Comprehensive Free Agent Signing Thread

[njdevil26]

Zubrus will always be viewed by some as the guy who replaced Gomez; he could never fill those skates as that wasn't his game. As such, for some his value will never be recognized as they are looking for him to do things he can't do.

Exactly, thank you for that. Sometimes I feel I'm the only Zubrus fan around here.

[Triumph]

Thanks for the insight Tri... This is why I don't often offer trade proposals lol.

nah i mean i kind of came on strong there, but i'm really tired of everyone killing zubrus and zubrus's contract on this board (and over at TG's blog). is it bad? yes. but there are no alternatives. and there were few alternatives when we signed zubrus - lou's not stupid, he saw that we don't have any centers in the organization besides zajac when he inked dainius to that 6 year deal. what we're seeing is the real weakness of the 1999, 2001, and 2002 drafts manifest themselves in the unrestricted free agent market (as well as on the devils team itself) - there's a lot of excellent young players in the league, but there aren't a lot of excellent players who are around 27-28 years old who would be unrestricted free agents, and for the most part teams are locking players like that up long-term before they get to free agency. it's just as ugly, if not worse, next season, with nash already gone, and pronger soon to follow. hopefully lou gets paul martin locked up too.

Edited July 7, 2009 by Triumph

[overtime98]

Zubrus will always be viewed by some as the guy who replaced Gomez; he could never fill those skates as that wasn't his game. As such, for some his value will never be recognized as they are looking for him to do things he can't do.

thats another good point.

[MadDog2020]

nah i mean i kind of came on strong there, but i'm really tired of everyone killing zubrus and zubrus's contract on this board (and over at TG's blog). is it bad? yes. but there are no alternatives. and there were few alternatives when we signed zubrus - lou's not stupid, he saw that we don't have any centers in the organization besides zajac when he inked dainius to that 6 year deal. what we're seeing is the real weakness of the 1999, 2001, and 2002 drafts manifest themselves in the unrestricted free agent market (as well as on the devils team itself) - there's a lot of excellent young players in the league, but there aren't a lot of excellent players who are around 27-28 years old who would be unrestricted free agents, and for the most part teams are locking players like that up long-term before they get to free agency. it's just as ugly, if not worse, next season, with nash already gone, and pronger soon to follow. hopefully lou gets paul martin locked up too.

Yeah, I hope he can lock up Martin before he can hit the market... you know some team will overpay for him big-time, and of all the players on this roster, Martin is the least replaceable besides Zajac and Parise.

[CADevilsFan]

Holy CRAP I hope Jamie doesn't read this thread haha... anyways:

Parise-Zajac-Langenbrunner

Elias-Zubrus-Clarkson

Bergfors-Rolston-Clarkson

Leblond-Pikkarainen-Halischuk

With Pandolfo and Pelley rotating in.

You really want to double shift Clarkson after forgetting him the first time?

[njdevil26]

You really want to double shift Clarkson after forgetting him the first time?

So Jamie can see him on the ice more, yeah.

Jesus Christ what's wrong with me today.

[devilsrule33]

I just hate seeing people continue to give Zubrus a really hard time. He's a good player. His contract isn't really that bad considering how inflated contracts are becoming. Yeah he isn't the replacement for Gomez we hoped he'd be. But he's a player I'm very happy to have on the Devils. If he can stay consistent, he and Elias played real well together.

Forget about the contract. Zubrus has been the most infuriating Devils player to watch since Kozlov. I said all year he was Kozlov 2.0 and I'll stand by it until I see differently. He just has very little hockey sense. His decision making skills are awful. I cringed watching him ruin so many potential scoring chances with Gionta and Elias. When he has a shot on goal he loves to loop around the net endlessly. This man does not like to shoot the puck for some reason. He'd rather just skate and skate.

