Z-Man Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 http://www.nypost.com/sports/devils/50705.htm July 24, 2005 -- Wasting no time yesterday, Devils GM Lou Lamoriello was on the phone bright and early on the first day he could try to sign unrestricted Norris Trophy holder Scott Niedermayer. Lamoriello has a week before other teams can join the bidding for Niedermayer, who went to arbitration last summer for a $7 million salary that was wiped out by the lockout. Agent Kevin Epp expects Niedermayer to receive some offer for the salary maximum of $7.8 million, and figures Niedermayer won't be inclined to play in New Jersey at much of a discount. "I don't think a discount is what Scott is looking for," Epp said. Niedermayer earned $4 million in 2003-04. He sat out the start of the 2000-01 season without a contract, until Lamoriello relented and coughed up the dough after his Stanley Cup champs struggled. It had been suggested that Niedermayer might prefer to play with brother Rob, and that Rob would become unrestricted if not tendered a qualifying offer of $1.6 million by Anaheim, allowing another team to sign both brothers. It appears, however, that Anaheim is qualifying Rob Niedermayer. Epp says it's unlikely that Niedermayer will sign with New Jersey before the Devils' week of exclusive negotiation is over. "The whole process of last season and going to arbitration was to see what's out there," Epp said. If the Devils were to qualify and retain all their Group 2 free agents, their payroll would stand at some $34 million. LeClair, Amonte bought out The Flyers yesterday bought out the contracts of forwards John LeClair and Tony Amonte. The 36-year-old LeClair spent 10 years in Philadelphia, and was a member of the famed "Legion of Doom" line with Eric Lindros and Mikael Renberg in the mid-1990s. LeClair, who entered the lockout due $9 million in the final year of a five-year contract, was to make $6.84 million after the league-wide 24 percent pay cut. Amonte, who started the lockout at about $5.82 million, was due $4.26 million. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oofrostonoo Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 (edited) That article doesnt sound too good to me. Edited July 24, 2005 by oofrostonoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceThief Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 [That article doesnt sound too good to me.] No it doesn't. If by some miracle, Lou Lams does manage to convince Neids that NJ is where he wants to play, he's still going to lose someone that he doesn't want to lose. Maybe Neids really is that important that in the long run, losing another key talent doesn't exactly matter all that much. It's all on Lou's shoulders and it's Scott's call to make. I don't see him staying, but we'll just have to wait and see. IceThief Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 F Niedermayer. Go for Foote or Zubov. Stevens-Rafalski Martin-White Matvichuck-Zubov That's still an all-star D for less money and Niedermayer can go play for some team that doesn't mind paying 20% of their payroll to one player. Giving one player 20% of the payroll flies in the face of my (and Lou's) philosophy that hockey is a team game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRASHER Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 oh good god NOT Zubov!!! i see what you were trying to say Don, but you didn't spend almost three of the last four years around Dallas Stars fans, and heard all the anti-Zubov crap from down there! (not to mention we're getting too much like them Stars for my liking!!) I'd be way more ok with an Adam Foote signing! Also who knows.. there's gonna be some other quality out there that gets bought out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 Well, all I know about Zubov is what I see on the stats sheet - we don't play them very often and I don't go looking for them on Centre Ice. My point was that there are some good defencemen out there - obviously not as good as Niedermayer, but one man does not make 1/5th of your team. It might be wise to forget negotiating with Greedy and find someone who is more into the team than his own needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevs4978 Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 I don't know if Nieds is a max player anywhere considering his offensive skills are a little overrated being that he's not much of a goalscorer though in all other areas offensively he excels and certainly defensively he does (except he doesn't have Stevens' physicality). But will a 40-point defenseman get $7.8 in this new climate even with what he did last year? If he does good for him, see you around - hopefully on the West Coast. I can't picture Lou offering any more than $5 million for him given there's always been the belief that Marty and/or Stevens has to be the highest paid player (though Lou apparently violated that coda for Holik and the bugger still left ), and I'm pretty sure he will get offers higher than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 Just like Holik was only worth 9 million if he plays like he did in 2001-02, Scott Niedermayer is only worth 7.8 million if he plays as he did from May 2003 to May 2004. He has only managed to play that consistently for one season of his eleven NHL seasons. In light of that, I would not sign him to a long term deal at 7.8 million per. If Scott wants that deal, he can go to a franchise where he's not going to win, because only 03-04 Niedermayer deserves that kind of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevsRule Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 I honestly think Niedermayer deserves a lot of money for the way he carried the team when stevens went down last year. However I don't think Lou will give him that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC Devs Fan Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 He's not looking for a pay cut... interesting. Guess he spent the last 14 months in a bubble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 I honestly think Niedermayer deserves a lot of money for the way he carried the team when stevens went down last year. However I don't think Lou will give him that. Know what the best thing is about the new CBA. No longer do we have to hear the age old "Lou is cheap" mantra we'd hear year after year after year (usually from people who don't go to the games and expect other people to foot the bill, and when they don't they're cheap).... now, even if he HAD a zillion dollars Lou couldn't sign Niedermayer to a max contract. There won't be nearly enough cap space for a max contract. $5.5M