stevestevens

I feel like you may be putting too much stock into his stats and not enough into his play. I don't know what is suggesting he could score upwards of 30 goals when last season the only players to get even 20 were Parise, Zajac and Rolston. Given, Langenbrunner and Elias were at 19 and Elias would have had 20 if he played a full season. I just don't see how Stempniak comes in and scores 20. I would say Clarkson is a better fit for a 2nd line RW than Stempniak.

Stempniak, 30 goals? The guy hit over 25 goals twice and I am willing to say last season was a fluke. I think he can hit 50 points playing with Elias and Arnott but 20 goals at most, more likely he scores around 14-17. last season he scored at 29% with Phoenix and when he scored 27 he was at 16.3%. He would probably hover his season norm around 8-9% at best here.

People overrate Stempniak. He is a 16-18 goal guy in a season and probably around 14 on the Devils. He is probably as low as you can go for a second line player and is a mediocre third line player. He is small and pretty slow. His streak with Phoenix wasn't more than a lot of good luck at once, it happens but it won't happen again most likely.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=327346 Looks like the Kovy saga will at least live until Tuesday

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Off topic but anyone ever hear of Kovalchuk?

Regardless of liking it or not, I don't think Lou wants to give up another first round pick. I am not sure how you can unload Rolston without giving up a first or high prospect, he is going to eat up space on any team he joins. I think the Islanders would actually be a good team for him to join but I don't think he waives his NTC for that. He may want to go to a place where hes the focal point of the offense instead of a 3rd line winger. Not too many places could offer him that.

Anyone else feel like Kovys agent bluffed with the decision to come today tweet to have the kings up their offer? It seems like he may not want to play in new jersey if he is willing to let an 8.5 mil per year sit on the table.

He is over 35 so if he retires or is waived, his cap hit stays. The only way to move him is in a trade. Package Rolston with a first round pick and see who bites.

I think Burns would fit in, and his price may be an all time low right now due to his lack of production last season. Overall, I do think the Wild rather play their cars and keep him because they simply need to have young talent and he is not at a bad deal with a 3.55 cap hit. If the Devils wanted him, they would probably want a young player around the same value plus a pick. They would probably look for Clarkson and a 3rd for Burns, maybe more. Overall, I do not think the Devils really need Burns right now so I would skip over him.

There really aren't many players that fit the Devils out there. Maybe Raffi Torres in a bottom 6 role, but that may be about it. I don't see the Frolovs fitting in here. On defense there really isn't much to bite on, we have 4 highly defensive defenseman, one guy who can shoot the puck in Greene. The last spot is a mystery, if they use Corrente then 5 defensive guys and Eckford we get a bit of offense. I don't see wiggle room there unless Lou can move Salv or White.

The assets Kaberle would cost are higher than what the Devils are willing to pay -especially for a player with 1 year left. Afinogenov wouldn't work in New Jersey, his better days are way behind him. He isn't a top 6 here, and he would be a poor addition to the bottom 6. No way. Modano I'm not opposed to but what does he bring to the team that we don't already have? Maybe we need a penalty killer, we don't need a 35-40 point center who is beyond his days.

Wat

Wat

I can't imagine them keeping him, from what I've heard he didn't mesh in with the team. Maybe back to the khl.

I'm big on Kubina, I'd say Kubina and Hamhuis if Martin and Kovalchuk move on.

It was just confirmed that Lombardi, Michalek and Stempniak will all become UFAs (http://twitter.com/kausatoday). Maybe Lombardi, but with Arnott I think the Devils pass over him. I honestly feel like Lou might think he is set on offense, and he will try to sign Kovalchuk but whether he does or not I think he may like our top 6 enough but work on the bottom 6. I think this is how Lou may see the lineup like this: Parise-Zajac-Langenbrunner Elias-Arnott-Clarkson (Insert Player)-Zubrus-Rolston Peters/Leblonde/Pandawful-Pelley-(Insert Player) I think right wing may be the position to look at but there aren't many options that are high in quality. There is Demitra, Afinogenov (kill me on both options), Stempniak among others but I don't see anyone fitting in. I kind of feel like Lou will get a cheap center and plus him as the wing on the fourth line. For the third line left wing, there is Modin, Frolov, Pinkarovsky but maybe Raffi Torres fits if the price is right, which means around or lower than his 2.25 salary last season. If Kovalchuk is somehow re-signed, I don't know how the lineup will look. The secone line could be Kovalchuk-Elias-Arnott but there is no way Lou is using the center he finally acquired as a right wing with Elias at the center again. They could all shuffle around and split time with the top C-LW combinations but that seems like a bad idea. Overall I don't expect too much change on offense. On defense I think there could be some change. I would love it if the Devils could sign Pavel Kubina, I think he could bring a new dynamic to the defense. The defense may look a bit like this right now: White-(Insert) Salvador-Greene Corrente-(Insert) Extra - Fraser, Salmela. This all rides on Martin being re-signed. Who knows how much he will cost if he does stay but I will go hypothetically here for the sake of thought. I would skip over Gonchar as he is reported to be requesting a 4 year deal, which I would not give to him at 37 because of his injury history (not as atrocious as some like to believe) and the fact he is looking at the 5 million dollar range. I question is anyone will give him that honestly - so it may come down but maybe only to 3 years. I would like Michalek, I think he makes sense but at the same time the Devils need players who could shoot the puck from the blue line. Overall, I think Kubina is the best option but at 33 I don't know what sort of contract he is expecting.

You thought he wasn't going to make it productive?

Not to be a jerk but Cammalleri makes 6 million.

It cant be the Leafs pick unless the Panthers are putting their top pick in the deal. Interesting to see what this will be.

The cap hit counts against the team - regardless of what a team would pay in actual dollars. The cap hit never changes.

Finally, a center!!

No, stay away from Morisson. He couldn't play 2-3 seasons ago and he only had 40 points because he was playing for a team that because sponged all their players goals.

I saw Jesse Malin open up for Gaslight in October. The guy was a total dick and everyone cheered once he got off the stage, he was in some sort of land of disillusion the entire time.