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What Lou might be up to this offseason


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While I agree 100% that I think Lou knows what he's doing (and taking his time might not be such a bad thing), I will still be concerned on opening night with the current roster assuming the other teams in our division get better. Philly will be better should they acquire Weber, and NY/Pitt will be scary assuming they add some piece of Semin/Doan/Nash/etc. Let's be honest here; we had a great run last year but finished 4th in the division. As of right now we're not as good of a team, and if everyone else gets better...uh oh.

Lotta hypotheticals in that statement there. As of right now, imo, the division hasn't gotten significantly tougher skill-wise.

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Lotta hypotheticals in that statement there. As of right now, imo, the division hasn't gotten significantly tougher skill-wise.

I agree. As things stand right now, Pitt has gotten weaker with the loss of Staal and Michalek. The Rangers are about the same as last season (unless you count Prust moving on as a loss to them and their PK). Philly will get better assuming Nashville refuses to match the Weber offer, but if the sheet is matched, they are worse than last year with the loss of Jagr and Carle. The Isles...why bother.

Unfortunately, we have also gotten worse from where last season ended. No matter how much we attempt to sugar coat it, the loss of Parise will be huge for this team over the course of next season.

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I agree. As things stand right now, Pitt has gotten weaker with the loss of Staal and Michalek. The Rangers are about the same as last season (unless you count Prust moving on as a loss to them and their PK). Philly will get better assuming Nashville refuses to match the Weber offer, but if the sheet is matched, they are worse than last year with the loss of Jagr and Carle. The Isles...why bother.

Unfortunately, we have also gotten worse from where last season ended. No matter how much we attempt to sugar coat it, the loss of Parise will be huge for this team over the course of next season.

True we don't have as skilled a player on our top line by losing Zach, but we played most of last season without as deep a team.. If that 4th line, which really only played together for the playoffs, comes back and is lights-out then it helps add goals where Zach's will be missed

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True we don't have as skilled a player on our top line by losing Zach, but we played most of last season without as deep a team.. If that 4th line, which really only played together for the playoffs, comes back and is lights-out then it helps add goals where Zach's will be missed

It goes deeper than the scoring though. Zach played all 3 phases and was willing to drive the net and take the punishment that comes with it to score. Another thing is his ability in the shootouts. We won a lot of games and gained a ton of extra points last season by being one of the best shootout teams in the league. Kovy and Zach were unstoppable and gave us a huge lift there. Those extra points could be the difference between a 6-7 seed and missing the playoffs.

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True we don't have as skilled a player on our top line by losing Zach, but we played most of last season without as deep a team.. If that 4th line, which really only played together for the playoffs, comes back and is lights-out then it helps add goals where Zach's will be missed

Colin, no offense, but the 4th line does not equal all that traitor Parise offered. It kills me to say it, but we are going to hurt without him. Maybe everyone contributes a little more and all of our players are healthy, but for a team that came in 4th in the Atlantic, yet still made it to the cup finals, the expectations will be higher, our schedule may be tougher... etc, the Devils have a small margin of error this coming year.

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It goes deeper than the scoring though. Zach played all 3 phases and was willing to drive the net and take the punishment that comes with it to score. Another thing is his ability in the shootouts. We won a lot of games and gained a ton of extra points last season by being one of the best shootout teams in the league. Kovy and Zach were unstoppable and gave us a huge lift there. Those extra points could be the difference between a 6-7 seed and missing the playoffs.

Agreed. Who knows if Semin comes here, but I think he's a fine Parise replacement. He'll replace most, if not all the offense Zach produced and is good enough on the PK. I'd love to see him and kovalchuk on the pp next year. Who do you cover, Kovys bomb or Semins wicked wrister?

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Lol @ anyone projecting the defending eastern conference champions to miss the playoffs on july 20th.

Pretty sure the Devils are projected to fall short of the playoffs every year at this time of year.

With the parity in this league, anything is possible. I don't think the Devils will miss the playoffs even if they play next season with the roster they currently have, but they are not the same team that went to the SCF and have taken a huge hit to their top line with the loss of Parise.

Is there any doubt that Burnside predicts us to finish 11th or 12 in the conference this season? I hope so because we all know how accurate his predictions are.

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if this past season has taught devils fans ANYTHING, it should be that the team that steps out on opening night means very little when it comes to who's around at the end.

guys not on opening night roster that were around for game 6 SCF:

zajac

ponikarovsky

bernier

carter

gionta

zidlicky

*henrique - while technically on the opening night roster, he got sent down almost immediately and was brought back only due to josefson's injury.

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Lotta hypotheticals in that statement there. As of right now, imo, the division hasn't gotten significantly tougher skill-wise.

True, but if we look at trends in club history, it's not out of the question to assume that Pitt will look to add offense, nor is it crazy to assume that NYR will try to add via big name UFAs. Actually, I'd be considerably more surprised if we signed Semin than if Pitt and the Rags made the moves I've suggested.

