NewarkDevil5

I know we're not mathematically eliminated yet, but I think it's pretty much a probabilistic certainty that we won't be playing in the postseason.

 

Let me preface this by saying I don't think that the defense has been one of our bigger problems this year, but at the same time due to the pressures of the sheer quantity of defensemen we've got in our system I find it unlikely that our defense won't involve at least a few changes.

 

The following are signed for next year:

 

Andy Greene

Bryce Salvador

Henrik Tallinder

Anton Volchenkov

Mark Fayne

Adam Larsson

 

The following are UFAs this summer:

 

Marek Zidlicky

Peter Harrold

 

The following are young'ins that could be pushing the lineup from the AHL:

 

Alexander Urbom

Eric Gelinas

Brandon Burlon

 

Now the question in all of this is what do we see our defense corps looking like next year? I've heard people talk about amnesty buying out Volchenkov, which frees up one spot. I've also heard people saying they want to keep Zidlicky, but I'm not sure I want to do that.

Someone on HF mentioned at one point that Khudobin is a UFA this offseason. I could easily see Hedberg retiring after the season he's had. Yes Khudobin just gave up 4 goals to us but in reality I don't think any of them were bad goals. He's got good stats overall and I like his style of play. I think he'd be a good option to backup Marty and maybe eventually platoon.

 http://www.nj.com/de...tart_thurs.html

 

Did he consider giving rookie Keith Kinkaid, who stopped 12 of 13 shots in his NHL debut, the start?

"No. We're going to go back to Heddy," DeBoer said.

 

I thought this deserved it's own thread.

Since the start of this season there have been no real consistent lines (outside of the attempt to keep the CBGB line together for the most part). Obviously Deboer is looking to see what works and what doesn't and has been attempting to find that "lightning in a bottle" type line if at all possible. Injuries have also played a part in this. In my view I would like to see the following lines attempted and kept for a full game at least:

 

Kovalchuk Loktionov Henrique

Elias Zajac Clarkson

Ponikarovsky Josefson Matteau

Bernier Carter Gionta

 

I liked what I saw of the chemistry on that top line when they started the game against Winnipeg. People keep saying that Loktionov forces passes to Kovalchuk but I think that tendency can be controlled. Henrique has benefited from some of Loktionov's passes as well and all three have a scoring knack with a good amount of speed.

 

The second line I think is rather a no-brainer although in some ways I think it's a symptom of my own insanity. It's a combination that has been failing miserably to generate anything for weeks and yet it seems the only place for all three of those players.

 

This third line I think could be trained into a legitimate shutdown line akin to the old Bobby Carpenter lines of yore. I know that the shutdown line thing is something we've tried to shy away from in recent years, but I think that it's one of the issues we've been having. Never before can I remember the Devils being victimized by other teams' top scorers as consistently as we have been of late. In years past it was always opposing teams' secondary scorers who would have success against us while we would stymie the top liners. How often would guys like Jagr come up short while guys like Alexei Morozov would give us nightmares. I'd rather worry about the Morozovs of the world than the Jagrs. Have this line trained to shadow and disrupt while the rest of the team runs it's usual game plan. Then we might be able to breathe a little easier when a guy like Tavares steps on the ice or Ovechkin.

 

The benefit of the above is that it bumps this fourth line down to where it belongs: fourth line. It's a good line. Keep it together. Don't play it more than any of the other lines and don't start the game with it on the ice.