Hope the offseason is a good one for the Devs…they need it.

Starting with Souray, he would be an upgrade purely of size. Did you see how unwilling/outworked the Devs were in the corners during the OTT series? That needs to change and it starts with getting bigger as a team.

I don’t think we’ll get Drury or Briere, but if they both re-sign in BUF, Derek Roy becomes expendable at Center as an RFA, so there’s that.

Tyler Arnason? Please, he’s right behind Keith Tkachuk in the line at KFC.

Last summer I was hoping Madden would get the nod because he is a hard worker but then how many captains in the league are on lines other than the top line?

Truth is, not one really stepped up this past season. So I don’t think the answer is to find a new leader on the ice, I think the answer is to keep the C on Elias and find a coach that can guide, teach, light a fire under his ass and make him become a great leader.

My vote – One of the Pat’s… Burnsy or Quinny…

It’s hard, we were spoiled Scott Stevens — we’re talking about one of the best Captain’s in the history of the sport. It’s a tough role to follow. Sure, Niedermayer WAS a sort of interim Captain while Stevens had the concusssion problems, but that didn’t work out so well either as Niedermayer probably knew in the back of his head that he wasn’t going to be around much longer, which I think plays a role in Lou dangling the Cap’n carrot for Elias when HE was making HIS decision whether to stay or not.

Who could fill the role? Madden? I think it’s possible, but even he had some issues especially during the playoffs fading into mediocrity. It just doesn’t seem like we have that spark of a player who can really take a group of men and get their gears churning when the going gets tough.

In terms of a backup goalie, there’s no one I’d really want as a backstop to Marty, but I do fear that even Marty himself is starting to slow a bit down. He had an incredible season, but he fell apart in the latter portion of the season and his postseason play was inconsistant at best — some games he’d be absolutely wonderful, others he’d be brutal. Barring injury, I do have to believe that fatigue had to have played a factor, especially given the fact that he IS a bit older now. I’d like to see a backup goalie on this team who can at least get in a few more games and give Marty a few more nights off, at least on back-to-back games. I think Clemmensen is certainly capable, but I fear the coaching staff just doesn’t believe in his talent, lord knows Julien didn’t believe in the poor fella.

Clemmensen could easily be retained, but I think it’s up to Lou on this one. Scott knows that his NHL career depends on what the Devils decide — no one else will sign him to an NHL contract, and if he wants to get ANY time in the big league, he prays Louie still wants him around. I don’t think anyone else on on the free agent list is worth it. It’s Doyle or Clemmensen.

The point I was trying to make is that losing 3 core players in 2 years is tough to overcome and Rafalski and Martin, though they’re offensive and talented, are nothing special when going coast to coast (likely a side-effect of relying on Gomez to do it for the last few years). Their breakout passes are decent, though they were off the mark during the playoffs, but the solo run up ice isn’t there unless they develop it more. Maybe it’ll call for a shift whereby the breakout seeks an in-zone pass followed by a run up the ice, but as we’ve seen in the playoffs, this strategy was defended easily by the opposition.