176 replies to this topic

[MadDog2020]

Travis Zajac on contract: "Obviously I want to be here. I believe in this organization 100 percent. This is a first class organization".

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

But I'm glad Lou made an exception after losing Zach and didn't just stand on failing principle.

What failing principle?! God, some of you act like Lou just constantly loses guys left and right. It happens! All GMs lose players! In case you haven't noticed, he's kept some guys too, but no one ever talks about that. Only the guys who walk. And quite a few of the ones who did leave didn't exactly pan out for their new teams.

[newarkdev01]

I can go either way with this and alot of that has to do with how well he plays with Kovy. If he gells with Kovy and whomever is the other winger and they produce like a 1rst line, then Im happy.

[ATLL765]

This picture makes me think of Tropic Thunder. "You mamamamake mmmme hapappy" - Simple Jack

Edited by ATLL765, 16 January 2013 - 04:48 PM.

[DevsMan84]

What failing principle?! God, some of you act like Lou just constantly loses guys left and right. It happens! All GMs lose players! In case you haven't noticed, he's kept some guys too, but no one ever talks about that. Only the guys who walk. And quite a few of the ones who did leave didn't exactly pan out for their new teams.

I think it is more of people are pissed that Lou seemingly waits till the last second to start negotiating with these guys instead of resigning them in advance like you see a lot of other teams do. If news would have gotten out that Lou was negotiating with Zach all of last year before losing him to the Wild, I think the sting would have been less and it would be easier to accept that Lou tried his best and Zach just wasn't interested or got a better offer.

Just the fact that Lou signed someone this far in advance of the expiration of his current contract is bewildering and a little refreshing even if the numbers are a tad steep.

Happy Zajac is going to be here a long time though.

[SMantzas]

Probably overpaid by 500-750k and got 1-2 more years than he should have, but he could have gotten more dough on the open market.

If you look at points and advanced statistics, he looks similar to Patrice Bergeron. I believe Bergeron is marginally better, but I think they're in the same sphere. It's just that Zajac doesn't get the national recognition .

This deal had to be done, but I don't hate it in the slightest

Edited by SMantzas, 16 January 2013 - 04:55 PM.

[msweet]

Probably overpaid by 500-750k and got 1-2 more years than he should have, but he could have gotten more dough on the open market

So then he is really slightly underpaid?

[SMantzas]

So then he is really slightly underpaid?

Based on the market? No
Based on what he brings tangibly? Perhaps, but it's not outrageous

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

I think it is more of people are pissed that Lou seemingly waits till the last second to start negotiating with these guys instead of resigning them in advance like you see a lot of other teams do. If news would have gotten out that Lou was negotiating with Zach all of last year before losing him to the Wild, I think the sting would have been less and it would be easier to accept that Lou tried his best and Zach just wasn't interested or got a better offer.

Just the fact that Lou signed someone this far in advance of the expiration of his current contract is bewildering and a little refreshing even if the numbers are a tad steep.

Happy Zajac is going to be here a long time though.

Not attacking you here, but with our fanbase sometimes, it's as though every other team "plays 60 minutes"...except for ours. Or that other GMs are signing their stars ahead of time...except the Devils. I can think of two teams that signed their stars ahead of time, and their fans being very excited about it at the time. Ottawa and Tampa Bay. How'd that work out for those teams?

I don't know, Lous had his ups and downs, and I think the '10-'11 season was particularly hard on him, but I think the guy has earned the benefit of the doubt. It's just that sometimes our fanbase is so friggin' critical...like every GM, he makes mistakes, and some moves pan out and some don't, but I don't think he any more to learn about his job, and I don't think his re-signing Zajac has anything to do with him suddenly saying "Geez, I've really been fvcking up through the years with UFA, let me do something right for once!"

Edited by Colorado Rockies 1976, 16 January 2013 - 05:00 PM.

[DevilMinder]

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

^^^ now THAT'S funny!

[Coorslight]

He's on the phone on NHL Live now...NHL Network.

And just like that it's over...LOL

[DevsMan84]

Not attacking you here, but with our fanbase sometimes, it's as though every other team "plays 60 minutes"...except for ours. Or that other GMs are signing their stars ahead of time...except the Devils. I can think of two teams that signed their stars ahead of time, and their fans being very excited about it at the time. Ottawa and Tampa Bay. How'd that work out for those teams?

