this article is a few months old so nothing new but it was news to me so i am posting it. this is not to open up to a hate brodeur or you are over the hill post. he is still a world class goalie and this article shows that he is willing to know when his end is.

just thought it interesting. to sum up the article:

If there is a lockout at the end of next season brodeur might be looking to hang up his skates as apposed to takign the year off and then coming back. because as he says at his age a year off will not be a good thing for him.

sad to see this day come but as a devil fan and fantasy fan we all knew it would come. BUT if no lockout then who knows maybe he signs a 2 year deal and then hangs it up once he knows someone is in place to take over for him because thats what it is hinting at:

http://www.nj.com/devils/index.ssf/2...y_looming.html

__________________
12 team H2H Keeper League
g/a/+-/PIM/PPP/SHP/SOG/W/GAA/SV%/SHO
play 4c/4lw/4rw/6d/2g (2min start)
Center: Datsyuk, Getzlaf, Marleau, Ribiero, Brian Boyle
RW: Hossa, Horton, Downie, Franzen, vrbata, Cole
LW: Kovalchuk, D.Sedin, Semin, Fleischmann,
Defense : Enstrom, E.Johnson, Goligoski, Wisniewski, Hamilton
Goalies: Lundqvist, Brodeur, S.Mason, Garon

Farm noteables: Niederreiter, Avtsyn, Greiss, Frazee, Kinkaid

Interested to hear your thoughts dobbernation. Not much back and forth in this section as i know the devils dont scream fantasy worthy players but I am curious to hear some of your thoughts on what the devils need to do in the offseason:

We all know the devils didnt have the best 2010 season but they had a promising second half. the outlook is good. this coming year the devils still have some ugly contracts but they also have alot of youngsters to add to there mix.

2011-2012 Caphits per capgeek.com and potential lineups:
Forwards: 11 signed / 2 RFA / 1 UFA
Defense: 5 signed / 4 RFA / 2 UFA
Goalies: 1 signed / 1 UFA

They have 17 players signed with a cap hit of 52mil if the cap as projected hits 62mil than the devils will have 10mil to spend. That is some breathing room. The devils arent afraid to spend the max so this gives a bit of room to resign parise, Taormina, and hopefully in my eyes greene. It iwll be tight but you never know.

The devils dont have much in the system as in the need of call ups (due in large part to the youngsters already being on the roster from last years tight cap: Palmieri, tedenby, josefson). They do have Leblond to add energy and might on the 4th line if they choose not to keep pelley or resign mair. he is a big PIM guy. in the minors over 300 last season. they can use urbom on defense. he might still be a season away from the big time but still a pretty big name being thrown around as the future dman in NJ. AND they also have potential in Frazee to step up as backup this season if they dont resign Hedberg.

- Alot of talk about buying out players or looking to trade a few. The issue is we are stuck with rolston's contract as he is over 35. hopefully they can work some trade to unload that contract. if need be bring back a portion of the contract but atleast look to clear 2mil off and then they will be in great shape.

- Clarkson and white are other names being thrown around about being bought out or looking to be traded. WHite harder to trade as he is older and not the same. Clarkson to me would be a big mistake to trade. this past year they didnt use him properly. he needs to be on that top line with zajac and parise. he opens the ice for them to work there magic.

- Lets also not forget the big key factor going into next season: 4th overall pick. this will be huge for the devils. if they can get a star here it will mean the future for NJ. the question ofcourse is do they go topnotch forward or topnotch Dman. either way 4th overall will land them a potential building block in any position.

Anyway just some thoughts... feel free to add yours. nothing in order here. just throwing out my random thoughts, feel free to do the same.

