Devils still searching for identity as it enters All-Star Break

Say what you want about how much better this Devils team is now compared to last season, it still has a long way to go. The team is entering the break on 3 game losing streak and only picking up one point in the process with a shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres and even sometimes showing signs that merited their play last season. Yes, their mentality has been a lot better this season as they have been to overcome deficits in most of their games, but they still have been having trouble with secondary scoring despite having a balance of goals from their top 7 forwards.

Kovalchuk has the team lead with 19 goals, Clarkson with 16, Elias with 18, Zubrus with 12, Parise with 15, Henrique with 13 and Sykora with 12. They did acquire forward Alexei Ponikarovsky from Carolina, to try and get their bottom 5 forwards going. Jacob Josefson is back from his shoulder injury and should improve the offense a bit and Zajac, who returned in December from an Achilles injury and later suffered a small setback is close to returning as well. This should position the Devils very well for a good stretch run, but they will have to do without their best shutdown defenseman for about another 2 months. Though Andy Greene is close to returning from a broken foot, Henrik Tallinder will be out with a blood clot in his left leg.

The Devils are expected to pursue help on defense at the Trade Deadline if their current group continues to struggle. Kurtis Foster has not really lived up to his expectations as his defensive game has struggled and Matt Taormina has been better than last season, but his size continues to be a question. Mark Fayne has been up and down. Adam Larsson has proven he can play at this level, but he has experienced growing pains. The Devils best defensemen have been Bryce Salvador and Anton Volchenkov. Tallinder has been good when healthy as well and when Greene returns, they will have accrued a lot of depth in that position, but will definitely look to strengthen that position. Foster and Taormina are likely the odd-men out when Greene and Tallinder are both healthy. Expect Foster to get dealt to get more playing time elsewhere and chances are, the Devils could use Fayne as a trade chip for a top 4 defenseman.

Many questions still surround the Devils, nothing bigger than the Zach Parise situation. The Devils are highly unlikely to trade Parise at the trade deadline regardless of their play, but his possible return value could be huge. Teams like the Leafs, Habs, Sabres, Sharks, Kings and Wild will gauge very high interest in Parise at the deadline and in Free Agency should he hit July 1st unsigned. I expect the Devils to try and sign Parise to an extension as we get close to February 27th, the NHL trade deadline, but no talks have started yet, but I expect them to do so at about the 2 week mark.

Another question is will the Devils finally be able to match-up and beat the NHL's elite teams in the Rangers, Bruins and Flyers in the East and Red Wings, Hawks and Canucks in the West? They have the Rangers this Tuesday for their 1st game after the break, so it should be good medicine for the team entering the break on a 3 game win-less streak.