality defenseman, and you have to give up quality to get it in return. No direspect to you.

BTW, who is in the farm system to replace Marty if he goes down, GOD FORBID!?!?!?

Listen your new here so its cool...but you might want to read a few posts here before you attempt to read peoples minds. I don't know you - so NO one is questioning your fan committment.

What I am saying:

If you think that Lou is "sitting on his hands" then how would you describe last FA season?

Lou has done what he could (so far) to address much needed issues in the skill sets of the team in offense (Rolston - great 2 way player), and size/toughness at center in Holik.

I can't see how w/ 17 teams bidding for him, Lou lands Rolston at a fair price and is "sitting on his hands"?

No one said Oduya is "untouchable", but he is inexpensive and can move the puck (of which puckmoving D are few right now), so unless, you can get a comprable puckmover for the $$$ its foolish to move him right now, especially for offensive "risk" players.

We just signed a "quality (stay at home) defensemen" at a decent deal in Salvador. So Lou addressed a portion of the issue.

Sure you have to give up quality to get quality, but the quality we need is a puck-moving D, if and when that becomes available I'll be happy to see it done, but not for more ex-Ranger "risk" Players ala Rachunek.

Fact of the matter is, the way the UFA pool is this year, Lou's not gonna make it all happen in 48 hrs. The rest will take time, so lets give him some before we condemn him.

Any way you slice it....Still feel worlds better to be a Dev fan than a Rag fan this off-season...so far!!!!!!

Edited July 4, 2008 by DevilinLA

[Tallahassee Warhogs]

what do u mean farm... we have kevin weekes moron

I can name at least 5 backup golaies much better than Weeks.

The question was posed because Weeks cannot handle the load that Marty can. So, if Marty goes down, who is in the farm to replace him.

Below please find his 07-08 stats:

GP: 9

Wins:2

Losses: 2

OTL: 1

GA: 17

GAA: 2.97

Hardly worthy of starting 40 games, never mind 77.

Signed,

The Moron

[RSC]

If you think that Lou is "sitting on his hands" then how would you describe last FA season?

Lou has done what he could (so far) to address much needed issues in the skill sets of the team in offense (Rolston - great 2 way player), and size/toughness at center in Holik.

agreed. i trust lou, and he didn't want to put us in salary cap hell far down the road by signing someone who wanted 70 mill over 8 seasons or something crazy like that. IMO, that is much worse than what he did. Sure, I wish the Salvador and Rolston contracts were 3 yrs instead of 4, but what are you gonna do? In 3 yrs, maybe Chicago is screwed b/c Campell and Huet are taking up so much cap space they cant resign Kane and Toews. Now let's pretend that Vrana and Bergfors become the next big thing (remember...this is hypothetical), and since Lou doesn't have an insane contract taking up all that cap space, he can re sign Vrana and Bergfors, who lead us to the next era of Devils hockey.

You have to look at the big picture when you look at free agency. Its a lot of what ifs, and Lou obviously has confidence that this squad can lead us to the Cup. And you know what? So do I.

[xxchaznjxx]

i have to believe that anyone who thinks holik is playing with zajac and gio doesn't really know what he or she are talking about.

he'll be getting PP and 4th line minutes with zubrus and clarkson, who by the way, will benefit tremendously from playing with holik.

and the eqivalent to the rags trade would have been oduya and mottau, not zajac. too many people think this zherdev kid is an all star or something. i'd like to see it first.

and if broduer goes down, this team is done. unless you have luongo or nabakov backing him up. and we all know of broduer's long injury history, so fingers crossed, hopefully he makes it through the season.

[LOULAM1]

From a quote on a Yahoo! NJ Devils Board.....................

"Thats the real issue here. You want to bring back 1995, but with a 37y/o Holik and a 35 y/o Rolston? And Holik CANNOT keep up with Zajac & Gionta. You would think he was a defenseman he would be so far behind the play.

