So, we’re sadly faced with the way-too-long summer ahead of us, and with long summers come lots of questions — come on, you weren’t expecting any different with the New Jersey Devils, were you?
QUESTION #1: Who the heck is going to be the next head coach?
Ah, probably one of the biggest mysteries surrounding the boys. I would love to sit here and speculate the possible candidates for the job, but let’s face it, that’ll do nothing. Did anyone really predict Claude Julien would be crowned coach last season? I sure didn’t. Alas, I suppose it could be possible for Johnny Mac to finally take the reigns, but we know better — with Louie Lams and the Devils, there ain’t no thing as a sure thing.
I think at least we can hopefully assume that Lou will not stand behind the bench anymore. Sure, he’s uh, already said it and all, but that aside, he wasn’t really that amazing of a head coach. The idea of it is certainly fun at first, but the novelty wears off. It just won’t work.
QUESTION #2: Will Scott Gomez remain a Devil?
In short, no.
I really am breaking the rule I just imposed not even two paragraphs up the page, but it’s my site, I can do what I want damnit! Ha.
Seriously, though, I cannot for a second see Mr. Gomez donning the Devil black and red for another season. He’ll easily command top dollar, and for Louie Lams to award him would be absolutely ridiculous. I’m sorry, but Gomez was poo this season. He had an above average playoffs, but I still wasn’t happy with his inconsistant defensive play.
He can sure razzle dazzle the heck out of the opposition with his bee-yoo-tee-ful puckhandling skills, but it more or less ends there. The Devils stifle him to an extent, really, and he needs to be on a team where he can feel free to continue puckhandling his butt off and not worry about backchecking. In New Jersey, it won’t fly. He’ll find a team with lots of cap room to spare and more than willing to shell out the dollars on him, that’s for sure.
Go razzle dazzle yourself to LA, Scotty. We’ll miss you if you miss us, okay?
QUESTION #3: What are we going to do about the defense?
In a perfect world, I’d really love to see both Brian Rafalski and Colin White off the team. Unfortunately for me though, this world ain’t close to perfect, so who knows what will happen.
Rafalski is an unrestricted free agent, but Colin White? Not so much. He’s got a nice hefty longterm contract to deal with, and it’s so hard to trade those bad boys away…literally.
I really am just so sick and tired of Mr. Anger Management. It’s one thing to be tough, but it’s another to continually take dumb penalties on a game-to-game basis. He still is quite a promising defender, and yeah yeah, I know that Scott Stevens himself had quite the anger management problem early in his career, but that was then and this is now. There’s little room for error with one of the weakest bluelines in recent memory, so I’d love nothing more than to see Colin White traded for a high draft pick at the Entry Draft, but we all know that’s just a foolish pipedream.
Rafalski, on the other hand, isn’t getting any younger and if this is who we have to be our number one defenseman, then I’m quite sad. He’s not bad by any stretch, not in the least, but I’d really rather use the money for a better source. Unfortunately, yet again, the world is not perfect as the free agent market for defensemen is quite slim, so Rafalski will likely have to do.
QUESTION #4: Backup?
Sure, it’s easy to think the Devils don’t have a backup goaltender, but, well, they actually do. Meet Scott Clemmensen, the NHL’s most underworked player. He gets a fairly decent paycheck for wearing a butt imprint into the bench, but I still feel amazingly bad for him. He’s not that bad! Sure, he really was never going to be a starter anywhere, but I still think he could have been a relatively decent #2 goalie had he actually been giving some playing time. Too late now though. Now he just comes off as a goaltender that will kick your team’s ass…in the AHL.
Clemmensen had to wait until enough cap room could be cleared in order to re-sign with the Devils last summer. He waited and waited, practiced with the team under no insurance policy, and waited some more. Man, he sure sounds dedicated to his team, right?
Wrong. He knew it at the time, as sad as it was, that New Jersey would unfortunately be his only shot at seeing any big league time this past season. No other team would sign him. Poor Scott.
What makes this year different? He’s had no more playing time, and his numbers aren’t all that great either. Oh man. I feel awful for him.
I don’t think the Devils will retain Clemmensen this time around. They have a perfectly capable netminder down on the Baby Devils named Frank Doyle that could easily fill Clemmensen’s role. They also have Jordan Parise waiting in the wings. It almost brings a tear to my eye, oh Clemmy!