__________________
12 team H2H Keeper League
g/a/+-/PIM/PPP/SHP/SOG/W/GAA/SV%/SHO
play 4c/4lw/4rw/6d/2g (2min start)
Center: Datsyuk, Getzlaf, Marleau, Ribiero, Brian Boyle
RW: Hossa, Horton, Downie, Franzen, vrbata, Cole
LW: Kovalchuk, D.Sedin, Semin, Fleischmann,
Defense : Enstrom, E.Johnson, Goligoski, Wisniewski, Hamilton
Goalies: Lundqvist, Brodeur, S.Mason, Garon

Farm noteables: Niederreiter, Avtsyn, Greiss, Frazee, Kinkaid

posted this link in the nhl combine thread but felt like it should be posted here also as it was written by a devil blogger

http://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/f...uting_combine/

the interesting point about this is this part:

- Landeskog, Huberdeau and Hamilton confirmed that they are among those invited to do further physical testing and meetings with the Devils after the NHL combine concludes on Saturday. Larsson, Couturier and Nugent-Hopkins had no knowledge of any further testing with any teams, but it’s possible they just hadn’t been told yet. Landeskog said he will also be doing further testing with Ottawa.

just maybe leads some hint to who the devils are targeting. eventhough there has been alot of talk about the devils taking couturier but maybe they will be invited at a later point. the devils might be thinking that they wont get hopkins and larsson so one of those first 3 are the ones they want.

also to note in the article they have huberdeau and landeskog as LW and LW,C positions. could the devils be looking for a winger? i would think if anything they need a center, or RW not LW as they have parise (if signed) and kovy already on that side.

ofcourse bottom line devils probably need a dman but a top notch forward like in fantasy world is just too hard to pass up.

__________________
12 team H2H Keeper League
g/a/+-/PIM/PPP/SHP/SOG/W/GAA/SV%/SHO
play 4c/4lw/4rw/6d/2g (2min start)
Center: Datsyuk, Getzlaf, Marleau, Ribiero, Brian Boyle
RW: Hossa, Horton, Downie, Franzen, vrbata, Cole
LW: Kovalchuk, D.Sedin, Semin, Fleischmann,
Defense : Enstrom, E.Johnson, Goligoski, Wisniewski, Hamilton
Goalies: Lundqvist, Brodeur, S.Mason, Garon

Farm noteables: Niederreiter, Avtsyn, Greiss, Frazee, Kinkaid

Parise news...arbitration likely

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puc...urn=nhl-wp7033

__________________
Thats me on the street with a violin under my chin, playing with a grin, singing gibberish.





P=1 DPts=1.2 +/-=.32 PIM=.08 PPP=.4 SHP=.6 S=.015 Blk=.2 Hit=.08
W=2 OTL=.8 GA=-.64 SV=.08 SO=3

Pro (23 keep 17)
C- Filppula,Turris,Stastny,Backstrom
D-Boyle,MDZ,Karlsson,Robidas,Goligoski,Schenn,Seiden berg
G-Anderson,Hiller,Rinne
LW-Malone,Parise,Rolston,Eriksson,Ruutu
RW-Alfredsson,Callahan,Setoguchi,Brown,Ryder,Vrbata

Farm (9 keep all, max 200 GP, 100 Goalies)
Colborne,Leblanc,Loktionov,Perreault,Tangradi,Blum ,Poulin,Markstrom

So, it seems its DeBoer as new coach???

__________________

Doc Emrick leaving the Devils broadcasting
http://devils.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=569804

__________________
The Ultimate Fantasy Hockey League. (Keep 17)
3C 3LW 3RW 6D 2G 6BE.
G,A,+-,PIM,PPP,SHP,GWG,SOG,FW,HIT; GS,W,L,GAA,SA,SV, SV%,SO
(C) Bergeron, Spezza, Ribeiro, R. O'Reilly
(LW) Ovechkin(RW), Clowe(RW), Hagelin
(RW) Eberle, Stewart
(D) Subban, Pietrangelo, Green, Byfuglien(RW), Bogosian
(G) Crawford, Varlamov, Neuvirth

8 Person Farm:
(C), Couturier, Teravainen
(LW) Kreider
(RW) Etem
(D) Dumba
(G) Holtby, Ramo, Subban

As a Devils' follower - what is the scoop on Parise? I have him on my roster as one of my 5 keepers, but haven't followed his situation too much this summer.

