Possible Salvador injury could give Devils salary cap relief, but one trade is still likely

While the Devils have not received official word from the doctors about Bryce Salvador's condition from his tests today, there could be some good fiscal news on horizon for the team. If Salvador has a concussion or inner ear problem and the injury needs weeks to months of recover, the Devils can place him on Long Term Injury Reserve or (LTI), in which case his salary will not count against the cap. His cap hit is approximately $2.4 million, but the Devils need to clear at least $3 million, so it might affect who is traded. Assigning players who are 35 or older to the minors will not give them any relief, so one trade is likely necessary.

Salvador is one of many Devils mentioned in possible trade rumors in their effort to get under the NHL's $59.4 million dollar ceiling salary cap. His contract does not include a no-trade clause, so he is very much in play, but the feeling amongst Devils fans is that they want the team to deal Brian Rolston and Colin White, who have no-trade clauses in their deals. Rolston's cap hit is roughly $5.1 million and has two years left on the deal and expires in summer 2010 and Colin White's is $3 million. Both contracts will be difficult to move especially Rolston's, who will have to waive his no-trade and have one team take on his contract. Dainius Zubrus is another one mentioned and also does not include a no-trade clause, so he will be easier to move, but I feel that his connection and history with assistant coach Adam Oates should be very beneficial to him, so he probably should stay with Devils. Zubrus is also good friends with Ilya Kovalchuk.

Coach John MacLean and GM Lou Lamoriello claim the injury is not that serious and he is fine, which might mean he might only need a few days of rest, so it is likely he will miss the rest of the preseason. If he is not traded, he should be ready to go for the opener on October 8th. He suffered the injury in the first period of the preseason game against the Flyers last night at Prudential Center after an away from the play hit by Philadelphia forward James vanRiemsdyk.

Notes: As I mentioned earlier Marcus Nilson has been released from his tryout and returned to Sweden where he is likely to suit up for Djurgarden IF of the Swedish Elite League.

Devils release Marcus Nilson from tryout, return him to Sweden

Marcus Nilson's tryout contract is short lived with the Devils. The team has trimmed their training camp roster to 29 by assigning goaltender Jeff Frazee to Albany of the American Hockey League (AHL), retuning defenseman Eric Gelinas to Chicoutimi of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and returning Nilson to the Swedish Elite League. Nilson was not impressive during any of the games in preseason and did not fight as hard for a roster spot as Adam Mair has, so its likely that Mair is on his way to earning a contract with the Devils.

Here is the Devils remaining depth chart in training camp:

Goaltenders (3): Martin Brodeur, Johan Hedberg, Mike McKenna.

Defensemen (11): Matthew Corrente, Rob Davison, Mark Fraser, Andy Greene, Anssi Salmela (injured), Bryce Salvador, Henrik Tallinder, Matt Taormina, Alexander Urbom, Anton Volchenkov, Colin White.

Forwards (15): Jason Arnott, David Clarkson, Patrik Elias, Jacob Josefson, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jamie Langenbrunner, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond, Adam Mair, Nick Palmieri, Zach Parise, Rod Pelley, Brian Rolston, Mattias Tedenby, Travis Zajac, Dainius Zubrus.

From: Devils reduce training camp roster to 29

Former Devil Brian Gionta named 28th Captain of the Montreal Canadiens

Brian Gionta became the latest ex-Devil to become captain of another organization. The last one was Scott Niedermayer, who led the Anaheim Ducks to the 2007 Stanley Cup. Today, the Montreal Canadiens announced Gionta as the teams new captain after carrying three alternate captains last year and Brian was one of them. It was long rumored he would be the teams new captain and would beat out longtime Habs defenseman Andrei Markov for the job.

Gionta displayed great leadership last season during Montreal's magical run to the Eastern Conference Finals. This year, the Canadiens do not have high expectations and will have to rely even greater on leadership as the team traded its playoff hero Jaroslav Halak to the St. Louis Blues, so Gionta has to be that example. So, congratulations to Brian Gionta on the most prestigious role in all of hockey, the le captain of Canadien de Montreal.

Devils get first win in preseason, edge Flyers 3-2 at "The Rock." (Power Play comes through late)

Ilya Kovalchuk continued his preseason dominance, scoring the game winner with 2:19 to go in the game. The Flyers took a 1-0 lead early in the game on a Nikolai Zherdev goal before tryout Adam Mair tied it up at 1. Zherdev's second goal gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead late in the 2nd period before Zajac tied it up late in the 3rd with 5:20 to go in the game on the Power Play.

