Fantasy Analysis: The Devils have re-signed Ilya Kovalchuk, with details to trickle out as Tuesday's press conference approaches. The move is a shocker, as Kovalchuk was rumored to be quite close with Los Angeles.

The Devils get: One of the four or five greatest offensive talents in the game. They had just over $4 million in cap space before the signing, so unless Kovalchuk is incredibly generous (in which case all 30 teams would have jumped on board), the team will be forced to shed salary. Langenbrunner at $2.8 won't be enough, and they'll have to bribe another team if they want to shed Brian Rolston's $5 million-plus per season cap hit.

Fantasy Players Impacted: Kovalchuk is a 95-point player in Los Angeles, with upside of 105. In New Jersey you can remove 10 points from each of those numbers. Zach Parise will have no impact - he had 29 points in 30 games with Kovalchuk in the lineup, 53 in 51 otherwise. Rolston moving to a new team would probably help him, whereas Langenbrunner on a new squad would likely hurt. David Clarkson may have lost some more power-play time. Travis Zajac gets a mild bump because he's guaranteed an elite linemate. Jason Arnott skyrockets. Defenseman Andy Greene has another lethal PP option to pass to. Mattias Tedenby may have to wait a year to make the jump. He almost certainly will, actually.

Players this helps, in order:

1. Arnott

2. Greene

3. Zajac

4. Rolston (if moved)

Players this hurts, in order:

1. Kovalchuk

2. Tedenby

3. Clarkson

4. Langbrunner

Comments (9)

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fzusher said:

who's moved It'll require too huge a bribe for someone to take Rolston, especially given that most teams who have cap room for him are the ones operating under self-imposed and much lower salary limits. Plus he's got an NTC. I think it more likely they bribe two different teams to take on Zubrus and Salvador, who don't have trade/movement clauses. I think Lamorielo would prefer to go that route than the Langenbruner route because this would clear cap for next year which he can use to resign Parise, and because he has replacements for them in the system, namely Corrente for Salvador, and Tedenby or more seasoned forwards for Zubrus (a top-6 of Kovalchuk, Elias, Parise, Zajac, Rolston/Arnott, Langenbruner means that Zubrus' replacement can be getting 3rd line minutes completing a line with Arnott/Rolston and Clarkson. It's really just Tedenby vs. Vasyunov for that spot ...

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July 19, 2010
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Mabus said:

... Woo-Hoo. As someone that traded Kovalchuk and Iginla for Malkin at the deadline, this couldn't have worked out much better. As someone that doesn't like New Jersey, hopefully this cap hit cripples them and makes it impossible to re-sign Parise. What are they going to have to pay Parise if he's on the top line and outscoring a guy with a $100 million contract? I was hoping to have a better winger for my Kopitar, but this is almost as good. Mabus

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July 19, 2010
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BDog said:

... As a Kovy owner also I'm going to hope this from NHL.com is what we can expect this coming season. "What hockey fans have seen from the New Jersey Devils in recent weeks points clearly to the fact Lou Lamoriello wasn't kidding when he indicated people would be surprised by the changes that were coming in New Jersey. The bitter taste of the first-round loss to the Philadelphia Flyers may not be completely gone for Lamoriello, New Jersey's longtime president and general manager, but he can surely taste some pretty sweet success thanks to a number of moves that have radically changed New Jersey's roster and will bring a bigger, more offensive lineup to the fore for 2010-11. "

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July 19, 2010
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BDog said:

	... The drop in production could be a result of new linemates and a new system. I think the jury is still out on how much this will effect his production.
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July 19, 2010
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Mark Wilson said:

	... yah but that was with a different coach and much more defensive one at that... I also think it took him a bit to not being able to free wheel like he did in atlanta... just my opinion tho ahahha
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July 19, 2010
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Dobber said:

	... Mark - he was a point per game in NJ - 33 in 32 games, vs 58 in 49 with Atlanta. proof is in the pudding. Sorry man, I'm a kovy owner too and I'm heartbroken.
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July 19, 2010
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Mark Wilson said:

Devils not so bad I don't understand why it is so much worse in nj than la... He will play with awesome talent with elias and arnott on the second line and prob wont have to play against top line defense or at least not all the time so that will help... also have a sick pp with elias zajac parise... green ik on the point... Plus you are comparing numbers with lemiere who is a defensive style coach... I think he hit 90+

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July 19, 2010
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loco man said:

	BOOOOO! Bullshit Never thought I would be disappointed that Kovy stays in the NHL, given the stress of the last two weeks, but I am not happy at all that he passed up LA. I wish I never traded for him! Should be fine in NJ, I guess, but I don't see him scoring 50, which he would have in LA.
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July 19, 2010
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Robert Blair said:

	... No mention of Elias in your analysis. What do you think the impact on him will be if any?
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July 19, 2010
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