Z-Man

You beat me to it.

Or the more logical answer.... Instead of over-paying for 30-something free agents, guys like Lappin, Quenneville, Santini, Speers, etc. will have larger roles with the big club, and they need AHL depth.

Bunch of babies crying about slight uniform changes, IMO. Between this and the damn goal song, does anyone care about the actual team anymore? http://www.nj.com/devils/index.ssf/2017/06/devils_unveil_new_jerseys_for_2017-18_season_photo.html

http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2016/07/21/nbc-sports-group-scheduled-to-air-record-number-of-nhl-regular-season-games-in-2016-17/ The Devils get one national game - December 29th vs. the Caps. Chicago leads with 21 national appearances. Nothing really to get upset about, it's the norm every year.

#9. TG retweeted the Devils equipment manager's tweet stitching the jersey. Can't link to Twitter at work though. Wish he had distanced himself from Parise's number. Bad mojo. EDIT: Here's the link. https://twitter.com/NJDSk8Guy/status/753223750255054848

interchangeable flock of forwards no more.

And Bennett signs for 1 year, $725k. And all three will still be restricted free agents after their deals expire. Nice.

Thank God Tri was right so far....glad not to lose DSP or Merrill. Still waiting for official Bennett news.

Reading some blogs/articles....DSP is as good as gone if the Devils don't sign him today. A young big, tough forward who showed a little scoring touch in a limited role last year - teams will not hesitate to spend a little for a player like this. Bennett/Merrill - probably not as attractive as DSP, but someone looking for a 5-6 D with experience might bite on Merrill. With all the joy of the Hall trade yesterday, these non-tenders could bite Shero in the butt. Teams aren't built on one star player.

http://www.si.com/nhl/2015/07/24/nhl-fan-misery-rankings-30-teams #1 New Jersey Devils Cup drought: 11 seasons three-time cup champs Maybe Lou Lamoriello knew what he was doing when he bailed on this organization. These Devils have a dim past (just one playoff appearance in the past five years), a painful present (the NHL’s 29th rated offense in 2014-15) and a grey, dystopian future (arguably the least promising prospect pool in the game). This is a team so bereft of hope that it can only aspire to being dull and dreary. Um, ok. Granted, it's not all roses right now, but I'm guessing teams with ridiculous cup droughts are much more miserable than us.

Correct. Essentially the Devils could go up to $76 million for their "cap." To which they won't even come close.

I'd offer Larsson and Gelinas for RNH. No need to add the 6th overall pick.

Another thought...if I'm Lou, I'm calling Columbus to inquire about Hartnell. He's a much needed RW, still only 33, reasonable contract, still put up almost 60 points this year. They have a lot of young forwards that may be ready to make the leap to the NHL, but not many defensemen.

http://stats.nhlnumbers.com/teams?year=2016 Essentially you can narrow down the trade targets by looking at next year's cap commitments (ignore the "Players signed" column, it counts players in the minors). LA makes the most sense, as they'll still have 5 forwards with a cap hit over $6 million.

To defend Daniel, "replacement level" is the standard average player at the position (at least in baseball when calculating WAR). I've never heard of "replacement level player" terminology in hockey. Daniel is 1000% right when using that term for the Devils. They are chock full of players near the average (or below). Most of the team is filled with players who are not worth additional "wins" for the team by having them in the lineup.

Typical. "I can say whatever I want, we all have opinions. But I don't want to hear yours about the old days!!" Did you even realize how ridiculous that sounded? Probably not.

There was never this level of BS, SH.

"Oh we got robbed for Zidlicky." "Why can't we dump more players?" Sorry folks, but 29 other teams are not garbage pickers. Getting something of value for two declining players at a combined age of 81 with expiring contracts is not bad. I'm pretty much done with this board and the usual folks who have completely ruined the experience. No wonder so many people have left and don't come back. It's basically just a complain-fest. Not too mention a good portion of it deals with utterly ridiculous topics (hello, goal song and "you suck" chants).

