Devils about to Re-Sign Zubrus via TG 3 yr/3Mper

[MCDevils]

Fire & Ice - Three more years as a Devil for Zubrus; Talks with Clarkson continue, but no contract specifics, yet

For those interested.

$9M over 3 yr.

Also, in case anyone is interested in how this compares to his first contract:
07-08 cap was 50.3M and Zubrus was making $3.4M === 6.75% of Cap
13-14 cap is 64.3M and Zubrus will be making $3.0M === 4.66% of Cap

So in terms of his cap hit, which is really the only important number, Zubrus' deal now is about a 30% pay cut compared to the one signed way back in 07-08.

 

[nj_cup]

what was the deal he signed before?

listen i know everyone will "love" this deal. so now once we resign elias which is a given and probably resign clarkson. whats that mean? we come back next season with the exact same lineup in tact? zubrus should be on the 3rd line imo same with clarkson. so we have 3 million tied up on the 3rd line already lets see how much clarkson will add to that

 

[nj_cup]

d.roy antropov horton morrow clowe ryder gagne penner weiss those are all players that are younger then zubrus that would probably fetch around the same type of contract that i would rather have. its just more of the same with lou. salvador shouldnt have been resigned last year but he was. volchenkov should be bought out but he wont. this team needs to get younger! now we have zubrus on the books for 3 years and since hes over 35 nothing we can do about that!


just time to move on for me. bring in a different player maybe the new player can jell bring in some different aspect of his game or someone else on this roster. we've seen what zubrus has to offer and i dont think its 9 million worthy

any other team zubrus is on the 3rd line....here he gets to play with kovy?!?!?!?! how insane is that!

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Versatile player, is invaluable come playoff time, you keep him around. Not a terrible cap hit by any means. I like it.

 

[nj_cup]

i was talking on tg's blog i dont understand the move that much.

35 years old. they just ink tedenby to a 1 way contract. they have jj mattuea where are these guys going to play or even get a chance to play? you already know how low i am on jj/ted but i think as 3rd line players they are serviceable. does that mean zubrus plays on the 2nd line? with elias? thats 2 35+ year olds for the next 3 years at the least in between king slayer. tell me his production wont take a dive! factor in boucher and whoever we draft what if they have a great camp? you can mention maybe making a trade but who are you going to trade? untouchables are kovy/zajac/kingslayer/loko/elias. and who's going to want zub at 3 million

this is pando/madden 2.0 in my book

 

[MCDevils]

what was the deal he signed before?

listen i know everyone will "love" this deal. so now once we resign elias which is a given and probably resign clarkson. whats that mean? we come back next season with the exact same lineup in tact? zubrus should be on the 3rd line imo same with clarkson. so we have 3 million tied up on the 3rd line already lets see how much clarkson will add to that

He signed a 6 yr $3.4M deal. But like I said, the percentage's are really what's important. He's taking up way less cap hit than last time obviously since it went up substantially.

 

[MCDevils]

d.roy antropov horton morrow clowe ryder gagne penner weiss those are all players that are younger then zubrus that would probably fetch around the same type of contract that i would rather have. its just more of the same with lou. salvador shouldnt have been resigned last year but he was. volchenkov should be bought out but he wont. this team needs to get younger! now we have zubrus on the books for 3 years and since hes over 35 nothing we can do about that!


just time to move on for me. bring in a different player maybe the new player can jell bring in some different aspect of his game or someone else on this roster. we've seen what zubrus has to offer and i dont think its 9 million worthy

any other team zubrus is on the 3rd line....here he gets to play with kovy?!?!?!?! how insane is that!

Just for a comparison below are last year's cap hits for the players you mentioned:

Roy -- $4M (Actual Salary: $5.5M)
Antropov -- $4.062M ($4.75M)
Horton -- $4M ($5.5M)
Morrow -- $4.1M ($4.1M)
Clowe -- $3.625M ($4M)
Ryder -- $3.5M ($3.5M)
Penner - $3.25 ($3.25M) This guy shouldn't even been on the list he's been atrocious.
Weiss -- $3.1M ($4.1M)

NOTE: Zubrus is making less than all these guys on their last deals. MORE IMPORTANTLY, I put the REAL Salary amount next to the cap hit in this instance. This is because the final year salary is usually a really accurate way to see what the players next AAV is going to be close to. So for example, Nathan Horton, who signed his last deal as a good young player saw his salary slowly increase, very unlikely he takes a pay cut now.

TBH, Zubrus isn't really grouped correctly with these players.

Also, there's obviously an argument to be made that the Devils would be better without Zubrus at all and paying a guy like Horton $5M. Frankly I'd like to have both of those players. We'll see what happens with these new partners coming in soon.

 

[nj_cup]

i can make an argument for some of these players to be on a 2nd line. i cant really make the same argument for zubrus. but for some reason he will be on it come october and probably even the 1st line at some times. if zubrus is 3 million some of the players on the list will be more "expensive" but i will be willing to risk that if it means getting new blood in here and not trying to bring back the EXACT same team as last year (which missed the playoffs)

 

[Nasty_Magician]

I'm not too concerned. Who knows if we bring back Clarkson or Elias? We can't let all 3 walk, you need vets on the team. And if he sucks this year we still have 2 buyouts next season. We'll be ok.

 

[MCDevils]

Our current cap situation is below (w/ some predicted contracts for Elias, JJ, Henrique, Etc, etc.)

That basically leaves the Devils with $13.1M in cap space to fill with either Clarkson or other free agents.