The win is the Devils first this preseason as well as for new coach John MacLean. Despite the Flyers taking an early 1-0 lead, both teams got of to a slow start. However, both teams played a tight game. Mattias Tedenby played his best game of the preseason making some nifty moves as well as tryout Adam Mair continued to make a case for a contract with the Devils, which I think he will get once the Devils make their salary cap cuts. I would not be surprised if it is a two-year-deal. Marcus Nilson looked good today, but his status is still 50-50, but I think he might get a one-year-deal.

Notes: Former Devil Mike Mottau signed a two-year-deal with the New York Islanders today. Its for $1.6 million total with an $800k cap hit. Mottau is known as a stay at home defenseman and a former Hobey Baker Award winner with Boston College. The Islanders needed a defenseman now that Mark Streit is out for six months with a possible torn rotator cuff in his shoulder. Devils GM Lou Lamoriello was interested in bringing him back, but the cap situation prevented him from doing so. Bryce Salvador left the game after the first period after a rough hit by James VanRiemsdyk. He suffered an apparent knee injury, but Devils personnel say he is fine. It is the preseason, so you always want to be on the side of caution; The Devils took that approach with Salvador.

Devils stay upbeat as trade talk continues

The Devils today vowed that the trade talk and speculation is not affecting training camp. GM Lou Lamoriello still needs to make a trade go get under the $59.4 million dollar salary cap ceiling in the NHL and has until next Wednesday at midnight to do so, or face heavy sanctions. Its expected that between one to three players will get traded as the team needs to get as much under the cap as possible in order to make some moves throughout the season like make trades leading up to the NHL Trade Deadline, which has not been set yet.

Among the players mentioned in rumors are Brian Rolston, Jamie Langenbrunner, Dainius Zubrus, Patrik Elias, Travis Zajac, David Clarkson, Colin White, Bryce Salvador and Tyler Eckford. Speculation is that the Los Angeles Kings, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs are teams that have expressed interest in some of these players to help the Devils clear salary. The likely asking price is a prospect and anywhere from a 2nd to a 5th round draft pick. The Devils do not have a 2nd or 3rd rounder in 2011, due to the Arnott trade and the Kovalchuk contract penalties, plus they have to surrender one first round pick in one of the next four drafts. So, look for the Devils to try to stock pile draft picks in the next few years. It is highly unlikely that Lou will pull of a trade before the preseason ends this Saturday, so look for something early next week as we draw closer to the start of the 2010-2011 NHL Season.

Devils remain winless in preseason after overtime loss to Rangers at home, but Kovy line continues to shine

The only positives you can find in the preseason so far after three games out of the Devils is that the new Parise, Zajac, and Kovalchuk unit continues to shine. Also, Henrik Tallinder and Alexander Urbom continue to form some chemistry together and its getting to be more of a possibility that Urbom will make the team along with Adam Mair and possibly Marcus Nilson.

After losing to the Rangers in overtime for a 2nd straight time, the Devils need to fix their Power Play and Penalty Killing along with secondary scoring, something that has plagued them down the stretch last year. Defenseman Matt Taormina bounced back somewhat after a disappointing showing on Thursday, but made some costly turnovers yesterday in the 3rd period. All 3 games this preseason for the Devils went to overtime, but they lost in a shootout on Tuesday in Philly.

Last nights game featured a lot of major penalties and plenty of Kovalchuk-Avery run ins. Look for a lot of that between the two teams this season. The Kovalchuk, Avery rivalry began in the 2007 playoffs, when the Thrashers were swept by the Rangers mostly due to the fact that Avery got under Ilya's skin. The Devils blew a 4-2 lead in the 3rd to lose in overtime and all 5 Ranger goals were on the Power Play.

Notes: The Devils did not practice today as coach John MacLean gave the team a day-off. They will resume practice on Monday and take on the Flyers on Tuesday at Prudential Center. Its expected prospect Jacob Josefson will play after missing the last two games due to a "sore-foot." Also, Mattias Tedenby needs to pick up his game as he battles for a spot on the team.

Could another superstar be joining Kovalchuk at "The Rock?"

The New Jersey Nets will play out their remaining tenure in the State of New Jersey at the Prudential Center until their new arena in Brooklyn will open sometime in between 2012-2014. But according to multiple sources, the Nets are in talks on a four team trade that would land them Carmelo Anthony from the Nuggets. The Denver Nuggets would receive Nets top prospect and 3rd overall pick Derrick Favors and Andrei Kirilenko from the Utah Jazz. The Charlotte Bobcats would get PG Devin Harris from the Nets and Boris Diaw would end up in Utah.

This would be very interesting having Ilya Kovalchuk and Carmelo Anthony playing in the same building. However, this trade is contingent upon Anthony signing a contract extension with the Nets. The Knicks and Bulls are his top two choices, but those teams do not have the assets the Nuggets need to pull the trigger. So, if Anthony does not agree to an extension, the Nets will kill this deal.