Can we merge this with the "I am beginning to hate our fans" thread?

Agree 100% with Carp, the Devils don't have the pieces to land McDavid. Just remember the Lindros details: http://www.greatesthockeylegends.com/2013/04/great-trades-in-hockey-history-eric.html The Nordiques received defensemen Kerry Huffman and Steve Duchesne, goalie Ron Hextall, forwards Mike Ricci, Chris Simon, and Peter Forsberg, two first-round draft picks and cash reportedly in the neighborhood of $15 million US. By the way, the Rangers offer reportedly consisted of Alexei Kovalev, Tony Amonte, Doug Weight, John Vanbiesbrouck, cash and draft picks. Either way, the deal was a blockbuster of the most ridiculous of proportions. Also, don't overlook the $15 million dollars, which was an astronomical sum at the time, when you consider the average team payroll was $8.1 million and Wayne Gretzky led the league with a $3 million salary.

Obviously the Devils will have some decent cap room going into next season, and will need some NHL caliber bodies up front. Here's a list of some of the more intriguing UFAs that will be available, and may make sense for NJ. Drew Stafford Age: 29 Previous contract: 4 years, $16 million 2015 stats: 46 GP, 8 G, 15 A, -19 Note: Contract extension was signed after his 31 goal season. Still relatively young UFA wise. Right wing, RH shot, something needed depth-wise for NJ. Underperformed offensively based on his contract. Chris Stewart Age: 27 Previous contract: 2 years, $8.3 million 2015 stats: 49 GP, 9 G, 9 A, -28 Notes: Big body, very inconsistent. Had back to back 28 goal season early in his career, but has bounced around since & hasn't lived up to his potential. Another right wing, RH shot. Justin Williams Age: 33 Previous contract: 4 years, $14.6 million 2015 stats: 49 GP, 13 G, 12 A, +4 Notes: Conn Smythe winner. Clutch performer. Probably will be overpaid by a cup contender based on those facts. Scottie Upshall Age: 31 Previous contract: 4 years, $14 million 2015 stats: 35 GP, 5 G, 6 A, -3 Notes: Already played for 5 NHL teams. Was the sixth overall pick in the draft in 2002. Put up career best stats in 2014, but still only had 15 goals and 22 points for Florida. Michael Frolik Age: 27 Previous contract: 1 year, $3.3 million 2015 stats: 53 GP, 10 G, 17 A, +3 Notes: Very young for a UFA. Our group of Czech players may make him feel comfortable. Sean Bergenheim Age: 31 Previous contract: 4 years, $11 million 2015 stats: 37 GP, 8 G, 10 A, +1 Notes: Decent depth player, probably not a top 6 guy, though. Will likely be the 7th straight year he's hit double digits in goals, but has never scored more than 17, and never hit 30 points. Mike Santorelli Age: 30 Previous contract: 1 year, $1.5 million 2015 stats: 52 GP, 10 G, 18 A, +7 Notes: Hot commodity on the trade market. Most likely will be a career year for him points-wise, but has never been a consistently good offensive performer. Good shootout performer.

All of those stats still don't change the fact that he's severely underperforming offensively, and no team will take on that contract if the Devils wanted to move him (much like Richards).

Zajac's contract is utterly horrible. Even worse than a guy who was just put of waivers, and no one would touch him: Zajac: 29 years old $5.75 cap hit, owed $37.5 million in salary through 2020-21 16 points in 43 games this year Mike Richards: 29 years old $5.75 cap hit, owed $23 million in salary through 2019-20 15 points in 47 games this year

Didn't go through the entire thread, but it would have been so much better with just the power 6. Have 4 round-robin games in groups of 3, and the bottom two are eliminated. To speak to what Tri said on the first page, I could care less that Anze Kopitar doesn't get to play in a tournament. Especially if it means throwing together a hodge-podge group of Europeans & rounding the field out with a young stars team. So freaking stupid.

http://www.nhlnumbers.com is a decent alternative, but still not as good as capgeek was.