When you play with Elias and Gionta all year, you have to get more than 40 points. Zubrus also has 0 goals and 2 measly secondary assists in 15 playoff games with the team. That is just unacceptable. 2 secondary assists in 15 games. He has also gone 30 playoff games without scoring a goal going back to 2003.

What about the constant penalties. He is a very undisciplined player. He had penalties in 5 of the 7 playoff games. I could break down his awful second half of the year but some people will say I am cherry picking.

There is a lot to be frustrated with when it comes to Zubrus.

[Devils Pride 26]

To answer a question from before, teams can go over the cap 10% in the offseason. They must cut down before the season starts.

Another thing I want to say is, if we trade for Kaberle I would say there is a 75% chance Clarkson is in the trade. Burke is smart and he's not going to trade for crap. Clarkson is the kind of player Burke loves and is our only quality trade chip. I don't want to see Clarkson go, but if it means getting Kaberle, I'd do it.

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

Holy CRAP I hope Jamie doesn't read this thread haha... anyways:

Parise-Zajac-Langenbrunner

Elias-Zubrus-Clarkson

Bergfors-Rolston-Clarkson

Leblond-Pikkarainen-Halischuk

With Pandolfo and Pelley rotating in.

Pikkarainen is a winger so Pelley should really replace him there ,Bergfors is a right wing and IMO Rolston is a waste of a player at centre and should be put on the right wing (but untill we add another center we will have to make do).

Parise-Zajac- Langs

Elias-Rolston-Bergfors

Pando - Zubrus- Clarkson

Leblond-Pelley-Pikkarainen

Basically if we want 4 soilid lines we are going to have to make some signings for depth.

I really dont want to see Halischk on the Devils next year , and would much rather him develop in lowell for one more year, since he missed most of it with that injury.

[NJDevs4978]

Forget about the contract. Zubrus has been the most infuriating Devils player to watch since Kozlov. I said all year he was Kozlov 2.0 and I'll stand by it until I see differently. He just has very little hockey sense. His decision making skills are awful. I cringed watching him ruin so many potential scoring chances with Gionta and Elias. When he has a shot on goal he loves to loop around the net endlessly. This man does not like to shoot the puck for some reason. He'd rather just skate and skate.

When you play with Elias and Gionta all year, you have to get more than 40 points. Zubrus also has 0 goals and 2 measly secondary assists in 15 playoff games with the team. That is just unacceptable. 2 secondary assists in 15 games. He has also gone 30 playoff games without scoring a goal going back to 2003.

What about the constant penalties. He is a very undisciplined player. He had penalties in 5 of the 7 playoff games. I could break down his awful second half of the year but some people will say I am cherry picking.

There is a lot to be frustrated with when it comes to Zubrus.

More or less I agree...I do think Zubrus could be a good third-line forward if you don't expect too much scoring from him but he doesn't belong on the top two lines, he just doesn't add nearly enough offensively, not with a measly 40 points a season with us (and every other year without Ovechkin pumping up his numbers) and I really don't get the board's lovefest with him. Especially when Gionta got nothing but crapped on for the last three years and his numbers are still much better than Zubrus's, and he's just as good if not better defensively.

Problem is because of the contract and out of neccesity he's played on the top two lines the majority of the last two seasons, and that makes his deficiencies stand out more.

Edited July 7, 2009 by Hasan4978

[Devil Dan 56]

Im also excited about Frazee backing up Brodeur. He is ready, IMO. Good goaltender.

The only problem I have with Frazee as the back-up for Marty is it leaves nothing in the minors. Frazee has the talent and tools to be a good goalie, but the problems he had in college were mental. I'd hate to have a guy with a fragile psyche backing up so soon after a bad year (2007-08). I'd like the Devils to sign someone (Dubielwicz, Weekes, MacDonald, Danis, Johnson are all on the market) to have Frazee compete against in training camp, and also to use as a fallback if the unthinkable happens... again. If Frazee outplays that person, he gets the job. If not, he gets one more year in the AHL.

It would be good for Frazee to be the definitive number 1 in the AHL for a year and see how he handles it.

