Offseason Situation

[Devilish34]

Question...Does the NHL still allow front/back-loaded contracts?

yes but they average the cap hit out over therm of the contract.

[Triumph]

You must not have Center Ice. You still think a clutching and grabbing team can be a dominant team in the NHL?

My point was that defense still wins in the NHL. That is not going to change. Yes, teams can't clutch and grab - defensemen have learned to play defense without that.

['7']

Balance wins in the NHL, it always has. Defense could take you pretty far in the old NHL, but not in this league.

and remembe Tri, putting a 2nd scoring line on this team is not free, you'd probably have to sacrifice some defense to have done it through trades.

[Tretyak 20]

I hardly think this has been proven in the new NHL since no one has won a Cup yet in the new NHL.

Well, wait about 2 months, then it'll be proven. The fact that new Jersey is the only potentially playoff-bound team still playing an all-defense system combined with the fact the we won't make it past the 1st round if we actually get there pretty much assures it.

Given the team's makeup, pressing for offensive chances makes no sense. If we had the Senators' forwards, we should think about being more offensively oriented - the 2001 Devils certainly did. Like the Senators now, it also turned them into a largely undisciplined team that felt they could win whenever they decided to, which cost them a Stanley Cup. Tampa has also played that way in the past and right now they're struggling with defensive lassitude (as well as poor goaltending).

I'm not asking for the '92 Penguins. I don't think that style works long-term either. The style that will win is a style that plays both offense and defense. If you want to know what I mean, think Herb Brooks' 1980 Olympic team.

I also hardly think you can blame Tampa's problems on their style of play. The problems come from having a coach that makes Victor Tikhonov look like Larry Robinson, and having a GM that lets Khabibulin, Stillman, Cullimore, Lukowich, and Roy go so he can re-sign a do-nothing prima-dona like Lecavalier.

To me it's a simple math equation why the Devils don't press more offensively. Having that extra man in the offensive zone isn't worth the possibility of giving up a 2 on 1 the other way. An opponent is going to score more often on a 2 on 1 than the Devils would score by having 4 men in deep. None of the Devils are particularly good at holding on to the puck, so this makes the problem even more apparent.

When I say they don't press offensively I don't mean playing a 4-1 forecheck pattern. What I mean is that whenever there's a loose puck anywhere near the point, the Devils defenseman automatically surrenders the blue-line and skates to center ice. Even if he has a chance to poke the puck back down low, he doesn't even try. That's not a personnel issue - it's taught! Because of this, the forwards also have to be ready to skate to center at any moment, otherwise the teams risks a 3-on-2 the other way. That means our forwards can't really focus on scoring goals either. The result is a team that must rely on scoring counter-punch goals: and counter-punch goals rely on the other team making mistakes. Which gives a really good opponent an easy way to shut down our scoring.

If you put a 2nd scoring line on this team and leave it playing the same style, I think it's a Cup contender for sure. I can't believe you're saying it doesn't work when we ran off a huge winning streak with Lou as coach, and that was without that 2nd scoring line.

A huge winning streak in January is a long way from a Cup. Marty also played pretty well during that stretch. It is possible for a team like the Devils to go on a long winning streak if they have a top-level goal scorer go on a tear, though. You can even win a Cup on it if the rest on your team (especially goaltending) is good enough. We did basically that in '95, when Claude Lemeuix and Marty basically won us a Cup. The problem is you can't keep doing that year after year, and so in '96 we missed the playoffs entirely. Even if Lemeuix had played that year I hardly think we'd have repeated.

Edited March 25, 2006 by Tretyak 20

[Tretyak 20]

I don't see how the game has changed. If it has, too bad - scoring is way too expensive on the open market for the Devils to build a contender that way. The Senators and Hurricanes haven't done it that way, and neither have most of the successful teams in the league. The Devils don't have a Jason Spezza or an Eric Staal who can put up 85-90 points on an 800K salary, and what you guys are saying is that you need one of those. I don't believe that it takes that kind of player to win in today's NHL.

You couldn't be more wrong here, IMO. Don't see how the game has changed?!?! We could reasonably have nine 50 goal scorers this year. We've already got one. There weren't any in '03-'04, and IIRC there was only one 40 goal scorer. The game has changed so dramatically it's hard to even comprehend it all.

The other place you're wrong is that scoring isn't really going to be that expensive anymore. Sure, a Kovalchuk, Jagr, or Forsberg is going to command top dollar, but 20 and 30-goal scorers should be more reasonable on the market. Why? Because of the salary cap. Teams that have money are going to spend it - either to sign the really top-dollar guys, or to keep existing teams together. They generally won't have the cap room to add multi-million dollar players. The cap will mean fewer bidders during the off-season, which will mean lower prices for 2nd tier players. The days of $3 mill Marty Lapointe's are over. The Devils should be able to acquire at least one solid 2nd line forward, assuming that Mogilny and Malakhov don't count against us.

The Senators absolutely have done it that way (by playing aggressive hockey). They don't play pure defense and wait for 1 or 2 counter-punch goals. I hardly think Carolina does either. And the Devils have a 40-goal scorer making $760k, at least for this year. I certainly don't think you need one of those. I don't think winning in the new NHL will revolve around who has the best rookies/sophomores. What it takes is a team that has real depth and can succeed at both offense and defense.

Edited March 25, 2006 by Tretyak 20

[njdevil26]

well im bored so heres my opinion

stay:

elias

gomez

gionta

langenbrunner

madden

pandolfo

janssen

rassmussen

wiemer

parise

tallackson

rafalski

matvichuck

hale

martin

lukowich

albelin

ryznar

clemmensen

brodeur

GO:

klee- hasnt worked out

WHITE- yeah i said it... why do you think hes always standing around the net with his head down after we get scored on

brylin- just doesnt have it anymore

marshall- we have too many of these guys

kozlov- big oaf that doesnt do much

so lets go out and get a scoring defenseman and a scoring forward... its GOALS that we need to score... maybe we should have went for lub visnovski from the kings... he is leading the entire team in scoring!

[MantaRay]

White will be a Devil for life so scrap that idea.

Marshall isn't going anywhere he is a leader on the team and is a big game player.

Sadly, I can see Patty moving on.

[Voros19]

Agreed on the first two counts, but why do you see Patty leaving? Every possible hint/sign points to him wanting to stay.

Edited March 25, 2006 by Voros19

[Devil Fan]

Defensemen I would love to see assuming Klee and Albelin are gone. So, the first one is Danny Markov of the Preds. I remembered he signed a 3-year deal with the Canes. Then he was traded to Philly, then the lockout came. So this is his final year of his contract. I would love to see him in a Devils uniform and he is great because I was forced to watch leaf hockey all the time.

As up front, I mention the name of Moreau. He is a hard-working forechecker like Marshall who leads by example. However, he is also a good fighter and he should be able to spark the bench. And a scoring forward...um....perhaps Samsonov, Arnott and Sykora (I don't know Arnott's contract status but I'm pretty sure Petr's contract is up after this year) would be great additions. Assuming Langenbrunner, Kozlov, Oliwa and Langdon are gone (hopefully).