Let's See How The Devils Are Doing

So, I decided to change the name of my blog. "Orlando's Overtime" just came to me one day and I really liked it. It makes sense too; I blog about what happens when the games end. Anyway, since the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, all thirty NHL team have been very busy this offseason. I'm going to key in on the Devils because, to some of my friends, I'm an insider. I'm not, I'd like to be, but I try to stay on top Devils news. Generally speaking, I'm very happy with our offseason moves.

Goaltending

We all know Marty Brodeur isn't getting any younger and that his retirement is coming a lot sooner than every Devils fan would like to admit. We have some younger guys in our pipeline, but nobody is really sure how they are going to pan out. The Devils were mentioned in rumors of just about every goalie on the trading block, which led me to believe Lou was active trying to get a goalie to step in once Marty retires. Then the NHL Draft happened. I was bummed that I couldn't go to the draft because it was at the Prudential Center. The Devils had the 9th pick. Here I am hoping that we don't take defense and take a dynamic scoring winger. On Twitter, I see rumblings of a trade.

Our future. (Photo credit: Google Images)

With us? The 9th pick? No, we're not trading our pick, are we? Then Gary Bettman comes to the podium and announces that we trading the 9th overall pick to Vancouver for Cory Schneider. WHAT?! That's all it took to get Schneider?! Lou Lamoriello strikes again! He absolutely FLEECED Mike Gillis in that deal. All of the sudden, the Devils' situation in net after Marty is clear; Cory Schneider is the future in New Jersey. Sorry Keith Kincaid, Jeff Frazee, Scott Wedgewood, and Maxime Clermont. You guys just weren't cutting it enough for Lou, I guess.

Defense

This offseason for the Devils' defense is going to be defined by training camp. We have a bunch of young guys in our pipeline that look to challenge for a spot on the big club. Regarding the guys already (presumably) on the squad, Henrik Tallinder was traded to Buffalo in a trade that was about as pure of a salary dump as you can have. That's $3.375 million off the books for next season, and it opens up a spot for a young guy to make the team. Good, the Devils can FINALLY start to get younger. Peter Harrold was also re-signed, which I like. Harrold has grown on me, so I'm glad we were able to keep him on board. However, Lou brought back Marek Zidlicky for another year at $3 million. At least I'll have somebody to heckle every single game. I DO NOT like Zidlicky. He's old, he can't play defense, he can barely hold the blueline on the powerplay, and he's good for at least one momentum-killing, bone-headed penalty every game. Lou did make it sound like he's not done revamping the defense, though.

Time for Larsson to step up. (Photo credit: Google Images)

He said that re-signing Zidlicky allowed for some flexibility to make more moves if he had to. What this offseason does signal is that it's time to take the training wheels off of Adam Larsson. Put the guy in the top pairing. Put him on the powerplay next to Kovy. Let him kill penalties. He has the potential to have his number up in the rafters next to Stevens, Daneyko, and Niedermayer. It's time to start giving him opportunity to realize that potential and take his game to the next level.

Forwards

This seems to be where most of the focus is now with the Devils. We were able to lock up Patrik Elias for three more years. At the end up this contract, Elias will have played for the Devils for twenty years, and it will all but assure that he retires playing for only the New Jersey Devils in his career. As I had been saying for the entire season and offseason before it happened, we lost David Clarkson to the Toronto Maple Leafs. They signed him to a seven year deal with an AAV of $5.25 million.

Ryane Clowe (right) will add more toughness. (Photo credit: Google Images)

I love Clarkie, but not at that price. I'm glad the Devils didn't give him that insane contract. To replace Clarkson, we signed Ryane Clowe for five years with an AAV of $4.85 million. This is going to be risky. If he stays healthy, this can be a great deal for us. If the injury bug rears its ugly head, this becomes a very bad contract. We also signed Michael Ryder for two years with an AAV of $3.5 million. I like this signing because Ryder can definitely put the puck in the net, and that was something that the team was missing last year.