How will Devils respond to Rangers acquisition of Rick Nash?

The 2012 off-season for the New Jersey Devils has not been a disaster, but it certainly has not been a pleasant one. Since losing Zach Parise on July 4th to the Minnesota Wild, the Devils have basically stayed quiet for the most part and watched division rivals get better. The Flyers have gotten better on defense and were almost able to snare one of the NHL's best defenseman in Shea Weber when they signed him to a 14 year $110 Million dollar offer sheet, but the Nashville Predators luckily matched the contract. However, the Devils main division rival, the NY Rangers on Monday completed a trade for superstar forward Rick Nash from Columbus for basically a weak package of Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon and a 1st round pick in 2013. 

Now, the question every Devils fan is asking, is how will they respond? Well, as usual Lamoriello will seem unfazed and un-bothered by the moves being made by other teams. While, everyone is still hoping for Lou Lamoriello to sign either a Alex Semin, Shane Doan or a Andrei Kostitsyn, it is still very likely that he will still stick to the plan of looking from within to respond. There is no question, the Devils will have their work cut out for them in the Atlantic Division, but there seems to be no rush for Lou to improve the team at least for now. It is still a very strong possibility that Lou will go out and sign one of the three names mentioned above, but when it will happen or not happen remains a mystery.

Shane Doan seems very unlikely as he is waiting for the Coyotes sale to Greg Jamison to move forward, but if that is not resolved, the Devils have not been in his interested places to sign. Although, I expect Lou to call and gauge interest in Doan, it seems unlikely he has interest in going to New Jersey. The Devils are facing stiff competition from the Penguins, Flyers, Red Wings, Canadiens, Canucks, Sharks and Kings as well as the Coyotes for Doan's services. Doan has stated that his first choice is to remain in Phoenix though, if the team stays there at least for the next 10 years, but that remains to be seen. While, Doan could be the best fit out of three due to his leadership qualities, the Devils will have to probably overpay more than waht other teams would in order to sign Doan. So, as for now its likely between Semin or Kostitsyn ir possibly nothing. 

But, as I have stated all Summer long, it seems lilkely the Devils are going to trade of of their excess defensemen for a forward with the Edmonton Oilers as a strong trade partner due to their large number of young forwards, whom they obviously will struggle to keep most of them in a hard Salary Cap era. But, I expect Lamoriello to do something by the time the season starts assuming something or someone is available, but there should be no panic at all to make a move. It has to be done in a smart and professional matter. 

Devils hire Scott Stevens and Matt Shaw as Assistant Coaches to replace Adam Oates and Larry Robinson, Lamoriello still in no Rush to fill Parise hole

The New Jersey Devils have brought back one of their best Team Captain's in their history, but obviously not as a player. Scott Stevens has been named a full-time Assistant Coach by General Manager Lou Lamoriello. Also brought in as an Assistant Coach is Matt Shaw, who most recently was let go by the San Jose Sharks. Both of them will join a tandem which already includes Dave Barr and Chris Terreri on Head Coach Peter DeBoer's staff, who lost Larry Robinson to San Jose, where Shaw came from and Adam Oates, who became the Head Coach of the Washington Capitals.

Stevens and Dave Barr will be behind the bench with Peter DeBoer on game days/nights, while Matt Shaw and Chris Terreri will watch from above. Stevens will run the defense-men while Shaw will run the Power Play. Barr will continue to coach the Penalty Kill, which was dominant in the regular season this past season. The Sharks had the NHL's 2nd ranked Power Play this past season under Matt Shaw, but ironically former Devils Assistant Larry Robinson came in to replace him in San Jose along with Jim Johnson, who ran the Capitals power play. However, the circumstances might be different for the Devils power play due to the loss of Zach Parise. So, in the early going the man advantage will likely mightily struggle and it will not be Shaw's fault, but it will be his duty to make sure the new chemistry clicks on the power play. The Devils success on the power play will be up to whoever the new personnel will be on it.

Stevens will take over what he call the deepest defensive corps in recent year for the Devils. He will get the responsibility to continue molding Adam Larsson into an elite defenseman in the NHL, which Larry Robinson had the pleasure of doing this past season. The Defense is basically similar to the one that finished this past season, but its much healthier. Henrik Tallinder is coming back from a severe blood clot which shelved him from January until Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Mark Fayne will however miss the 1st month of the season at least with a torn tendon in the wrist. So we shall see how the coaching staff clicks.

As mentioned above Shaw will watch from above, so it will be up to Peter DeBoer to call the Power Play plays during a time-out since Shaw will watch from above. However, there could be situations where you will see Shaw join Barr and Stevens alongside DeBoer on the bench.