Will he be a Devil next year?
If he is, will he be a 2nd liner behind Kovy?
If he is, will he play with Zajac?

If not, will they trade him?
If not, has there been rumblings about interested teams?

__________________
H2H, 10 Teams, 5 Keepers
2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 1UTIL, 2G, 6BN
G, A, P, SHP, PPP, +/-, PIM, GWG, W, SV%, GAA, SHO

C: Tavares, Backes
LW: Parise, Sedin
RW: Hossa, Kovalchuk

Thanks Taps for the question. I will address it all here.

I am sorry for not posting much latley been a hectic summer. As dobber can tell you all and im sure most of you also but having your first child changes your life and sometimes takes you away from the most important thing FANTASY HOCKEY.

Back to the devils lol. It's been a relativley quiet offseason and ofcourse alot of people have ranked on the devils for not doing anything big this summer. The problem with that is the devils didn't need to do anything big this summer. The plan for the devils this summer were a few things:

1) Draft 4th overall.
-That took alot as there were so many back and forths and different ideas being thrown around. DO you go for the franchise dman(Larsson), the scoring offensive dman(hamilton, Murphy), the powerhouse offense center they need (coutuier), Trading down, or something/someone else.
- Looks like in the end whatever was talked about and thrown back and forth i dont think there was much question about trading this pick. In the end they went with Larsson the franchise dman. one being compared to scott stevens in that respect. This was a great draft and a great later signing to an entry level contract with a cap hit under 1mil. GREAT work by the devils and great promise from larsson to show he just wants to play the game.
- not sure we will see larsson on the devils this season but you never know. reports are he is looking good in camp but the devils usually like to see there prospects develop so maybe 2 seasons would be more like it. he wont be rushed but he seems close to being ready to play.

2) Resinging Players: Andy Greene.
- He to me was the main focus this summer. the devils needed to improve there defense and while most think greene isnt that guy 2 seasons ago he was. I think the devils as a whole fell apart last season (defense mainly) but this season is a new one. they all have another year under there belt and should come together. I think greene runs the powerplay for now and he should be given the chance as he showed 2 seasons ago that he could produce if given the chance. this season the devils ran with 5 offensmen on the PP. i dont like that and hope it wont continue.

3) Improved offense: they brought in cam janssen and boulton. nothing AWESOME but good depth signings to add power and grit. these guys might pump down some rookies who might have had a shot at playing a few games here and there but a 4th line power line is always good to have. Now alot of people think this spells the end to clarkson as he is a similar power player but i think not. i think he will get a good shot this season to shine. espcially with the new coach who had him in the juniors and coached him to successful seasons. Its possible we might see a parise/zajac/clarkson line like i have been hoping for.

4) Getting a new coach:
- Well the devils finally announced the new coach, Pete DeBoer, former florida panthers coach. This was a big WHAT to most people i think. but after reading fire and ice blog and some other blogs and info on this guy all things look good. the devils should be much improved. he has some background with some of the players (clarkson, zajac, and i forget who else). The key to note here is that he has a similar style to Brent Sutter. who the devils did pretty well offensivly under. this could be a good sign for things to come.
- to make note that was parise's best year; under sutter. so that could only be a good thing. lets also point out that he had a pretty good record in Florida with the team they had (not saying anything bad about them).

5) Parise.
- still not taken care of but with all the other things crossed off the list he is next. his hearing is set for early august so all signs are pointing to something being worked out before that. Parise says they havent talked much. specifics havent been thrown around but they both want to sign longterm deals. they both seem to be on the same page. I expect to see him signed by the end of next week (I HOPE LOL).

