You're the GM (for real)

[Blaaamo]

The season is lost. Let's just admit it. What do you do to prepare for next year.

Of course you have Kovy. Parise is signed through the year and is a RFA 2011-12.

Now the "one and done's" in the playoffs don't seem so surprising. This team has been in a decline since 2005. You're the GM, what do you do?

 

[SJ20]

Hire Kovy's wife to coach the team!

 

[rp2five]

Honestly, there is not much you can do but become sellers closer to the deadline. The bigger problem is, Lou has a bunch of guys with NTCs. Unless these guys ask to be traded, we need to wait out these contracts. The untouchables in my opinion are Parise, Kovalchuk, and Tedenby. (maybe a few others). We need to get younger ultimately.

 

[nj_cup]

yeah i agree not much you can do a lot of the deadwood on here have ntc's pretty shocking eh? rolston comes off the books next year same with langs....elias in 2? yeah i know im alone in that thinking but he has be given his papers. that right there is what 12 million off the books in 2 years?

 

[kellmit]

If the right deal came along I would take Parise off that list... now before you all jump down my throat, if LA offered Bernier and Johnson, or Ana would give up Perry and a 1st rounder... these are the kind of deals I'm talking about

 

[nj_cup]

i do like perry and a nj native....1st rounder eh? not so much on because its luck of the draw imo...give me another nhl legit player

 

[nj_cup]

that should be bobby ryan my bad

 

[kellmit]

Ryan would be alright too, Anaheim doesn't have anyone else interesting so we could flip the pick for a real PMD

 

[TheRobotDevil]

Hire Kovy's wife to coach the team!

Some Russian Kool Aid is just what this team needs

 

[TheRobotDevil]

Can't say i would even think about moving parise but bobby Ryan makes allot more sense than Corey Perry.Perry has allot of baggage very bad reputation as a dirty player

 

[kellmit]

He does have that Rep but he's not afraid to mix it up in front of the net.. I think he would lock real good with Zajac and Kovy

 

[MCDevils]

Honestly, I don't see Kovalchuk as the kind of player that's going to lead you to a championship. Parise is that kind of guy, so I wouldn't trade Parise for anything short of a Drew Doughty.

Players I think should stay:

Parise, Zajac, Kovalchuk, Elias, Pelley + all the rookies (The other forwards are all expendable.)

On the Defensive end, I don't really think that anyone needs to be drastically shipped out. I'm impressed with White and Volchenkov so far this season. Tallinder I would have no problem losing, but that's doubtful. Greene can be traded too.

So basically the players I would let leave are

Langenbrunner, Rolston, Arnott, Mair

Greene, Tallinder, Salvador.

And I want picks for all of them, not prospects. The reason behind that logic is that if you can trade Arnott for a 2nd rounder.. What we gave up for him.. then you might be able to move from say 5 in the draft to 3 if you add in a 2nd round pick.

My logic behind the forwards:

Parise/Zajac: I like to work with lines in tandems. Attempting to isolate which component is expendable. It's obviously whoever plays right wing on this line. We know that together they're an 85/65 combo.

Kovalchuk/Elias: I also think that Elias is the only player besides Zubrus that Kovalchuk has shown any chemistry with, so I say we should keep him.

Pelley needs to stay because he's a very effective, young, cheap checking center, that actually is really quick and is great on the PK.

Rookies: For obvious reasons none of them should be touched. Especially Tedenby. I wouldn't trade him for anything except an elite talent at this point. He's 7 years away from free agency, and he's shown just as much skill if not more than Parise did when he broke into the league. Get him some more experience and some longterm line mates and he should be a gem. A lot of people talk about the need to start trading for a huge name defense men right now, but I'm not sure if we actually need to do that.

We have two very high profile in the system in John Merrill and Urbom. Urbom seems to have stagnated a bit in the minors, but Merrill is thriving in college. He has 13 points in 18 games in the NCAA which is a HUGE amount for a freshmen. I watched a game with him on tv the other day and he looks solid, and is a good skater. We also have Brandon Burlon who we drafted a few years back who looked really good. He's on the same team as Merrill. He's a +6, leads his team in blocks and has only taken 2 minors all season. He's also tied for the team lead in PPG. I can't emphasize enough that as an 18 year old in the NCAA, that's very impressive. Keep in mind that a lot of NCAA hockey players don't enter into the league at 18. Some play Canadian junior but then transfer to the NCAA in their 20s.

If you add in a Adam Larsson this year, that's a hell of a young core to start with, add in White and Volchenkov who are here for a few more years and that could be formidable if their development pans out.

 

[nj_cup]

you know whats scary another year marty will retire for sure now and we have no legit backup to take over none of the kids are nhl ready instead we go out and pick up hedberg for 2 years? now would be the perfect time to see what frazzee or whoever has....dont get me wrong i dont think any of our ahl goalies are the answers otherwise they would already be up here...i still think that free agency is the way to fill the goalie void in the year or so..but still gotta give the kids a chance first

 

[MCDevils]

you know whats scary another year marty will retire for sure now and we have no legit backup to take over none of the kids are nhl ready instead we go out and pick up hedberg for 2 years? now would be the perfect time to see what frazzee or whoever has....dont get me wrong i dont think any of our ahl goalies are the answers otherwise they would already be up here...i still think that free agency is the way to fill the goalie void in the year or so..but still gotta give the kids a chance first

I'm a big fan of signing NHL goalies, since goaltenders tend to develop so late in their careers these days. What was Henrik when he came over? 24? Look at Tim Thomas, Backstron, Kipprusoff, Luongo, all these guys develop later. I don't want a Marc Andre Fleury experiment, where he sucks for 5 years before finally turning it around. It's just too risky. You end up with a DiPietro..

 

[devils30mb]

Merrill is thriving in college. He has 13 points in 18 games in the NCAA which is a HUGE amount for a freshmen. I watched a game with him on tv the other day and he looks solid, and is a good skater.

Will Merrill be on the USA junior team? I don't think they have named their final roster yet. Haven't seen much of his play but would like to see him showcase what he brings in this tournament.

 

[MadCaptain]

Merrill is the only Devils prospect that is in the WJC. He made the team.

(This isn't counting the prospect that we'd get by finishing dead last in NHL)

 

[MCDevils]

Merrill is the only Devils prospect that is in the WJC. He made the team.

(This isn't counting the prospect that we'd get by finishing dead last in NHL)

Did he make the team or was he just invited to tryout?

 

[MadCaptain]

I guess I was wrong.. I thought i read about it around the time the outdoor game happened but I can't find anything about it.

All i found was that he was scratched along with most of the other guaranteed players for a recent exhibition game. It's pretty safe to assume he will make the team though.

 

[MadCaptain]

Did he make the team or was he just invited to tryout?

It's Official now; He made the team.

 

[MCDevils]

It's Official now; He made the team.

Good, he's been really tearing it up in college.