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As expected, Lou Lamoriello gave his common response of "Status Quo" when it came to talking about the possibility of signing a Free Agent forward to compensate for the loss of Zach Parise. He has not completely ruled out bringing someone in before the start of training camp and also mentioned that the current CBA uncertainty will have no impact on the way he conducts business much like the Devils financial uncertainty. Lamoriello could be pursuing Free Agents, but he is in no rush to sign someone, but he is claiming that winger Mattias Tedenby is on a tough workout regime at home in Sweden with his Devils teammates  Jacob Josefson, Adam Larsson, Alex Urbom and Herik Tallinder. He will look to him to have a break out season and have a bounce back season from his disappointing sophomore campaign. However, I expect him to sign a free agent, but he will not rush in the process. Question is will Semin, Kostitsyn or a Shane Doan be available. 

Lamoriello in no rush to compensate for loss of Zach Parise

While many Devils fans are still feeling a sense of betrayal and frustration for the loss of Team Captain Zach Parise to his home-state Minnesota Wild for 13 years/$98 Million, there is no rush for General Manager Lou Lamoriello to immediately look to sign someone in order to not replace, but compensate for the loss of Parise. Devils fans have been impatiently waiting and wanting for Lou to sign someone quickly, but Lamoriello will never sign someone just for the sake of signing someone. Top Free Agents remaining are Alexander Semin, Shane Doan, Andrei Kostitsyn, Peter Mueller and Kyle Wellwood. Most Devils fans want Lou to sign Semin, but there have been no indications whether he is close to signing anywhere. Doan;s preference is to remain with the Coyotes if they remain in Phoenix long-term.

But, other than the names mentioned above, there really is no reason for Lou Lamoriello to go outside and sign someone. In fact, the market is pretty weak, so Lamoriello who always prefers the traditional route of going within to replace talent will likely look that way. You can expect the tandem if Ilya Kovalchuk and Travis Zajac to remain together. Question is, who will be there winger? The likelihood is that you could see Elias back at LW on that line. Zubrus will likely play with Henrique and Clarkson and Tedenby will likely play with Josefson and possibly Steve Bernier moving up to the 3rd line. Carter, Gionta and newly signed Kris Barch or Cam Janssen will patrol the 4th line.

But one thing is certain, it is only July 10th, so there is still a long way to go for the Devils and Lou Lamoriello.

But here is there projected depth chart for 2012-2013:

Patrik Elias-Travis Zajac-Ilya Kovalchuk
Dainius Zubrus-Adam Henrique-David Clarkson
Mattias Tedenby-Jacob Josefson-Steve Bernier
Ryan Carter-Stephen Gionta-Cam Janssen/Kris Barch
Steve Zalewski

Andy Greene-Mark Fayne
Henrik Tallinder-Marek Zidlicky
Bryce Salvador-Anton Volchenkov
Peter Harrold-Adam Larsson
Alexander Urbom-Jay Leach
Matthew Corrente

Devils lose Team Captain Zach Parise to his home state Minnesota Wild

The New Jersey Devils have a history of losing big name free agents, but today could be the biggest one of all. Scott Niedermayer was once considered a career Devil, but in Summer 2005, he left to join his brother in Anaheim. Back in 2001, the Devils lost leading scorer Alexander Mogilny to the Maple Leafs. In Summer 2002, they lost Bobby Holik to the rival Rangers, but everyone forgot that quickly since the Devils went on to win the Stanley Cup and in 2007 they lost Scott Gomez to the rival Rangers and Brian Rafalski to the Red Wings. 2009 was not as bad, but they did lose Brian Gionta and John Madden. Today, Team Captain and forward Zach Parise, who was loved by many chose to go home and play for the Minnesota Wild along with his long-time friend and USA Hockey buddy Ryan Suter. Both players signed identical 13 year/$98 million dollar contracts, an annual cap hit of $7.5 Million dollars a year.

Make no mistake about it, the New Jersey Devils and General Manager Lou Lamoriello did everything they could to try and convince him to stay. In fact, Parise said he would not have chosen the Wild had Ryan Suter not come there, so Zach himself enticed Ryan to join him with the Wild. It was rumored the Devils made a significant offer to Parise, but he chose to play in his home state. Obviously this is a very huge loss for the Devils. He is a great fore-checker, can go to the tough to play areas and he created a lethal penalty kill unit with Adam Henrique.

So, now the question is where do the Devils go next? Well today is not a negative on the New Jersey Devils Organization. Obviously they lose a great leader, but as Lou Lamoriello says, this locker room is made up fo leaders. It will create an opportunity for someone to step in and play a bigger role on the team. Most notbaly Left Wing Mattias Tedenby, the Devils 2008 1st round pick who is a small guy, but has yet to live up to expectations. Should the Devils decide to go to free agency and make a trade, viable options include Alex Semin, Shane Doan, Peter Mueller out of many players. It would be interesting to see if Lou Lamoriello will try and trade for Rick Nash or Bobby Ryan, but that is a severe long-shot. Are the Devils a playoff team without Parise? Yes, in my mind they are still a playoff team. It will be tough for them to return to the Stanley Cup Final, but they are a playoff team.

The Devils played 69 games without Parise during the 2010-2011 season, which was a very disappointing season, but they had a stretch run, so they might have to revert to that formula for this season, but obviously play at a very consistent level.