It’s my hope that if the Devils do not wish to retain Clemmensen that he will be able to sign somewhere else, but I am highly skeptical. Maybe Phoenix could scoop him up for a two way contract? Who knows.
QUESTION #5: What about the others?
Erik Rasmussen, Sergei Brylin, Jim Dowd, Jay Pandolfo, Mike Rupp, and Brad Lukowich are all unrestricted free agents. Of the list, I’d love for the Devils to retain the latter two. I suspect Brylin will be retained as he should have a team option, but stranger things have happened. Rasmussen has no use on the team and his spot can be easily filled by a David Clarkson or a Rod Pelley, and for Dowd goes the same. Pandolfo will without a damn doubt be re-signed, but Rad Brad might be a bit trickier. I’ve had a love-hate relationship with Mr. Lukowich this season, but overall, I’ve really liked his play. With the pickings not so hot on the market, Lukowich could possibly be tempted away by some relatively decent dollars. I hope not.
I have My opinions on things, but what fan doesn’t, I’m pretty sure that Pando and Maddog were signed at them same time for the same length of time, so they both still have at least 1 season left under contract. I don’t see Pando going anywhere. Brad Luk said that He would love to finish His career as a Devil, so if Lou offers He will take it and stay, Raf also said that He wants to stay and if Lou offers He will stay too, Lou loves Sarge so I can’t see Him going either, That Leaves the 4th liners and Martin that are UFA’s. I have a feeling Martin will be made an offer, but the 4th liners may go to make room for Clarkson and Bergfors ( they wanted to bring Him up last yr but had no space in the roster or in the cap, So one of them will take Gomer’s place then Parise can go back to His place as a natural center, then We can watch Him go coast to coast. Since we are waiting for Lou to make a major shakeup he most likely won’t, You know Lou, Poor Clemmer He is a class act,if He has to go, I would not mind Jordan Parise as a backup I hear that He is pretty good in the pipes.
Oh yeah, I would like to see Burns return as Coach. Parise is restricted this year but He is due for one Hell of a raise, so even though Almo and Magillis will be off of the cap, to keep some of these players,Lou will be cap strapped again so how will He make a major move, and I didn’t include Gomez in there either.
Coach – I’d say Johnny Mac if Lou cant find anyone..
Gomez – He’ll end up being a Devil..
Defense – NO way get rid of Rafalski.. still the best D-man on the team, cant give him the axe for a rough playoffs, can you? Else you would have to ‘axe’ Marty and Elias too.
Backup – Clemmer doesnt have much of a resume, so nobody would really consider signing him unless they are SUPER desperate for a goalie.. i really dont care much for him as he rarely plays =/
Other Signings – Erik Rass: No, Brylin: Yes, Dowd: its possible.. depending on Weimer whose been out with a long term injury, Pando – YES, Lukowich – YES.. (Out of this bunch listed I’d say Pandolfo and Lukowich are the MUST haves.. i really dont think we’ll Erik Rassmussen anymore, as i bet Lou will fill that spot with Cammy J. or Clarkson next season..
~ Those are just my two cents..
Actually Shari, Paul Martin is a REstriced free agent, so it’s either sign him or he files for arbitration. He won’t be signing anywhere else.
Nick, my problem with Rafalski is more or less the fact that on another team, he’d be more of a two or three and he’s something like 34 years old. It worries me. A lot of Devils had awful post seasons, so no, I cannot fault Rafalski for that, but he’s had some bad stretches this seasosn coupled with amazing play. I’d rather him NOT be our #1 D, but with the market that’s out there, he’ll make do.
He’s still a wonderful defenseman, don’t get me wrong.
Speaking of Rafalski, Andy Greene reminds me of a young-Rafalski.. hes got the great offensive stick (which NJ NEEDS on the PP) and hes been above decency on defense.. Kinda off topic but i just thought of it
Oh I love Andy Greene. That’s why I do feel comfortable in saying that Rafalski would somewhat be expendable. I think he will be a fine defenseman with this club.
It’s just the rest of the blueline I worry about…
If the Devils actually part ways with both Gomez and Rafalski that could free up some money but there are a lot of directions this team could go. I just hope Lou knows now that he needs to make sure Marty doesn’t play 78 games ever again. The offseason will not be dull…and the kool aid will be chilled.