CAPGEEK.COM USER GENERATED ROSTER

My Custom Lineup

FORWARDS
Ilya Kovalchuk ($6.667m) / Travis Zajac ($5.750m) / Andrei Loktionov ($0.725m)
Patrik Elias ($5.000m) / Adam Henrique ($2.000m) / Dainius Zubrus ($3.000m)
Mattias Tedenby ($0.600m) / Jacob Josefson ($1.000m) / Steve Bernier ($0.775m)
Stephen Gionta ($0.563m) / Ryan Carter ($0.775m) /
Krystofer Barch ($0.750m) /

DEFENSEMEN
Anton Volchenkov ($4.250m) / Henrik Tallinder ($3.375m)
Bryce Salvador ($3.167m) / Andy Greene ($3.000m)
Mark Fayne ($1.300m) / Adam Larsson ($0.925m)
Eric Gelinas ($0.870m) /

GOALTENDERS
Martin Brodeur ($4.500m)
Johan Hedberg ($1.400m)

OTHER
Buyout: Trent Hunter ($0.667m)
Buyout: Eric Boulton ($0.250m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled with the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $51,307,500; BONUSES: $160,000

CAP SPACE (21-man roster): $13,152,500

 

[Vortimous]

I am with Cup on this one... so tired of seeing the same old dull team that doesn't seem to want to improve because making the playoffs and a first or second round exit is the new "ok" for this team. I wouldn't have been upset if they didn't resign Zubs, I never really thought he ever brought that much to the table anyway... yeah, every now and then he would score and he was great in the corners...but only to send the puck to the blue line where we have/had no talent in scoring at all.... Its just frustrating knowing as a fan what we need and then we see nothing being done to address that. We need to get younger as Cup says, yet we ink in a 3 year deal to a 35+ year old. I wouldn't mind if Elias walked too..... I thank him for his time here, but sometimes its just time to go. Everyone loves the young talent and is eager to see them play and get ice time... but that will never happen with this current roster of mediocrity.

And before anyone jumps on the fact that we went to the finals last year... be real... everyone knows that was a playoff luck of the draw with the teams we got and who get eliminated.... althought I still believe we were better than the Kings and 2 OT games to start killed us.....

 

[MadCaptain]

I can't believe you guys are complaining about a guy who was meant to be a Devil and is making below the average cap salary.

Our forwards are very shallow and Zubrus is a key guy who can make space for other players. Yea, you guys want a Hall - Hopkins - Eberle top line because it looks so pretty with the low age numbers and high potential but that line sucked. Teams need players like Zubrus, and ones that can skate with top talent and not act like a slug ala Knuble are very valuable.

 

[MCDevils]

I can't believe you guys are complaining about a guy who was meant to be a Devil and is making below the average cap salary.

Our forwards are very shallow and Zubrus is a key guy who can make space for other players. Yea, you guys want a Hall - Hopkins - Eberle top line because it looks so pretty with the low age numbers and high potential but that line sucked. Teams need players like Zubrus, and ones that can skate with top talent and not act like a slug ala Knuble are very valuable.

People don't like supporting pieces. I think this is a great deal. Good $ amount. Doesn't handicap the Devils.

 

[Vortimous]

Act like a slug or skate like a slug because last time I checked, Zubs wasn't really lighting it up speed wise out there.... Yes he is a physical player, yes he can grind in the corners, but you cant tell me that you think he can skate with top talent and should be a first line player.... third line yes, but first line? Wow....

 

[MCDevils]

He's a big player, but I can't say I ever thought to myself that his speed is a problem.

 

[MCDevils]

Also, just to make a comparison since Horton was mentioned above. Horton came out today with contract numbers in the 5/6 year ranges at 5.5-6M. So he's in line to make twice as much.

 

[nj_cup]

its just another typical lou signing imo. just like with salvador last year. its time to turn the page on some of these players. i can not wait to see what type of deal elias gets im not even going to speculate but right now i know the first 2 arguments for it is

#1 hes always been a devil
#2 his game wont decline too much since hes a playmaker.

team has missed the playoffs 2x in 3 years that should tell you something.

vort is right i've been saying it all along. we had TREMENDOUS playoff matchups for the finals run. sure its still a tremendous accomplishment to make the finals but i still will put a * next to it.

 

[nj_cup]

i dont want all stars or halls eberles or crosbys i just want some FRESH BLOOD ON THIS TEAM!

 

[MadCaptain]

There's only 4 forwards left on this roster that were regulars during the one and done playoff stretch. 3 of those guys were free agents and only one of those has been resigned already. Lou has been changing the forwards without much success recently. He's probably going to pick up new forwards anyways with only 3 players (kovy, zajac, elias if resigned) making more than the cap average.

Its the defense that is stagnant with Greene, Volch, Tallinder, and Sal staying from those failed playoff teams. Not only have they stuck around but the went for good (2011-2012 season) to ugly (2012 playoffs) to outright terrible (2012-2013 season). Its a waste of assets keeping those guys with Urbom, Burlon, Harrold, and possibly Merrill and Gelinas all ready to play at the NHL level.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

I said I think at least 1 of the 3 would be gone. I think Clarkson will be the odd man out, hopefully Elias take a hometown discount. New blood or not you need a well rounded lineup.

Kovy-Zajac-Loko
Elias-Truth-FA?
Teds/Matteau-JJ-Zubrus
Carter-Gionta-Bernier

Zajac and Truth return to form and that is a solid lineup.