New Kovalchuk line shines in debut, but Devils fall 4-3 in overtime to Rangers

It did not the new Devils top line to create some forms of chemistry. All three line-mates had one goal and one assist in their debuts together. But the only negative, the Devils lost in overtime 4-3 on Marian Gaborik's shot, which beat goaltender Jeff Frazee. Coach John MacLean was pleased with their debut, but sees room for improvement. Kovalchuk did have some trouble maneuvering the puck on the Right Wing, but did very well, when he got to the left wing side. Travis Zajac scored the first goal, Kovalchuk the 2nd and Parise tied it up at 3 late in the 3rd period.

Notes: Prospect Mattias Tedenby was disappointed with his debut, but coach John MacLean said he did see some positives. From what I saw, he had good technique, but his small size could be the question. Jacob Josefson was supposed to play, but was a last second scratch due to a mild bruised foot, but is expected to play Saturday at "The Rock" against the Rangers. Marcus Nilson took his place and played better than he did in Philly on Tuesday. Adam Mair continued to play strong as he vies for a contract for the team, and from the looks of it I think he is well on his way to earning one. But, the contract will come once the Devils make their salary cap cut. Marcus Nilson is still 50-50 in his chance to get a contract. Brian Rolston was up and down and Colin White was not smart in decisions with the puck. Matt Taormina looked nervous along with prospect Eric Gelinas, who could not hold off Rangers forward Brian Boyle, who scored the 3rd Ranger goal. New addition Anton Volchenkov continued to show his physical and high hitting game. Overall another good effort from the Devils.

Devils new top line will make preseason debut Thursday at Rangers

Usually at this time of the year, the focus on debuts is solely on the fall TV schedule. But its also the start of preseason hockey, which began yesterday. Tomorrow the focus will shift to the Devils new-top line of Zach Parise, Travis Zajac and Ilya Kovalchuk at Right Wing. The line if successful could be one of the best since the line of Spezza, Alfredsson and Heatley in Ottawa as well as the Kane, Toews and Byfuglien lines.

Notes: Its expected that Mattias Tedenby will make his Devils preseason debut tomorrow as well. Also, Brodeur will start the game, but is not expected to play the full game and its possible Johan Hedberg will make the trip to MSG or Jeff Frazee. Some players that played yesterday like Josefson, Mair, Urbom, Corrente and Nilson might also play against the Rangers. The first round of cuts will likely come by midnight Sunday.

Salvador, Greene struggle as Devils fall 4-3 to Flyers in first preseason game in a shootout

The Devils struggles in Philadelphia continued on Tuesday, granted it was only preseason as they fell 4-3 via a shootout, something that ignited the Flyers deep playoff run last season. It was a good effort though as the Devils scored three un-answered goals after falling behind 2-0 in the game with goals from Darrel Powe and Jeff Carter. Carter is becoming some sort of Devils nemesis ever since his gray area hit on Devils defenseman Anssi Salmela last season. The Devils got goals from tryout Adam Mair, Dainius Zubrus and Jamie Langenbrunner to take a 3-2 lead, but Danny Briere's blast late in the 3rd knotted the score up at three a piece.

In overtime the Flyers failed to score on the power play, thus the game was decided in a shootout. Claude Giroux and Mike Richards scored on Devils netminder Mike McKenna, while Jason Arnott scored the lone shootout goal for the Devils. New Coach John MacLean was pleased with the effort, but from watching the game myself, Bryce Salvador and Andy Greene struggled somewhat. Salvador has to have a huge camp for the Devils, since he is being mentioned as a possible salary cap casualty as a result of the Kovalchuk contract along with Zubrus, Rolston and White.

Jacob Josefson, Henrik Tallinder, Alexander Urbom and tryout Adam Mair impressed me during the game. Marcus Nilson looked a bit nervous, but had some chances late in the game. Some of the players that played Tuesday might also get in on Thursday at the Rangers. Its expected that Ilya Kovalchuk will suit up for the Devils against the Rangers as they will debut that new top line with Parise at left wing and Zajac at center. MacLean would not say if Brodeur will start, so it could still be Hedberg. Brodeur usually does not see much action in the preseason and usually gets into a game or two. Here is the Devils remaining preseason schedule:

Thu 9/23 at Rangers, 7PM, MSG Plus (Rangers Telecast)
Sat 9/25 vs Rangers, 7 PM, MSG Plus (Devils Telecast)
Tue 9/28 vs Flyers, 7 PM
Fri 10/1 vs Islanders, 7 PM
Sat 10/2 at Islanders, 7 PM

It is not known whether the Islander games will be televised.