[SC Devs Fan]

The problem I have with Frazee is he sits for 70 games that he could be playing in the minors. The spot on the bench behind Marty leaves little room for growth.

[MadDog2020]

The only problem I have with Frazee as the back-up for Marty is it leaves nothing in the minors. Frazee has the talent and tools to be a good goalie, but the problems he had in college were mental. I'd hate to have a guy with a fragile psyche backing up so soon after a bad year (2007-08). I'd like the Devils to sign someone (Dubielwicz, Weekes, MacDonald, Danis, Johnson are all on the market) to have Frazee compete against in training camp, and also to use as a fallback if the unthinkable happens... again. If Frazee outplays that person, he gets the job. If not, he gets one more year in the AHL.

It would be good for Frazee to be the definitive number 1 in the AHL for a year and see how he handles it.

+1.

[95Crash]

What's going on with Weekes?

[Satans Hockey]

Forget about the contract. Zubrus has been the most infuriating Devils player to watch since Kozlov. I said all year he was Kozlov 2.0 and I'll stand by it until I see differently. He just has very little hockey sense. His decision making skills are awful. I cringed watching him ruin so many potential scoring chances with Gionta and Elias. When he has a shot on goal he loves to loop around the net endlessly. This man does not like to shoot the puck for some reason. He'd rather just skate and skate.

When you play with Elias and Gionta all year, you have to get more than 40 points. Zubrus also has 0 goals and 2 measly secondary assists in 15 playoff games with the team. That is just unacceptable. 2 secondary assists in 15 games. He has also gone 30 playoff games without scoring a goal going back to 2003.

What about the constant penalties. He is a very undisciplined player. He had penalties in 5 of the 7 playoff games. I could break down his awful second half of the year but some people will say I am cherry picking.

There is a lot to be frustrated with when it comes to Zubrus.

Bingo. At least Kozlov was good in the shootouts. I'd like to just waive Zubrus and get rid of him. Addition by subtraction.

[Triumph]

More or less I agree...I do think Zubrus could be a good third-line forward if you don't expect too much scoring from him but he doesn't belong on the top two lines, he just doesn't add nearly enough offensively, not with a measly 40 points a season with us (and every other year without Ovechkin pumping up his numbers) and I really don't get the board's lovefest with him.

could've fooled me about the lovefest, i hear him as the worst contract, the sign that lou has lost it, etc. all the time. zubrus has 40 points in part because he's put with a disaster of a 2nd PP unit where he was the best offensive player but totally unsuited to the job he was asked to do. i think he will have a higher points per game than he did last season (if he plays with elias). he definitely lost his confidence and played rotten for the 2nd half and was a disaster in the first 4 games of the playoffs. i do think that sutter yanked both him and rolston around, though.

Especially when Gionta got nothing but crapped on for the last three years and his numbers are still much better than Zubrus's, and he's just as good if not better defensively.

could have fooled me about gionta being crapped on, too. i heard a lot of people wanting him back even when that was totally unfeasible.

[LucifersDog]

Forget about the contract. Zubrus has been the most infuriating Devils player to watch since Kozlov. I said all year he was Kozlov 2.0 and I'll stand by it until I see differently. He just has very little hockey sense. His decision making skills are awful. I cringed watching him ruin so many potential scoring chances with Gionta and Elias. When he has a shot on goal he loves to loop around the net endlessly. This man does not like to shoot the puck for some reason. He'd rather just skate and skate.

When you play with Elias and Gionta all year, you have to get more than 40 points. Zubrus also has 0 goals and 2 measly secondary assists in 15 playoff games with the team. That is just unacceptable. 2 secondary assists in 15 games. He has also gone 30 playoff games without scoring a goal going back to 2003.

What about the constant penalties. He is a very undisciplined player. He had penalties in 5 of the 7 playoff games. I could break down his awful second half of the year but some people will say I am cherry picking.

