It is a retool not a rebuild

[redruM]

Sorry, but I think they are old, I would like to see Zid, Vol, Sal & Tal all gone. 

I love Elias, but he's 37 eventually father time will get him, father time is undefeated.  Anything more than a 3 year deal is crazy( I'd perfer a 2 year deal.), and anything more then 3.5Mil per is crazy.

 

I love Zubrus as well, but again, he's 36 i think?? 

 

Sully, for the right price ( 1Million) he can stay on a 1 year deal, but IMHO its about time youth was served!!

[Triumph]

Two more seasons, I think.   He turns 27 in January 2015.

 

You can't hide from RFA status in Russia (or anywhere else) - the Devils have his rights in perpetuity; he'd come back as an RFA even if he were 35 years old.  Then he'd be eligible for UFA a year after that.

[SterioDesign]

boucher for calder next year i think.

 

lets not go all crazy like wild fans were with Granlund for the last 2-3 years lol

[MantaRay]

Sorry, but I think they are old, I would like to see Zid, Vol, Sal & Tal all gone. 

I love Elias, but he's 37 eventually father time will get him, father time is undefeated.  Anything more than a 3 year deal is crazy( I'd perfer a 2 year deal.), and anything more then 3.5Mil per is crazy.

 

I love Zubrus as well, but again, he's 36 i think?? 

 

Sully, for the right price ( 1Million) he can stay on a 1 year deal, but IMHO its about time youth was served!!

 

Eventually Father time will get Elias, but it doesn't look like it will be in the next few years.   He will lead the team in scoring again this year, be top three in the next two years.

[DH26]

lets not go all crazy like wild fans were with Granlund for the last 2-3 years lol

 

and granlund's been a much more highly regarded prospect than Boucher ever will be 

[redruM]

Eventually Father time will get Elias, but it doesn't look like it will be in the next few years.   He will lead the team in scoring again this year, be top three in the next two years.

Only reason he lead the team in scoring was the Kovy injury, Elias did not have a good year, great start, but he was as bad as eeryone else int he middle of the year. 

[Devils731]

Only reason he lead the team in scoring was the Kovy injury, Elias did not have a good year, great start, but he was as bad as eeryone else int he middle of the year. 

 

Elias still had a pretty good year.  Pro rated 60 points and +9.  That's slightly above his low end play over the last 10 years.

[RizzMB30]

To place the blame on any one forward is assinine.  It was a team offense issue, not any one player not creating enough, which, as a team I feel as though we created enough, just no finish.  Elias has been a top scorer and a consistent scorer and doesn't deserve any kind of ill-will.

[Lateralous]

Only reason he lead the team in scoring was the Kovy injury, Elias did not have a good year, great start, but he was as bad as eeryone else int he middle of the year. 

 

Maybe or maybe not.  Elias was leading the team in scoring before Kovy got hurt.  I think the whole team got shut down when Kovy got hurt because they were already too thin up front to begin with. 

[Lateralous]

Things I would like to see this offseason from the Devils:

 

1.  Buy out Moose and replace him with a younger goaltender who might be able to grow into the starters position when Marty finally hangs them up. 

 

2.  Let Clarkson walk.  Someone out there is going to offer him 5 million per season which is too much for a guy that belongs on the 3rd line of any team that has championship asperations.  Yes, he does a lot of good things but when he's not on his game but there also few players that can be a bigger black hole and basically render their whole line ineffective when they are off.  A 5 year deal for big money, which is what I think he'll get, has the potential to be one of those awful unmovable contracts we see the Rangers always dealing with.  I'm also a little sick of Pete putting him in situations that are beyond his capability.   

 

3.  Use our draft pick on a forward with scoring line potential.  I don't want to see this pick moved for immediate help when we have so many holes to fill.  I remain afraid that Lou is in a win now mode for himself and Marty and is going to leave the cupboard bare when he is done. Not that I think a draft pick is going to be the savior but Lou has always said he builds his teams like a college team with a balance of freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors.  Not enough Freshman in this forward group.   

 

4.  Go into next season with 7 NHL defenseman.  I'm convinced that rotating 8 was a detriment to the team this year.  With that said, I really want to see Zidlicky come back because he has a offensive element to his game that none of our other defenders have.  I would also like to see one of the AHL defenders work their way into the 3rd pairing so that means
Tallinder and Volchenkov should both be gone IMO.  I actually would prefer Volchenkov over Salvador but Lou and Pete have some strange love affair with Bryce, so we know that's not going to happen.   

Salvador, Greene, Fayne, Zidlicky, Larrson, one of Urbom/Gelinas/Merrill + Harrold as the 7th.  