would be stretching it. There is $7.8M waiting for him out there. After the Rangers dump Holik and Kasperitis, they'll have $30M in cap space left. Take away $7.8M for Greedy and they have $22M left to sign 22 players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevsRule Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 I think Lou will pursue Nieds more than he did Holik because Nieds is a defensmen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundstrom Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 it's a simple as this. neids won't get a penny more than brodeur. lou will offer him that for 4 years. if he takes it great. if not, he's gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek21 Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 F Niedermayer.Go for Foote or Zubov. Stevens-Rafalski Martin-White Matvichuck-Zubov That's still an all-star D for less money and Niedermayer can go play for some team that doesn't mind paying 20% of their payroll to one player. Giving one player 20% of the payroll flies in the face of my (and Lou's) philosophy that hockey is a team game. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yeah. Screw a Norris winner who has been one of your best players and was an integral part of three Cups in nine years . I don't think it's fair to jump the gun regarding him. How do you really know what Niedermayer wants? Sure, the article didn't sound great. But do you honestly believe someone is going to pay him the max? Even if Boston or Pittsburgh gets involved, I highly doubt they'd want to commit that much salary to one player. I see Niedermayer getting between five and six million a year. Say Stevens takes a paycut (more than likely) and they re-sign Rafalski for 3 million. The Devils would still have a chance to bring back Niedermayer. And if they were able to have the room, your GM could make a pitch by saying if you comeback for this price, our team can take another shot at winning a Cup. I think that's appealing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueNJ97 Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 A Cup would be appealing but he has 3 already. Maybe he just wants to go where they offer him the most money. It's not unheard of - players do it all the time, especially if they have already won multiple times and they don't like the style of play that brought them those wins. I'm not getting my hopes up at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek21 Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 That "style of play" brought him his first Norris and the chance to be in the position he's in. And they're going from a defensive coach to an offensive one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insanity_gallops Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 If the Devils are in the market for a short-term solution on D, I wouldn't be shocked if they gave an offer to Malakhov. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundstrom Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 If the Devils are in the market for a short-term solution on D, I wouldn't be shocked if they gave an offer to Malakhov. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> bite your tongue. i don't think anyone at the arena wants to hear me yelling, "MALAKHOV!!!" at the top of my lungs everytime he makes a mistake (which is one out of three shifts). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insanity_gallops Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 Never said he was a top choice in my book, but he played very solidly for Philadelphia last year, and he's played for Larry before. So it wouldn't be completely unexpected if the Devils made him an offer. I doubt it'll happen, though. Devils' top priority for D is obviously re-signing the Big 3. Should any of that go awry, well, then who knows what Lou's thinking as a backup plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevsRule Posted July 25, 2005 Share Posted July 25, 2005 Could Derian Hatcher be a desperation move if Nieds leaves? Hatcher would help a lot vs teams like Philly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundstrom Posted July 25, 2005 Share Posted July 25, 2005 Could Derian Hatcher be a desperation move if Nieds leaves? Hatcher would help a lot vs teams like Philly. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> i certainly hope not. he's always been a bit of a dirty player. besides, he will still get about $3M from some stupid team that sees him for his name more than as the player he actually is. his mobility (or lack thereof) make him a question mark in the "new NHL." besides, the Devils are well covered for stay at home defensemen such as Hatcher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted July 25, 2005 Share Posted July 25, 2005 After what he did to Sykora? He's been suspended too many times for cheap shots... the man can't follow the rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevsRule Posted July 25, 2005 Share Posted July 25, 2005 besides, the Devils are well covered for stay at home defensemen such as Hatcher. Where are they covered? If they lose a Norris defensmen, who knows how Stevens is, Matvichuk is average. The devils played good vs philly when they had people like Holik and Lemieux who could play up to phillys dirty style. Hatcher IMO can help the devs in that area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redruM Posted July 25, 2005 Share Posted July 25, 2005 it's a simple as this. neids won't get a penny more than brodeur. lou will offer him that for 4 years. if he takes it great. if not, he's gone. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If LL offers Neids a 4 yr deal at the same money that Marty gets I cannot be angry, 7 mil is too much to pay neids in this environment. Iff LL puts his best foot foward and neids walk WTF are we going to do... cannot be mad at LL, and cannot be mad at Neids ( at least i cannot hae has been my fovorite player for too long now). But if Neids leaves... we are screwed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevs4978 Posted July 25, 2005 Share Posted July 25, 2005 (edited) White, Hale and Matvichuk would give the Devils enough stay-at-home D and White and hopefully Hale can provide the physical edge. I'd be more worried about getting a puck moving D-man in here if Nieds leaves. Besides, Hatcher also missed 70 games or so last year and is what, 35, 36? He's just about finished. I'll pass, let Sather or the Laffs overpay for him Edited July 25, 2005 by Hasan4978 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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