Mon 23 Jul 2007
If you’re asking yourself “Jason who?”, you might want to go to your local 7-11 (or Piggly-Wiggly for you Southern fans 
) and pickup a calendar. Go ahead I’ll wait.
Alright, got it? Good, here we go.
With July almost completely in the rearview mirror, GM Lou Lamoriello has been busier than ever this off-season, tweaking and re-tooling his team one mediocre defenseman at a time, with some offensive talent sprinkled here and there. The following months, from August through November will be the most important for the New Jersey Devils.
With training camp & the pre-season debacle taking place in September, August really is the last “official” month of the off-season. Now I’m not expecting Lou to pull out a trade that will be the topic of water-cooler jabber for the next two years, but I do honestly believe the teapot will be whistling sooner than you think. With enough mediocrity on the Devils blueline to film a sequel to Goodburger, you have to feel the trade winds blowing. I’m not even going to attempt a prediction at what Lou is cooking for fear of making myself look dumber than Stimpson J. Cat with a cat-nip hangover.
Once the temperature dips into the cool seventies, the true test begins. Considering the fact that the Devils will open with a franchise-record nine-game road trip, the first two months of the season will be very telling of what type of season it will be, points-wise. If they bomb the road trip, it will be an up-hill battle right from the get-go. If they come out of it with a stellar record, it will speak volumes as to what this team is made of.
Should the season start today, I can’t say I’d be terribly worried about the team that would take the ice October 4th in Tampa. But I do believe there is some room for improvement, especially on the back end. There is just one little piece missing to make this team a true Cup contender, but I can’t put my finger on it. The rest of the summer will be quite interesting as you can bank on seeing a couple of more changes for the team.
And no, I’m not talking about the anticipation of the new jersey design.
July 24th, 2007 at 7:01 am
They’re in need of a solid D, but also need a big name goal scorer. Unless Parise, Gionta and Elias can each put up 30+ goals, I’ll be happy with that. On D, we just need 3 blue liners and 3 offensive defensemen. Need the D to be consistant, but tough. Colin White needs to learn how to use his size more. He’s getting bitch slapped often. And Marty needs to step up his play in the playoffs. We hit those points, I think we’ll be solid.
One good thing about the Devils is, they put together many small components that work well together, rather than one big one. I still think we need a big name, but if everybody chimes, we’ll be solid.
July 24th, 2007 at 9:10 am
I expect a major trade as well. However, Lou must sign Parise and Martin first. Only then will the Devs have a firm grasp of their remaining cap room. I still would explore the availability of Patrick Marleau. He is due 4.5 mil this year and then is unrestricted. SJ wants to give the keys and the “C” to Joe Thor. What do you here about Parise and Martin? Are they going to be signed any time soon?
July 24th, 2007 at 11:19 am
Randy -
As far as Martin and Parise are concerned, I haven’t heard any recent news.
Last I heard, Lou was in Minnesota to meet with them and talk contracts. It was said that Parise was making good progress towards signing a deal, but Martin’s contract talks hadn’t gotten really serious yet.
If any news breaks, you know where to find it
- Joe
July 24th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Amazing what you can do with the best goalie in the league. If Marty holds out, you are covered.
Not altogether that different than your “free-agent-to-the-head” Ranger rivals across the Hudson, Lundquist will be picking up the slack for a lack of D-Men as well. It’s looking like Pittsburgh and Philly will open the season with the strongest on-paper defense in our division. Who knew?
The Dark Ranger
(is that trolling NJDevil?)
July 25th, 2007 at 7:37 am
No its not. But I’ve got to ask, why if you’re a Ranger fan are you involved with Devil posts on a Devils blog?
July 25th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer!
tdr
July 25th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
touche’
July 25th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
Hey just think, if They start to get crappy on D, Lou can just suit up a couple of their Ass’t Coaches to fill in. I wouldn’t mind Albelin back in the uni, I just wonder if Big Bird still has anything left in the tank.