5.  Re-sign Elias, Zubrus, Lokti, Henrique, Josefson and possibly D'Agostini depending on how the rest of the roster shakes out. Lou hasn't replaced Parise yet so there's no way he can let Elias leave.   

6.  Let Poni go.  Loved him last season, hated to see him walk in the summer and was a huge fan of trading for him back this season but the dude has been flat out useless this season.  

7.  I would like to see Lou get another top 6 forward by taking advantage of the cap coming way down this offseason.   It can be signing a guy who was bought out or a trade where the other team is just dumping salary so we're not giving up significant assets. I don't care which way it goes down but i'm convinced our 1st rounder does not need to be part of the equation to fill the hole in our top 6 for next year.

 

[RizzMB30]

Things I would like to see this offseason from the Devils:

 

1.  Buy out Moose and replace him with a younger goaltender who might be able to grow into the starters position when Marty finally hangs them up. 

 

2.  Let Clarkson walk.  Someone out there is going to offer him 5 million per season which is too much for a guy that belongs on the 3rd line of any team that has championship asperations.  Yes, he does a lot of good things but when he's not on his game but there also few players that can be a bigger black hole and basically render their whole line ineffective when they are off.  A 5 year deal for big money, which is what I think he'll get, has the potential to be one of those awful unmovable contracts we see the Rangers always dealing with.  I'm also a little sick of Pete putting him in situations that are beyond his capability.   

 

3.  Use our draft pick on a forward with scoring line potential.  I don't want to see this pick moved for immediate help when we have so many holes to fill.  I remain afraid that Lou is in a win now mode for himself and Marty and is going to leave the cupboard bare when he is done. Not that I think a draft pick is going to be the savior but Lou has always said he builds his teams like a college team with a balance of freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors.  Not enough Freshman in this forward group.   

 

4.  Go into next season with 7 NHL defenseman.  I'm convinced that rotating 8 was a detriment to the team this year.  With that said, I really want to see Zidlicky come back because he has a offensive element to his game that none of our other defenders have.  I would also like to see one of the AHL defenders work their way into the 3rd pairing so that means

Tallinder and Volchenkov should both be gone IMO.  I actually would prefer Volchenkov over Salvador but Lou and Pete have some strange love affair with Bryce, so we know that's not going to happen.   

Salvador, Greene, Fayne, Zidlicky, Larrson, one of Urbom/Gelinas/Merrill + Harrold as the 7th.  

5.  Re-sign Elias, Zubrus, Lokti, Henrique, Josefson and possibly D'Agostini depending on how the rest of the roster shakes out. Lou hasn't replaced Parise yet so there's no way he can let Elias leave.   

6.  Let Poni go.  Loved him last season, hated to see him walk in the summer and was a huge fan of trading for him back this season but the dude has been flat out useless this season.  

7.  I would like to see Lou get another top 6 forward by taking advantage of the cap coming way down this offseason.   It can be signing a guy who was bought out or a trade where the other team is just dumping salary so we're not giving up significant assets. I don't care which way it goes down but i'm convinced our 1st rounder does not need to be part of the equation to fill the hole in our top 6 for next year.

 

i think that there's plenty of youth or freshmen on the team now. dags,lokti, (new first round). Dont hold ur breath when it comes toto buying out moose tho if u expect volchenkov to be bought out as well. What's the use of having all the cap space we have if half that space is being used to buyout players

[ATLL765]

i think that there's plenty of youth or freshmen on the team now. dags,lokti, (new first round). Dont hold ur breath when it comes toto buying out moose tho if u expect volchenkov to be bought out as well. What's the use of having all the cap space we have if half that space is being used to buyout players

Agreed. I think we're missing the sophomores and juniors on the team, not the freshman, we got Larsson, Loktionov, D'agostini and JJ who are freshman you could say, Henrique too. Larsson will graduate to sophomore soon, but we don't have a ton of guys in the 25-32 range, lots under 25 and lots over 32.

[Lateralous]

i think that there's plenty of youth or freshmen on the team now. dags,lokti, (new first round). Dont hold ur breath when it comes toto buying out moose tho if u expect volchenkov to be bought out as well. What's the use of having all the cap space we have if half that space is being used to buyout players

Don't we have 2 amnesty buyouts? While it may be an issue for our broke Owner, it shouldn't be a cap issue. Past those two, I'm not sure who we would want to save a buyout for next season considering Salvador will only have 1 year left on his deal.