I hate to say it, but the NYR pulled off a better trade giving up Fedor Tyutin for Zherdev and Fritsche. And don't say the salary cap had something to do with it. NJ had almost $12mil to spend. Zherdev has a tremendus upside and future. He will average better than a point per game as a hated Blueshirt."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I kinda agree. They could have given up (maybe) Odyua and Zajac for the Zherdav and Fritsche. That is some really good young talent. Add in Naslund, and we will see.....................

Just my .02

"You want to bring back 1995, but with a 37y/o Holik and a 35 y/o Rolston?

No, and who is "you" btw? Do you get or understand Devils Hockey? Draft Pick, you understand nothing but signing huge free agent deals like the rags (Jagr) and flyers (Lindros) that get you nothing! Repeat nothing!

"And Holik CANNOT keep up with Zajac & Gionta."

You're a clueless F. Holik played 82 games last year and has been a mainstay for every sweater he has worn.. Zajak and Gionta SUCK! You are way off as Holik would only be paired with Zajac (if he is still here come Oct. but he's cheap) and that is to school the little girl on how to play the game! As for Gionta he's being shopped right now and would not play on a line with Holik regardess!

"I hate to say it, but the NYR pulled off a better trade giving up Fedor Tyutin for Zherdev and Fritsche."

How quickly you forget how well Tyutin played as a Rag and now you have a nice Zherdav that are a dime a dozen.

" kinda agree. They could have given up (maybe) Odyua and Zajac for the Zherdav and Fritsche. That is some really good young talent. Add in Naslund, and we will see....................."

Don't give me "maybe" and --------------------------------------- and ...................................... when you clearly don't understand how to build a Cup winner like LL: -----------------------------------, ......................................... DraftPick learn the game and how to build around a Goalie who will be the best to play the game and you somehow seem to leave #30 out of the equation! With no Shanny or Jagr the Rags are pegged and the Devs still have a better player at every offensive position. Devs D right now is a B- while the Rags is a B. The Flyers will choke and the pens have been shot to sh!t!You want to count out Lou right now 3 days in to FA? You're a f'in idiot!

Edited July 4, 2008 by LOULAM1

[Tallahassee Warhogs]

Listen your new here so its cool...but you might want to read a few posts here before you attempt to read peoples minds. I don't know you - so NO one is questioning your fan committment.

What I am saying:

If you think that Lou is "sitting on his hands" then how would you describe last FA season?

Lou has done what he could (so far) to address much needed issues in the skill sets of the team in offense (Rolston - great 2 way player), and size/toughness at center in Holik.

I can't see how w/ 17 teams bidding for him, Lou lands Rolston at a fair price and is "sitting on his hands"?

No one said Oduya is "untouchable", but he is inexpensive and can move the puck (of which puckmoving D are few right now), so unless, you can get a comprable puckmover for the $$$ its foolish to move him right now, especially for offensive "risk" players.

We just signed a "quality (stay at home) defensemen" at a decent deal in Salvador. So Lou addressed a portion of the issue.

Sure you have to give up quality to get quality, but the quality we need is a puck-moving D, if and when that becomes available I'll be happy to see it done, but not for more ex-Ranger "risk" Players ala Rachunek.

Fact of the matter is, the way the UFA pool is this year, Lou's not gonna make it all happen in 48 hrs. The rest will take time, so lets give him some before we condemn him.

Any way you slice it....Still feel worlds better to be a Dev fan than a Rag fan this off-season...so far!!!!!!

Thanks, I didn't mean to come here as a "newbie" and start bashing. I just get disgusted seeing teams like NYR and DET making "good" signings and trades and the Devils playing runner up again. I mean, look at Detroit, they are the equivilent of the Patriots. Overloaded with talent and still under the cap.

Thanks again.

[maxpower]

Thanks, I didn't mean to come here as a "newbie" and start bashing. I just get disgusted seeing teams like NYR and DET making "good" signings and trades and the Devils playing runner up again. I mean, look at Detroit, they are the equivilent of the Patriots. Overloaded with talent and still under the cap.

