This year the cap went up, but looking at the Devils roster and salary (capgeek.com) they don't have alot of real cap room. So looking at this season's UFA list, who can the Devils really afford to get?
As for the current roster, the three big names that are on everyone's minds and are being talked about are Ilya Kovalchuk, Paul Martin and Mike Mottau. So that's where I will start.
Kovi is gone. Simple as that. The Devils don't need him. They have Parise and Elias to lead the team in scoring, especially if they are on seperate line, which with the addition of Arnott I see that happening. Kovi only came to NJ as a rental to make a playoff run, which didn't work at all. It was nice to see him in red and white in April when I was at The Rock, but he just doesn't belong on this roster. I'll be shocked if Lou pays him.
As for Paul Martin, I'd say move on. I honestly don't think he's that great of a player. He's a 2nd line defenseman at best. The only reason he got the playing time and spot he got was because they didn't have anyone else after Colin White, and then when White got injured especially, when Scott Niedermayer and Brian Rafalski left as free agents and Scott Stevens and Ken Daneyko retired. I'm sorry but Martin leaving is that a big deal. They played 50 games without him this season. They practically clinched a playoff spot without him. They can play without him. Why spend the money? It doesn't make any sense in my eyes.
As for Mike Mottau, he's a cheap player. I'd say giving him a 1.5 a year contract for a few years, make him your #2 with White and then the rest of the defense go younger.
That brings me to my next point. Youth. The Devils' three Cups were all built on youth. People always seem to forget that. I mean look at the 2000 Cup winner (airing at the NHL Network on August 8th if you want to see it again), Arnott was not a home-grown player but Elias was and still is. The whole 95 team was young players except for a few role players. The facts are there that the franchise is known for having young teams.
One thing that came out a couple of weeks ago that no one is really talking about is the John MacLean, the new Devils coach, lead the Lowell Devils to the playoffs last year. Why is that a big deal? The Devils' AHL team hasn't been relevant since the late 90s. They haven't made the playoffs in over 10 years. Yet Johnny Mac led this team to the playoffs and it didn't even get talked about by Devils fans. That's a major deal. How I look at is that MacLean knows that roster. He knows who is ready to move up to the main roster and I think he knows who he can trust. I have a feeling Lou and him have been talking about this and that's why they brought back Larry Robinson as assistant coach. Sure his experience will help MacLean is his rookie campaign but Robinson can groom and shape the young defensemen coming down from Albany (formerly Lowell) and make them NHL ready. PLUS during training camp they will have plenty of time to make a system and put it in effect and gross the new young players to their system. Everyone knows that it's easier to groom young players in a new system then older experienced players that are set in their ways.
Back to the subject at hand of this year. How I look at things, the team has to get younger. As if they are going to sign anyone in free agency, what they really need is a good second line winger, someone to lead their checking line, especially if Rob Niedermayer leaves and now that Jay Pandolfo is off the team and a good back-up goalie because the living legend is getting older and he can't play 70 games despite what he thinks. (On that note, I hope MacLean has the balls to sit Marty on the second of back-to-backs and against weaker teams that he doesn't have to play against. There are no more records to set, it's time to worry about having a strong goalie for the playoffs and he needs to play less for that to happen.)
Money is always going to be an issue and alot of people are looking at the fact that the cap went up this year as a good thing. But the Devils have to make sure they save some money just in case in the cap goes down next year, so they can afford their top player Zach Parise.
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