Nick, Patricia… The season ticket holders from Section 208 have discussed this matter and we all agree. Until Oduya had his mental meltdown during the TB series, Rafalski was the Devils’ biggest consistent liability on defense all season. Yes, he had some nice offensive numbers. But his passes are careless and sloppy and he is far too casual on the puck in his own end. The number of times he coughed up the puck right in front of Brodeur outweighs his offensive contribution.
This is not to say he couldn’t be valuable and productive with some “tough love” from a hard-assed Pat Burns’ type head coach, but at 34 years old, should he really need that kind of TLC? I say no. He’s a crappy defenseman with a good shot from the point. The league is filled with them. He is easily replacable.
Andy Greene was awesome all season. He has the ability to shoot from the point without Rafalski’s defensive zone boneheadedness.
Gomez has been a big part of the success of the team and I would love it if Lou could make him stay. Unfortunately, Gomer’s looking for a big raise and he wasn’t worth what we paid him this year.
Basically, Gomez is a malcontent who thinks far too highly of his own self-worth. He will price himself out of any chance to play for a contender, because the cap hit he will bring to any team will preclude them from amassing enough talent to contend.
However, there are enough teams out there with more cap room than brains for Gomer to get what he wants. He turned enough heads during the playoffs to command $6-7MM per year from some stupid GM who thinks he’ll play like that all year. But Gomer should be careful what he wishes for. Bobby Holik could tell him what life is like on a crappy team when you chase the dollars to Losertown.
Frankly, I won’t shed a tear if both of them go. I’m actually rooting for Rafalski to pack his bags. He sucks.
well it’s more than obvious we’re in a predic this upcoming season. I agree gomes should be gone if he’s gonna make that much for puck handling (On most days patty can do the same and then score). I feel like that last game really represented that money hungry picture you made casue all of the sudden gomez wants to score some goals, well thanks for your late performance. On D we really need to get somebady big, someone that will actually replace stevens por neidermeier cause as of right now that lack of D killed us against ottawa (not to say that we were all great @offense that series or anything). And yes, Johnny Mac NEEDS to be coach next year. if lou doesnt make that move he is, well hes lou.
J Dunn,
I don’t think it’s going to be Johnny Mac next year. If Lou was looking at the same team we were all looking at, what killed us was a lack of discipline in our own end – exactly opposite of what is considered around the league to be “Devils’ hockey”.
John Maclean is a good coach, but he’s a player’s coach. He’s too friendly with the players because he is too close to the time when he was a player himself. Discipline requires accountability and the feeling of accountability requires that the boss is not your buddy.
Pat Burns instilled that in the 2003 club. The club lost that accountability in 2004 under Robinson (Robinson won it all in 2000 for two reasons – 1) He came in at the end of the season and 2) Stevens acted as his “Seargent at Arms” and required accountability from the rest of the team).
For these reasons, and because we don’t have a personality like Stevens keeping the players in line on the ice, John MacLean must NOT be head coach next season. It would be a disaster. The only ay it would work is if Lou picked up a veteran, hard, pipe-hittin’, take no crap defenseman or defensive forward and immediately stripped Patty of the “C” and gave it to him. Someone who would immediately garner respect.
Throughout the league I can only think of a couple of guys who would fill that role and I don’t think any of them are available. So….
John MacLean must not be allowed to be head coach next year.
IMHO.
true i feel you on that point. if that’s the case then who would we pick up though? who is devil material (defensivewise) for next year? isn’t ozolinsch available? or poti i think. @least we’re not in the islanders position. they were finally starting to make something happen this year and all of their good players are gonna be up for free agency.
Sandis Ozolinsch?!?!?!?!?
Are you kidding? Not only does he have off-ice character issues (drinking), but he single handedly assisted the Devils in sweeping the Rangers in the first round last year. He abandons the point at will and pinches in when he’s got no cover, giving up odd-man rushes seemingly on every power play. He makes Rafalski look like Niedermeyer in comparison.
But the question is who??? That is a question. Because, while there is a nice selection of UFA’s out there, how many can be enticed to move and will we have the capital to pay them? Good questions all…
I think we need to replace Gomer and Rafalski off the bat. We will have about $9MM to do that, losing their cap hits. Among those available are “Hockey God” Drury and Daniel “Mighty-mite” Briere, neither of whom I see leaving Buffalo. Anything is possible, but I doubt it.