Thanks again.

What's good about paying $6.5 million for 6, for someone's second pair defenseman? Or a redundant $5 million for 4 on Roszival? Kalinin is a non-factor defenseman, he has more offensive ability than Salvador, but he's charmin. They got Naslund for a good price, but Naslund has been backsliding ever since the lockout. If he doesn't produce, they have no one that is going to score goals. Nicky Zherdev will be in the 20's. Who else is scoring on that roster?

Where did they address losing Avery? With Voros, who they can't give a regular shift to, and is more of a fighter than an agitator/energy guy, and is an extremely small sample player? He could wash out.

They game up Tyutin for a character player and Zherdev. Tyutin is a known quality. It's a positive trade because they send garbage Backman on his way. But they still need to sign another defenseman to not be forced to put kids out as their 6th/7th defenseman, and they don't have the cap space to do this. Dawes and Callahan will be their second line wingers.

That team is not going to score goals. Their PP might be better because Jagr dominates puck possession, but they still have Roszi, who is half the reason it would suck. Jagr would hold the puck to get it to Roszi, who would pass on the shot and give it back to Jagr to hold the puck.

If we play the series with the different rosters, we beat them this time. It's not so much the changes we made as it is the ones they made.

[maxpower]

dupe

Edited July 4, 2008 by maxpower

[SegaDevil]

Detroit is the exception, not the rule. Their team is a one-of-a-kind, all the pieces fell in place at the same time. A resurgence in goal, several higher draft picks that panned out better than most team's #1 pick. If you want the Devils to compete with Detroit roster-wise, you'll be disappointed for several years.

Look more at the gain/loss.

Brylin is gone, Holik is in.

Asham is gone, Rolston is in.

That's an upgrade. Problems are being addressed. What's the concern?

[RSC]

Detroit is the exception, not the rule. Their team is a one-of-a-kind, all the pieces fell in place at the same time. A resurgence in goal, several higher draft picks that panned out better than most team's #1 pick. If you want the Devils to compete with Detroit roster-wise, you'll be disappointed for several years.

Look more at the gain/loss.

Brylin is gone, Holik is in.

Asham is gone, Rolston is in.

That's an upgrade. Problems are being addressed. What's the concern?

it seems, at least to me, that to certain people, because Rolston and Holik were Ex-Devils, think that Lou is scared to go out and make a huge signing, and don't want to see how much better the 08-09 team is looking in comparison to 07-08 because we signed specific needs instead of a mega-star.

[mrthemike]

I love how all the fans seem to know more than the GM's/coaches etc... of the actual team.

[metallidevils]

its unbelievable that lou was willing to sign rolston for 20/4 until hes 39, but not rafalski last year, one of the premiere defenseman in the league, for an extra million a year for two more years. The nonsense about Rafalski breaking down in his mid 30s is ridiculous, especially after seeing another nightmare of a signing by Lou.

I'm SO SICK of seeing him overpay guys who 'know the system'

[nmigliore]

What a horrible post.

Rolston had a great season last year. He fills our needs on our dreadful PP and HE SCORES, Ill take him over Naslund. Columbus is a stupid team, its not Lou's fault they gave Fritsche/Zherdev away for nothing.

Holik wont be that bad but I think he was overpaid.. hopefully he can produce a little bit.

[maxpower]

its unbelievable that lou was willing to sign rolston for 20/4 until hes 39, but not rafalski last year, one of the premiere defenseman in the league, for an extra million a year for two more years. The nonsense about Rafalski breaking down in his mid 30s is ridiculous, especially after seeing another nightmare of a signing by Lou.

I'm SO SICK of seeing him overpay guys who 'know the system'

Rafalski is not one of the premiere defenseman in the league. Yes, he should have gotten a raise, but jesus christ look at who he plays with.

Who do you think we should have signed instead? I can't wait to see a list of Hossa and Campbell.