I don't know, Lous had his ups and downs, and I think the '10-'11 season was particularly hard on him, but I think the guy has earned the benefit of the doubt. It's just that sometimes our fanbase is so friggin' critical...like every GM, he makes mistakes, and some moves pan out and some don't, but I don't think he any more to learn about his job, and I don't think his re-signing Zajac has anything to do with him suddenly saying "Geez, I've really been fvcking up through the years with UFA, let me do something right for once!"

Well whether Lou signs these players is one thing, but I think a lot of it has to do with his methods. Even when other teams re-sign with their players on or about July 1st, it usually follows with a statement how they have been working on the deal for months. With Lou you always hear players saying " I never heard anything about it until the season ended." Then Lou has to figure out this stuff in about 1-3 months along with the draft. This seemingly perception of Lou doing nothing until the last minute is is totally based on feeling and perception than anything concrete given how little Lou talks about what he is doing internally.

But stepping back and looking at all this on a level field, the only two players that the Devils lost in the last 4-5 years that were of any big relevence were Zach following by Gionta. I might be missing a player or two but me forgetting just shows how much I miss them.

Edited by DevsMan84, 16 January 2013 - 05:11 PM.

[Triumph]

Not attacking you here, but with our fanbase sometimes, it's as though every other team "plays 60 minutes"...except for ours. Or that other GMs are signing their stars ahead of time...except the Devils. I can think of two teams that signed their stars ahead of time, and their fans being very excited about it at the time. Ottawa and Tampa Bay. How'd that work out for those teams?

I don't know, Lous had his ups and downs, and I think the '10-'11 season was particularly hard on him, but I think the guy has earned the benefit of the doubt. It's just that sometimes our fanbase is so friggin' critical...like every GM, he makes mistakes, and some moves pan out and some don't, but I don't think he any more to learn about his job, and I don't think his re-signing Zajac has anything to do with him suddenly saying "Geez, I've really been fvcking up through the years with UFA, let me do something right for once!"

To add to this, UFAs are almost always a bad bet, it's just a question of whether you can do better with prospects or other players in your organization.

[socbrian]

crying when we lose our best players... and crying when we sign good players...

this is a great signing. IMO zajac is way more valuable than zach. Not point wise but in other aspects

[NJDevs4978]

Well whether Lou signs these players is one thing, but I think a lot of it has to do with his methods. Even when other teams re-sign with their players on or about July 1st, it usually follows with a statement how they have been working on the deal for months.

Well if it isn't obvious by now Lou's able to keep everything under lock and key I don't know when it would be obvious...today just proves yet again Lou's still an anomaly. What other organization would be able to in this day and age have the GM literally break the news of a big re-signing like this in the middle of camp, without even the remote hint of a leak beforehand?

Edited by NJDevs4978, 16 January 2013 - 05:30 PM.

[DH26]

To add to this, UFAs are almost always a bad bet, it's just a question of whether you can do better with prospects or other players in your organization.

In the NJ heyday they didn't sign any UFAs. Lou's getting back to that now and look how it turned out last year. Guy knows what he's doing

[Mitico12]

$5.75 is a bit high in my estimation. Also, giving a guy 8 years is also a bit excessive. However, publicly we know the "intangibles" that Zajac brings. I imagine behind the scenes there are many more intangibles that Lou knows about as well.

I think Trav's cap hit is somewhere in the vicinity if not a little lower than that of Jordan Staal's, so that should be just about right. Although, pound for pound I think Jordan has the edge in terms of overall ability.

[Triumph]

In the NJ heyday they didn't sign any UFAs. Lou's getting back to that now and look how it turned out last year. Guy knows what he's doing

NJ didn't have to sign other teams' UFAs - their prospect base + young player pool was that loaded, but they re-signed plenty of their own UFAs - McKay, Stevens, Daneyko, etc.

[njd3b1ink]

I personally think this is a great deal. Maybe he is getting paid more than he should, but I think he wud have gotten over 6 million had he gone to free agency. There is a lot about Zajac that makes him so valuable to the devils that some people might not notice. To merge two biggest things are that he has chemistry with kovy. It was very hard to find a good fit for kovy. And second Zajac has shown that he is pretty clutch. I would say more so than a lot of players on the team. I can think of 2 playoff overtime winners and 2 extra round shootouts winners in big games off of the top of my head. Add that to the fact that he is our number one center who can play in any situation and I think 5.75 is a fair number.