Robert Lang is a big banger and has been known to have a hot hand at times and he is unrestricted in Detroit. He’d bring some needed physicality to the team, though he’s never been much of a leader.
Wayne Primeau is unrestricted and I’ve always like his game, even though he’s never had the numbers. But he’s 6-4, 230. After getting physically man-handled by Ottawa in the last series, I’d like to have 6-4, 230 in my lineup.
But the big ticket item and the biggest wild card on the forward side is Ryan Smyth. Will he stay on the Island? Will he go back to Edmonton? I don’t see him returning to Edmonton after the way they treated him. I don’t know what the Isle’s cap situation is. I sure would like to see Smyth on a line with Elias and Gio.
On the defensive side there are some interesting free agents. Some could be good offensive D-men to replace Rafalski, others could provide some needed muscle. Teppo Numminen is an UFA. Glen Wesley is too. Tom Preissing out of Ottawa is unrestricted and he killed our best line all series. Matheiu Schneider in Detroit is unrestricted. So is Craig Rivet in San Jose, who might be a good short term fit.
Tom Poti is unrestricted, and he’s a good D-man, but his play has never really inspired fear in me. I’d propbably look at some of the others before I looked at him.
Also, who knows how many holes we’ll have to fill? Lukowich is making noise like he’d like to stay and I think the fans would like to keep him, but he’s unrestricted. Will Matvichuk be back? He was great for us in the playoffs, but will his body hold up over the course of a full season? How long will we be willing to let that oaf Colin White take dumb-assed penalties at the worst possible times before we ship his dumb ass to Lowell? Our entire crash line may be gone next season. I’d like to keep Jimmy “Pride of Brick” Dowd, but I sense I’m in the minority on that score.
There are good pickups to be had all over the place this offseason, but until our own roster starts shaking out, we won’t have any idea who we’ll have to replace.
What about a backup goalie???
We desparately need a keeper who can take 25-30 starts off of Marty’s overworked shoulders. It’d be nice to have a fresh and rested Brodeur in the pipes when the playoffs started, no?
This is a goalie who will need to be able to win at least 15 of 30 starts. So it has to be a good goalie. Problem is, most good goalies don’t want to be second banana to a legend. They want to be “The Guy”. Martin Biron had this issue in Buffalo. He is a great goalie, but he got outplayed and wound up on the bench. He’s now happy and starting in Philly.
So, what about Robert Eshe? It isn’t a perfect situation for him, coming in as a backup when he used to start, but he didn’t really shine as a starter, except for one playoff season when he got to the conference finals. Eshe is unrestricted and the Flyers don’t want him anymore. He’d at least be valuable in several of the 8 games we play against the Flyers next year. Spite can be a powerful motivator.
Oh, and we also need a head coach with the cajones to tell Marty to sit his ass down 30 games per year. No one wants to be the guy to tell a legend to sit, but if we want Marty to be Marty ’til he’s 40 – or longer – we can’t keep riding him like a pack mule.
Marty’s enough of a competitor that he wants to be in the pipes every night. We need him to be a smart competitor and save it for when it matters most.
Johnny Mac, once again, ain’t that guy.
Sandis Ozolinsch?!?!?!?!?……uh yeah. You’re talking about him on the friggin Rangers? Since when were the rangers disciplined @ all? Coaching comes second over there and acquiring old (though great) talent always first. The rangers are just horrible and that’s not a very good way to represent Ozolinsch. What about San Jose? Colorado?? The only time the ducks have gone to the Stanley cup??? How many times has he led the leagues D in points? how many times has he won division titles on different teams? I wouldn’t look past Ozzy especially if he’s gonna be a lil cheaper. And as far as the drinking, I’d go talk to Daneyko about that.
Hey, don’t get me wrong. Sandis Ozolinsch is still on the Christmas card list because of his play in the Rangers/Devils series last year. I feel like I owe him a cut of my winnings (given his current situation, he’d probably take it). I just don’t want him on my team. He may have had an up-side at one point in his career, but that has long since passed him by.
Remember when we brought Lukowich in from the Isles? He was well respected when we picked him up. No superstar, but a stand up guy and a solid defenseman.