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I'll start to feel better if we sign Semin or get someone for our top 6, but I'm actually pretty confident that Josefson or Tedenby might be ready to make an impact this year. I'm glad Lou has been draft forwards because we need youth up front. I'm really hoping we don't re-sign Petr Sykora. Love the guy, but it'd be pretty rough to have another 36+ year old up front. And depending on how well Elias/Zubrus age we could need help sooner rather than later.

Edited by DevilNurn
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I think the Fayne contract might be Lou trying to predict the future even more. An extreme value for he next two years and hopefully the Devils still have the high ground afterwards.

I think the Fayne contract might be Lou trying to predict the future even more. An extreme value for he next two years and hopefully the Devils still have the high ground afterwards.

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if this past season has taught devils fans ANYTHING, it should be that the team that steps out on opening night means very little when it comes to who's around at the end.

guys not on opening night roster that were around for game 6 SCF:

zajac

ponikarovsky

bernier

carter

gionta

zidlicky

*henrique - while technically on the opening night roster, he got sent down almost immediately and was brought back only due to josefson's injury.

Still the Devils spent assets to make this a reality. Sure, the team from opening night can vary considerably from one that starts Game 1 of the playoffs, but they ended up dumping several players, draft picks, and some prospects to make it happen. It's best to construct a roster where you don't have to do this.

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Still the Devils spent assets to make this a reality. Sure, the team from opening night can vary considerably from one that starts Game 1 of the playoffs, but they ended up dumping several players, draft picks, and some prospects to make it happen. It's best to construct a roster where you don't have to do this.

And when does that ever happen? The prospects and assets the Devils dropped were chump change compared to what most teams do for a few rentals. Just last year, the Bruins traded a former 1st, a 1st, and 2nd to get Kaberle.

The Devils, luckily, gave up almost nothing to get a player who had a bigger impact than Kaberle. Even when a team has constructed a roster where you don't have to do this, the GM feels the pressure to do something anyway and usually overpays for some crap.

Edited by devilsrule33
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And when does that ever happen? The prospects and assets the Devils dropped were chump change compared to what most teams do for a few rentals. Just last year, the Bruins traded a former 1st, a 1st, and 2nd to get Kaberle.

The Devils, luckily, gave up almost nothing to get a player who had a bigger impact than Kaberle. Even when a team has constructed a roster where you don't have to do this, the GM feels the pressure to do something anyway and usually overpays for some crap.

There have been years where the Devils have barely made any deadline deals. In 2009, the Devils traded a guy they signed as an undrafted free agent to get a defenseman. This year the Devils spent a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 7th round pick to improve the roster, plus a guy who'd still be mildly useful to have around in Nick Palmieri. Still, you'd prefer to not have to do that.

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There have been years where the Devils have barely made any deadline deals. In 2009, the Devils traded a guy they signed as an undrafted free agent to get a defenseman. This year the Devils spent a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 7th round pick to improve the roster, plus a guy who'd still be mildly useful to have around in Nick Palmieri. Still, you'd prefer to not have to do that.

The easy response would be the 2012 Devils went to the Cup Finals and the 2009 Devils lost in the first round (I know what your response will be so don't worry about that). The Devils basically traded a 2nd, 3rd and 7th for a guy that they will have on the roster for another season. And a damn useful player. Better than when Lou picks up his terrible depth defenseman for a little less.

If the Devils wanted to fill Zidlicky's role before the 11-12 season, it probably be a lot more expensive than how Lou ended up getting him. Same goes for Pony.

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The easy response would be the 2012 Devils went to the Cup Finals and the 2009 Devils lost in the first round (I know what your response will be so don't worry about that). The Devils basically traded a 2nd, 3rd and 7th for a guy that they will have on the roster for another season. And a damn useful player. Better than when Lou picks up his terrible depth defenseman for a little less.

If the Devils wanted to fill Zidlicky's role before the 11-12 season, it probably be a lot more expensive than how Lou ended up getting him. Same goes for Pony.

I mean, they could've just signed Poni themselves - I understand why they didn't, Tedenby played well and Rolston was still on the roster when Ponikarovsky signed with Carolina.

Zidlicky still represents a large risk, he turns 36 this year and he's had injury problems in the past.

Deadline improvements can be superior to off-season acquisitions if your team is either broke/up against the cap, not expected to be good, or expected to be excellent. But expecting a repeat of last year where a lot of guys came in to help - it's not a good formula.

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I mean, they could've just signed Poni themselves - I understand why they didn't, Tedenby played well and Rolston was still on the roster when Ponikarovsky signed with Carolina.

Zidlicky still represents a large risk, he turns 36 this year and he's had injury problems in the past.

Deadline improvements can be superior to off-season acquisitions if your team is either broke/up against the cap, not expected to be good, or expected to be excellent. But expecting a repeat of last year where a lot of guys came in to help - it's not a good formula.

Zidlicky is a risk, but not so much for this Devils team right now, and he's a better option that what Calgary gave Wideman this off-season I think.

I'm not expecting any repeat of last year at all. Although, getting a replacement for Zach at the deadline will be easy since he no-showed the entire playoffs, of course.

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