There is a lot to be frustrated with when it comes to Zubrus.

More or less I agree...I do think Zubrus could be a good third-line forward if you don't expect too much scoring from him but he doesn't belong on the top two lines, he just doesn't add nearly enough offensively, not with a measly 40 points a season with us (and every other year without Ovechkin pumping up his numbers) and I really don't get the board's lovefest with him. Especially when Gionta got nothing but crapped on for the last three years and his numbers are still much better than Zubrus's, and he's just as good if not better defensively.

Problem is because of the contract and out of neccesity he's played on the top two lines the majority of the last two seasons, and that makes his deficiencies stand out more.

These posts said it all regarding Zubrus. No one expected him to replace Gomez when Lou signed him but for the price that Lou signed him and the length of the contract I expected more from him than he has shown. He is not a 1st or 2nd line center and I question if he is a 3rd line center because of his faults. He is terrible in the playoffs...absolutely stinks. The Devils have tried to force him into lines that he can't keep up with. Bring on the kids as centers for line 1, 2 & 3 and put ZuBUST on the 4th line. Get rid of him as soon as one can.

[95Crash]

crash: i don't think it is, but the cap is basically the same as last year so the figure stays the same.

Thanks.

What's going on with Weekes?

Nevermind, I just saw this in TG's blog: "If I had to guess, I'd say that the Devils will probably sign a veteran backup -- likely Kevin Weekes -- to a one-year deal and Frazee will play in Lowell again. That's just a guess by me, though."

[MantaRay]

Forget about the contract. Zubrus has been the most infuriating Devils player to watch since Kozlov. I said all year he was Kozlov 2.0 and I'll stand by it until I see differently. He just has very little hockey sense. His decision making skills are awful. I cringed watching him ruin so many potential scoring chances with Gionta and Elias. When he has a shot on goal he loves to loop around the net endlessly. This man does not like to shoot the puck for some reason. He'd rather just skate and skate.

When you play with Elias and Gionta all year, you have to get more than 40 points. Zubrus also has 0 goals and 2 measly secondary assists in 15 playoff games with the team. That is just unacceptable. 2 secondary assists in 15 games. He has also gone 30 playoff games without scoring a goal going back to 2003.

What about the constant penalties. He is a very undisciplined player. He had penalties in 5 of the 7 playoff games. I could break down his awful second half of the year but some people will say I am cherry picking.

There is a lot to be frustrated with when it comes to Zubrus.

Oh this we can agree. Zubrus should have won the Selke for the way he shut down Elias and Gionta last year.

[LucifersDog]

Oh this we can agree. Zubrus should have won the Selke for the way he shut down Elias and Gionta last year.

That's sad and true but funny. I vote Selke for ZuBUST.

[JesterDevil]

Zubrus should have won the Selke for the way he shut down Elias and Gionta last year.

Hah. I nominate this for post of the summer.

[sundstrom]

Oh this we can agree. Zubrus should have won the Selke for the way he shut down Elias and Gionta last year.

Elias 3rd best season as a pro points wise.

Gionta 2nd best season as a pro points wise.

don't let the facts get in the way of the joke though.

[Devils Pride 26]

I think that has to do with Elias playing like it was 2001 again more than anything else, sundstrom. It's funny, both times Elias has played with a legit center during his career here the lines were the best scoring lines in franchise history. (A-line, EGG line)

[Triumph]

todd marchant re-signs in anaheim, so cross one potential devil off the list. 2 year deal, no terms yet.

[devilsrule33]

Elias 3rd best season as a pro points wise.

Gionta 2nd best season as a pro points wise.

don't let the facts get in the way of the joke though.

Let us also keep in mind that Elias had a career high 31 power play points that had nothing to do with Zubrus. Elias barely had any even-strength points in the last part of the season.

As for Gionta, he had his lowest goal total in 5 years. His assist numbers were up, but we both know that Zubrus wasn't finishing any of those passes.