While we do not as Devils fans and analysts want to even think about next year's free agent frenzy as the current season has not even happened, we do know that there is a possibility that Zach Parise might leave the team as an unrestricted free agent. Which leads to the question, what might or might not happen if it becomes reality?
While, I do think that the two sides will eventually come to a long-term agreement at some point during the season, because I do expect Lou to negotiate a contract for him while the season is ongoing, there is still that negative possibility. Lou Lamoriello has been known as a GM that loses big name marquee free agent talents to other teams that in some cases are also hated division rivals. But, instead of going out to sign free agents to pluck holes, Lou decided to built through youth and develop his prospects even though they might not have been even ready to play in the NHL. Lamoriello's reputation around the league is not to overpay and hard line negotiations, which scared off a lot of his own players from staying in New Jersey. He has had to deal with a lot of these headaches this past decade.
In Summer 2001 after a devastating Game 7 loss in the Finals to the Colorado Avalanche, the Devils lost Sean O'Donnell to the Boston Bruins and leading goal scorer Alexander Mogilny to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lou Lamoriello only signed veteran defenseman Tommy Albelin to a contract, who was on the tail-end of his career. It seems that ever since that Game 7 loss, the Devils offensive struggles began and continues even to this day. Before that they were a team nobody wanted to play, but after a struggling 2001-2002 campaign which ended in a Round 1 defeat in the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes, the Devils were brought back to Earth.
In Summer 2002, the Devils lost Bobby Holik to the rival Rangers, who overpaid dearly for him. The Devils ended up making a blockbuster trade with the then Anaheim Mighty Ducks, which helped both teams since the Devils defeated the Ducks in the 2003 Finals. They traded Petr Sykora, a member of one of the most popular lines in Devils history to Anaheim for Jeff Friesen and Oleg Tverdovsky. So, in that sense Lou Lamoriello did not sign Free Agents, but improved his team through a trade. Lamoriello is more of a fan of making trades rather than free agency.
In 2003 after winning the cup, the Devils lost Joe Nieuwendyk to the Leafs and chose not to bring back Oleg Tverdovsky, who struggled in his lone season in New Jersey. The Devils did have a major cup hangover only to lose to the Flyers in Round 1 of the 2004 playoffs. 2004 was a pointless offseason as the Devils lost nobody, but did sign defenseman Richard Matvichuk and brought back forward Krzysztof Oliwa. However, there was no season in 2004-2005 due to a lockout.
But, since the lockout, no franchise has endured bigger struggles than the Devils. In 2005, Lamoriello probably lost his biggest core players in Scott Niedermayer to Anaheim. While, Lamoriello offered the biggest contract reportedly, Scott wanted to play with his brother in Anaheim. The Devils were not aggressive in a crazy free agent market, because they had limited cap space and due to Lou's ideology. They signed Malakhov, Rafalski and McGillis along with bringing back Alexander Mogilny. Only Rafalski lasted the whole season as the rest of the three struggled with poor play. The Devils were ousted by Carolina in Round 2 of the playoffs.
In 2006, the Devils lost nobody to free agency as they managed to keep Patrik Elias, but 2007 was probably the huge low turning point for the Devils. Also in 2006-2007 they watched Niedermayer captain the Ducks to the Stanley Cup. They lost both Scott Gomez and Brian Rafalski in Summer 2007 to free agency. Gomez in 2006 went to arbitration with the Devils and won the case and made it known he wanted to be paid like a superstar and went for a 7 year $51.5 million dollar contract with the rival Rangers learning from Bobby Holik. Gomez used Holik as an idol while with Devils. Rafalski took a 5 year $30 million dollar contract from Detroit. He partnered with Nicklas Lidstrom and it was the top defensive pairing in the league and they led the Red Wings to a Stanley Cup. It took Lou two days to recover from the losses and he went against his philosophy and signed Dainius Zubrus and Karel Rachunek, two quality, but not star potential players to pluck those holes. The Devils were shutout 11 times the following year and lost to the Rangers in round 1 in the playoffs.
In 2008, the Devils signed Brian Rolston and brought back Bobby Holik in free agency and lost nobody but Arron Asham. However, they did not get past Round 1 again. In 2009, they lost John Madden and Brian Gionta and did not sign anyone but Rob Niedermayer in September. Madden won the cup with Chicago. In 2010, they were active, but lost another core member in Paul Martin to the rival Penguins. However this summer they signed Parise to a one-year-deal to avoid arbitration and now are working on a long-term deal. However, the CBA states that a new deal cannot be signed until January 1st, so anything could change.
So, now the question is, what will happen should Parise leave the Devils for free agency? Several teams will court Zach come July 1st, 2012 like the Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, both New York Teams in the Rangers and Islanders, the Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks, LA Kings, Montreal Canadiens, and his home state Minnesota Wild. All will be up to Lou should he lose Parise. If he feels that there is somebody in Free Agency worth signing that could help the team, he might push to sign him, but lets keep in mind the CBA expires in September of 2012 and it could lead to some potential free agents to not sign anywhere until a new CBA or Collective Bargaining Agreement is reached. So, the Devils probably used that as the reason to avoid arbitration and only sign a one-year-deal.
If Parise leaves, I think that Lou Lamoriello will see how much salary cap space he has and decide his action, but do not expect him to do much. He will say that he believes in the depth that he has through the prospect system and might give his younger players a chance to prove themselves in bigger situations. Mattias Tedenby might be asked to play in the spot vacated by Parise. But, other than Parise, next years Free Agent Class seems weak, so with Parise likely to be locked-up sometime during the season, it might be a slow frenzy. But, like I said, do not expect Lou to go crazy on the free agent market if Parise is to leave. Expectations will remain the same in New Jersey. Parise is yet to prove himself in the playoffs as he only has proved himself during the regular season.
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