To your other point, I guess I should have been more specific. Who becomes the freshman in 2-3 years as Lokti, Henrique and Larssen move into the sophomore range? I know we've got the defenseman but are we really putting all of our eggs in the Ried Boucher basket up front?

Edited April 26, 2013 by Lateralous

[LucifersDog]

retool or rebuild, why does it matter which one, we still have two old goalies next season. Both are under contract for another year and the Devils won't buy out Hedberg and put in a more expensive goalie than Marty to play backup.

[devlman]

If this was an 82 game season we'd absolutely be in the playoffs. Don't over analyze a lockout season. We've got a pretty decent team with some weaknesses that I'm sure will be patched up.

[NJDevs4978]

We'd be in the playoffs perhaps but we wouldn't do anything in them with this popgun offense.  Don't confuse 'playoff team' with 'real contender'.

[devlman]

We'd be in the playoffs perhaps but we wouldn't do anything in them with this popgun offense. Don't confuse 'playoff team' with 'real contender'.

True, but that wouldn't mean the team is in need of a rebuild. More of a retool needed.

[HellOnICE]

retool or rebuild, why does it matter which one, we still have two old goalies next season. Both are under contract for another year and the Devils won't buy out Hedberg and put in a more expensive goalie than Marty to play backup.

 

See I'm not sure they don't buyout Moose. I think the reason he's started the last 2 games of the year, and didn't start any after Marty came back was they know he's done. Let the guy play his last two games of his career. Same for Sullivan.

[insanity_gallops]

Don't we have 2 amnesty buyouts? While it may be an issue for our broke Owner, it shouldn't be a cap issue. Past those two, I'm not sure who we would want to save a buyout for next season considering Salvador will only have 1 year left on his deal.

To your other point, I guess I should have been more specific. Who becomes the freshman in 2-3 years as Lokti, Henrique and Larssen move into the sophomore range? I know we've got the defenseman but are we really putting all of our eggs in the Ried Boucher basket up front?

 

First of all, Lat, your long post is pretty much spot-on for how I feel. Just didn't want to quote it because, ya know, it's a long post. Re-up Elias, Zubrus, D'Agostini, Zidlicky, Henrique, Loktionov, Josefson.

 

That still leaves holes, obviously, but I'd like to see the Devils use their two amnesty buyouts on Volchenkov and Hedberg. 

 

Bring in a younger goalie who could at least handle a bigger workload at this point in his career - UFAs include Emery, Khudobin, Greiss as backups who could be take on more games, trade market is more of a guessing game (everyone always points to Bernier, obviously).

 

To fill holes up front, there are two players I've wanted to see the Devils sign: Mason Raymond and Ryan Clowe. Yeah, I know, Clowe's a Ranger right now, but I don't see how they possibly re-sign him with their upcoming cap issues (handful of RFAs who will not be cheap to re-sign). Raymond is a speedster and would fit in well, while Clowe acts as an upgrade over Ponikarovsky and even Zubrus (offensively).

 

Henrique-Loktionov-Kovalchuk

Elias-Zajac-Clowe

Raymond-Josefson-Zubrus

Carter-Gionta-Bernier

 

Of course, that's only if the Devils feel that their offense won't be so snake-bitten next season... otherwise it's really not a scoring upgrade. Latendresse could be a nice gamble, Damien Brunner would be great but I don't see how the Red Wings let him walk. Clarke MacArthur could work, too.

[CRASHER]

Hedburg only has one year left at a low salary, can't they use a "normal" buyout on Moose?? Seems silly to waste one of the two get out of jail buyouts on a guy with only one year left.....

[SterioDesign]

"DeBoer:Whether it's free agency or moves, I don't think you'll see the same group back next year. I don't think there's any doubt about that"

[Zubie#8]

Volchenkov and Hedberg for Luongo

Edited April 28, 2013 by Zubie#8

[Marshall]

"DeBoer:Whether it's free agency or moves, I don't think you'll see the same group back next year. I don't think there's any doubt about that"

 

PDB: Captain Obvious.

[MantaRay]

I want to keep Clarkson, Elias and Harold, you can build off this.

 

I think Tallinder and maybe A-Train are done.

[ATLL765]

I want to keep Clarkson, Elias and Harold, you can build off this.

 

I think Tallinder and maybe A-Train are done.

I think Anton has to be our buyout. If not him, who? I guess if they bought out Sal, it'd be ok, but that looks much worse than buying out Anton who isn't the captain. Tallinder is better than he's looked, but having played sporadically hasn't helped. I do think 3 of Sal, Volch, Tally and Zid are gone by trade deadline next year or sooner. I don't think we will go an entire season without playing a younger guy on D again.