Well it looks like this is it.... or at least close

[devs30rko]

judging by the practice groups we saw this morning were going to have one hell of a deep group of forwards.

just the list:

parise
kovy
elias
teddy
josefson
zajac
clarkson
boulton
pelly
steckel
zubrus
palmieri
henrique
SYKORA, for those who haven't been following it looks like this miracle may become a reality. and not just by nostalgia this bastard has had a hell of a camp and really put himself in a spot to earn a contract

then on d all signs point to:

a train
tallinder
salvador
greene
fayne
LARSSON- if i may say so myself, he's even way better than advertised. how some scouts said they couldn't see him ever being a no.1 in the nhl is beyond me.
fraser

w/ stralman trying to scratch out a job last minute, it sounds as if him and tao tho are all but out of this race.





i'm gonna be honest.... i REALLY like this roster. i think it could surprise a lot of people

 

[MCDevils]

It's all going to come down to the Rookies/Sophomores. They need to produce points in a big way. We scored a league low in goals last year and even with Zpar coming back, the rookies need to be scoring a lot. Even thought Rolston was a roller coaster he was a 15-20 Goal scorer. One of the rookies needs to replace that total, and another needs to replace Zajac's scoring for a few months. AND beyond that we still need to score more goals. Fingers crossed.

 

[CalamityX11]

I wouldn't mind Sykora back(not at the expense of JJ or Teds or even Henrique), he brings vet experience to a young team and offers potential for scoring in the back lines...

I would approve of this.

 

[nj_cup]

Yeah I didn't like the sykora to camp either but he has some grit left and this team can always use some goals. This all depends on the type of deal he lands but I'm ok with him this year

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Sykora at the right price would be nice for the power play. I think you can expect more goals from Tedenby this year with an increase in playing time. Also, our D can't be much worse than it was the first half of last year, so I expect improvements in that area as well. Volchenkov needs to step up and be the guy we paid for and Greene needs to find some consistency. I really like where we are at right now.

 

[MCDevils]

One would hope Sykora could contribute 10-15 goals which I think would be great. At a minimum he could be a calming veteran presence on whichever line ends up with two of the four young forwards. We can also give him some bonus clauses and i assume keep his guaranteed $ low.

 

[TheRobotDevil]

Would like to see sykora make the team as well as larsson

 

[MCDevils]

Well Sykora should score more goals than any of these guys: David Clarkson, Eric Boulton, David Steckel, Vladimir Zharkov, and Rod Pelley.

Only exception would be Clarkson, but he needs to be surrounded by talent to produce.

 

[rp2five]

Judging by the things DeBoer says about Sykora, and the playing time he is receiving, it seems he is making the team.
I think he can only help. As long as its a bargain 1 year contract, we are fine. We will not see a long term deal with an NTC here.

We have a nice mix up front. Kovy and Parise have the potential to be the best 1-2 punch in the league.

Defensively, we only improved. Larsson has shown me a lot so far. I think he already is our best defenseman, and will get better. His greatest impact might be on the power play.

Nobody mentions goalie as a concern, but we do have 2 guys around 40 years old. Not saying I am worried, but at that age, things do break down easier, and being injured and taking longer to recover is a factor.
Good news is I liked what I saw in Kinkaid.

Agree our rookies and younger players need to produce in order for this team to succeed. I am hoping JJ and Teds have solid seasons.

I too like this lineup. Can't wait for opener.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Nobody mentions goalie as a concern, but we do have 2 guys around 40 years old. Not saying I am worried, but at that age, things do break down easier, and being injured and taking longer to recover is a factor.
Good news is I liked what I saw in Kinkaid.

I'm not overly concerned with goaltending, because as we saw with Scotty C, our system gives pretty much any goalie a chance.

 

[nj_cup]

yeah suer both goalies are 40 but they are both vetern nhl goalies. that being said i really wish the devils had a kid playing behind marty this year....because WE CAN'T REPEAT CAN'T go into next season obviously with the same 2 goalies. nor can we go into with marty our clear cut #1. next year if he plays has to be something like 25 games.

 

[DevFan60]

Talking about Sykora - he can definitely be helpful at least for time being while Zajaz is out. And I have to say that our roster looks better than last year and more promising.
I like Larsson already - who wouldn't. Can't wait for opening game.

 

[CalamityX11]

I'm not too concerned with Goalie either... Brodeur is one the main reasons I luv hockey(got me into it).... Brodeur on a bad night is still reliable to a degree. Hedberg backing up and capable of taking the load off is just as good.... for now we're ok pending any major catosphry.

Maybe the next draft, we can look at goalies... Kinkaid, from the limited viewing on my part, has the size to be somewhat stellar but needs more of a display and pressure moments to convince me.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Actually read in the Bergen Record a week or so ago, Marty saying he's all for playing less games this year and that he actually enjoyed sharing the load with Johan last year. Said he felt better toward the end of the season.