Now to answer taps questions:

Will he be a Devil next year?
-YES if anything they go to arbitration and do a one yr deal. The devils are not walking away from any deal that is set forward.
If he is, will he be a 2nd liner behind Kovy?
- NO and YES. i dont see the devils as being a 1 or 2 line. its more of those 1a/1b lines. hard to predict lines as still some moving pieces and a new coach but i would like to see the lines looking like this:
Parise-Zajac-clarkson
Kovy-Jofsefen-palmieri
How they shake out is anyones guess. elias could be shifted to center and play with kovy or a trade of some sort can happen and the devils bring in a center to play with kovy. the youngsters showed they have life in them and could step up but a more established center for kovy would be nice.
If not, has there been rumblings about interested teams?
-Havent herd much about other teams offering anything or talking about it. bc now that he goes to arbitration he is locked in to be with the devils. so unless the devils think its way too much money then he is a devil. they could reject the offer and walk away which i find it hard for them to do or they could trade him but not sure they are thinking that now. they perfer to use him for the season and see if they can get an extension then or bolster his trade value.

6) dump salary:
- so this is the failure of the summer. we all we hoping for the devils to move rolston but ofcourse that didnt happen yet. too big of a contract, too old and just not that effective anymore. he had a nice run last season but yeah just not the player he was anymore. i think the devils are stuck with him and will ride him on a 3rd line for the season. if injuries happen or things go wrong maybe they use him on the PP again or shift him on different lines. but in the end his salary comes off next yr and then the devils will be in much better shape.

again sorry for the lack of repsonses. if you have any devils questions fire away. cant wait for next season.

__________________
12 team H2H Keeper League
g/a/+-/PIM/PPP/SHP/SOG/W/GAA/SV%/SHO
play 4c/4lw/4rw/6d/2g (2min start)
Center: Datsyuk, Getzlaf, Marleau, Ribiero, Brian Boyle
RW: Hossa, Horton, Downie, Franzen, vrbata, Cole
LW: Kovalchuk, D.Sedin, Semin, Fleischmann,
Defense : Enstrom, E.Johnson, Goligoski, Wisniewski, Hamilton
Goalies: Lundqvist, Brodeur, S.Mason, Garon

Farm noteables: Niederreiter, Avtsyn, Greiss, Frazee, Kinkaid

Parise update: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/devil...LSSK4AAm4NJ58N

__________________
Thats me on the street with a violin under my chin, playing with a grin, singing gibberish.





P=1 DPts=1.2 +/-=.32 PIM=.08 PPP=.4 SHP=.6 S=.015 Blk=.2 Hit=.08
W=2 OTL=.8 GA=-.64 SV=.08 SO=3

Pro (23 keep 17)
C- Filppula,Turris,Stastny,Backstrom
D-Boyle,MDZ,Karlsson,Robidas,Goligoski,Schenn,Seiden berg
G-Anderson,Hiller,Rinne
LW-Malone,Parise,Rolston,Eriksson,Ruutu
RW-Alfredsson,Callahan,Setoguchi,Brown,Ryder,Vrbata

Farm (9 keep all, max 200 GP, 100 Goalies)
Colborne,Leblanc,Loktionov,Perreault,Tangradi,Blum ,Poulin,Markstrom

TGfireandice Tom Gulitti
Can confirm reports that the Devils avoided arbitration with D Mark Fraser and signed him to a one-year deal for $550,000.

__________________
The Ultimate Fantasy Hockey League. (Keep 17)
3C 3LW 3RW 6D 2G 6BE.
G,A,+-,PIM,PPP,SHP,GWG,SOG,FW,HIT; GS,W,L,GAA,SA,SV, SV%,SO
(C) Bergeron, Spezza, Ribeiro, R. O'Reilly
(LW) Ovechkin(RW), Clowe(RW), Hagelin
(RW) Eberle, Stewart
(D) Subban, Pietrangelo, Green, Byfuglien(RW), Bogosian
(G) Crawford, Varlamov, Neuvirth

8 Person Farm:
(C), Couturier, Teravainen
(LW) Kreider
(RW) Etem
(D) Dumba
(G) Holtby, Ramo, Subban