He sucked monkey ass for almost his entire first year because he couldn’t figure out the system. He’s competent now, but it took a full season to get him there.
Now, if I’m going to invest a year or more into remolding a defenseman into a Devils defenseman, it isn’t going to be a fossil like Ozolinsch.
If you want a veteran, you’ll have to look to teams that play a similar system so the transition isn’t so harsh. That will get him up to speed quicker. If you get a d-man from a run and gun team like the Rangers or the Thrashers or the Lightning, he’d better be young enough to be worth the investment of time and $$$.
Preissing and Wesley and Numminen are all young enough and talented enough to be worth it, and Wesley plays in Carolina, which plays the same basic defensive scheme we do. Preissing also has the size and the speed to be an immediate benefit. Schneider would require work, but has a better offensive upside, in my mind, than Ozolinsch does.
And we haven’t even discussed Sheldon Souray. We all know how much Lou loves re-treds.
i do agree w/you dick. Smythe and/or Esche would be great additions to NJ right now. but if we were gonna pay Smythe then why not instead attempt to pick up Kariya or im dead serious- Sykora. I would love to see Sykora back w/Elias. but if lou is concentrating on defense we could also try and grab timonen. I and everyone else would love to see us pick up Briere but i dont see that happening, that’s kinda like us getting Selanne.
i would also like to see us grab tom preissing. i think he would mold good like you say.
You’re right, Briere won’t be leaving Buffalo. We’d have a better chance at Drury, and we have no chance at him. If Buffalo winds up in cap trouble, they may have to sacrifice one of them, but either way we would lose a bidding war to someone else for either of them. Timmonen would be another good pickup and yes, he is unrestricted.
I just think that the guys in Buffalo are more interested in staying together to win a Cup than jumping ship, even if it means moving to another contender. Maybe I’m wrong.
The reason Paul Kariya wasn’t on my list is because he’s a winger. And he’s small. We have enough small wingers on our team that get beat up in the playoffs. I’m not sure how happy any hockey player can be when they are playing in Nashville, but apparently their successes this year gave them some buzz around town.
We’d be better off with a bigger, fast, physical natural center if we are to replace Gomer. That’s why I’m wishing so hard for Ryan Smyth or Robert Lang. Between the two I’d take Smyth by a mile. He has a motor that won’t quit and he’s a natural leader. But Lang is a big guy and he plays big. He has more offensive upside than Gomer and he’s more physical on the boards. Either one would be a big upgrade in the Center position on our top line. Drury would be a pipe dream.
Wayne Primeau would be an interesting pickup. I see him as an even swap with Gomer talent-wise. He isn’t as fast as Gomez and perhaps doesn’t handle to puck quite as well, but he is bigger and more physical than Gomez and that will help take some heat off of Patty and Gio.
Petr Sykora…. *sigh* He was great for us. I just think he’s too old to invest in. Maybe if we could pick him up cheap we could use him to replace Rupp or Rassmussen’s roster spot, but then what line do you put him on? He’s not a top line player anymore. Our second line is pretty well set (if Zajak comes around). I guess he could split time with Brylin on the Madden line, but I wouldn’t want to get rid of a Brylin for a Sykora. I don’t see the advantage in that. And he’s not a crash guy.
I just don’t see a place for him.
Just the fun in all the speculating already. Sykora, I wouldn’t give the right time of day to come back. Clarkson will likely replace Rasmussen.
As for Kariya….we already have enough “smurfs”…we need some crash line like bangers. Now sadly, we can’t clone the old crash line…but at the very least get some guys with a little speed and a lot of physicality. Timmonen would be an interesting choice here but he disappears for long stretches….and that may be something to be wary of.
I think Buffalo will find a way to keep Briere and Drury…especially if the series with Ottawa ends like I think it will now. They will be so angry…coming that close two years in a row…that the Sabres front office will find a way….to fit under the cap.
I can’t see picking up Esche…he is too much of a bipolar headcase. We need stability for a backup..an able backup that won’t complain…hard to find I know. This one may come out of left field..but how about taking a shot at Manny Fernandez…yes he’s a bit old…but it may be worth it. There were rumors of him heading to the Panthers…but maybe we could acquire him. It just depends on how the Backstrom situations pans out for the Wild. All in all, this will be a nice offseason to sit around and discuss all the latest.