What Do You Think the New Jersey Devils Should Do when Paul Martin Returns?

The Martin debate is certainly an interesting one. I don’t think Greene can keep up pace the whole year (at least defensively) and we will need Martin. For me, Martin should at least start on 2nd pp, Oduya just doesn’t really get it done there.

I think Martin should be resigned, I am more interested in trading Oduya. Martin doesn’t have a lot of trade value unless he is resigned, especially to a team like Anaheim (aka non-playoff team). I think that if we can trade Oduya in a Niedermayer trade, it would be a great improvement, and an improvement in the CAP situation. We could always do something like this next year (assuming we don’t resign Mottau, which I wouldn’t):

Greene-Salvador
White-Martin
Corrente/Fraser-Eckford

Bringing up the rookies would help shed some salary for summer of Parise as well. Martin’s contract will be dependent on point production when he returns and how the CAP falls/rises.

If you had asked me in early October if trying to get Scott Niedermayer back was a good idea, I would have easily said yes. Now, I honestly don’t know if we need that. Although it really pains me to say that, since I’d love to see him on the Devils again.

Andy Greene has stepped up big time, and the rest of the defense has been, overall, pretty great. I do think it would be wise to re-sign Martin, as long as he continues to play as well as he has in the past.

Martin is one player the Devils have to re-sign. Mottau can be replaced by Fraser or Corrente, and I would be willing to see if a team wants Mottau this year for a draft pick. I think over the offseason try to move White (I believe he has one year left after this year). I would hope the Devils bring back Rob Niedermayer for one more season and let Pando go to clean up cap space. Nieder was not in high demand this summer and could be brought back at a discount over Pando.

Restricted FAs mostly stay with their organization unless the club wants to go in another direction. I do not see the Devils letting Clarkson Bergfors and Eckford go – now Pelley is another story.

One set of thoughts at a time:

• When Martin returns from his injury, I’m all for making Fraser the 7th defender and letting Eckford and Corrente get experience playing big minutes at Lowell. I figure one or two of the latter will end up with the big club in a regular role sooner or later — unless they’re shipped out as part of a deal. I’d split Oduya, Martin, and Greene into three separate pairings, and let the pairings sort themselves out by way of chemistry and need. Personally, I’d put White and Salvador with Oduya and Greene (in some order) because we’ve seen both Johnny and Andy jump up in the play a lot, and it helps to have a stay-at-home type to back them up since they will get caught at times.

• Unless someone comes in with a whopper of an offer this summer, I’d try to re-sign Martin for something in the range of what he makes now, as far as a cap hit goes. He fits in well with this team, and he is the closest thing we have to a #1 defender. Mottau can be replaced…. sure, he’s a nice player, but someone is going to give him years and money, and I think he’s the easier one to replace, especially if he’s essentially a third-pairing D-Man at this point. His spot becomes an ideal place to stick in Corrente or Eckford for next season.

• Rob Niedermeyer is a nice enough player, but I’d let him walk this summer. If there really is a need for his role to be filled by a veteran, there will be tons of them out there on the cheap during the off-season. Otherwise, let one of the kids from Lowell fill the job, and pocket the savings in cap space.

• Cap space will be important down the road. Good points regarding Parise and Langenbrunner for the summer after next, but don’t forget Andy Greene is a UFA that year as well and will command significant dollars (if not from NJ, someone else will pony up the dough). I’d also like to keep some cap space as to be able to take advantage of the opportunities that a falling cap is bound to unearth. Think the Malakhov-to-SJ deal, only in reverse — teams that have extra space will be well-equipped to take on a contract or two and be handsomely rewarded for the privledge, and it would be nice to be on the receiving end.

• I would not object to Scotty Niedermeyer, if the price is reasonable, but I imagine he’ll be in high demand if he is put on the market. Personally, I’d rather get a forward who can really put the puck in the net (even if it means renting Kovalchuk for two months).

• I don’t see how the Devils can reasonably trade Oduya right now. It is one thing if another team comes to us and offers us a lot for him, but putting his name out there will likely be seen as buyer’s remorse on the deal he got this summer, and I can’t see how we’d get equal value back in a trade. If the Devils are going to cut bait on a big(ger) contract and try to trade for what they can get, get rid of Dainius Zubrus (who the Devils seem to be fine without).

I think our defensive pairings should be:

Martin-Greene
Salvador-Oduya
White-Mottau
Frasier

I think Greene has proven he can handle big minutes and with someone like Martin to cover him, he’ll make even less mistakes.

For the PP, I think we can go with both type of lines depending on the situation in the game. Go with Greene/Martin on 1st pp depending on who was just out on the ice, and go with both in tight games where we don’t want any SH situations.

For the PK, while Greene seems to be really good at blocking shots, I think we need to spread out the minutes. But some of the pairings seems to be hit or miss when it comes to the pk.

We definitely need to sign Martin in the offseason, but if he wants too much, we still have plenty of talent in Lowell coming up and certainly can replace him.

As for the rest, Mottau is excellent trade material. We certainly have a fine d-man in Frasier and he replaces almost everything Mottau can do. If we’re going to re-sign Martin we certainly don’t need Mottau. We can’t move White because of the NTC and his experience is always nice on the back end. We can wait til after his contract expires to replace him.

With the way our d-men are playing, we pretty much have a solid group of borderline 1st to 2nd pairing d-men. So it is defense by commitee and they do a good job at it. I think NJ has better d-men than a lot of the other teams out there and people underrate our d-men all the time. With this group there is no reason why we can’t go far in the playoffs.

Lou, don’t trade for another d-man at the trade deadline. That will only mess up the chemistry we have and actually make us worse.

If Anaheim continues to circle the drain, then maybe re-acquiring Niedermayer would be a good idea. It could help the Devils clear some of the glut of D-men, position themselves better for a long playoff run, and free up some cap space for the offseason. So, here’s how I think it would work:

—Philadelphia set the market for what it could cost to get a #1 D-man by gaving up a prospect, a contributing player, two #1 picks, and a conditional second rounder for Pronger and a spare part. But that was in June, not the trade deadline, and Pronger hasn’t been openly talking of tretirement like Nieder has. So I would expect the price to get Nieder wouldn’t be quite as high.

-Let’s start with a contributing player - Someone who could replace Nieder on Anaheim’s blue line. Oduya (unless of course, he has a no-movement clause in his contract) — he’s signed for a couple of years at a reasonable price, he’s young enough to have several good years left, and he can definitely play better than he’s shown.

-In terms of prospects - I’d suggest Tyler Eckford, and (who with Greene, Corrente, and Fraser all on the cusp, and Urbom lurking behind him seems like an odd man out) and a young forward like Halischuck (though I admit I’m not as familiar with the forward prospects, and Halischuck was the first name that came to mind.)

—I’m sure the Devs would also have to throw in at least a 1st round pick, but hopefully that would be the only draft choice they’d have to surrender. (And hopefully, with Nieder in the fold, Anaheim would be looking at getting the 30th pick from NJ…)

So for the 2010 playoffs, that would leave NJ with a defense of Nieder, Greene, Salvador, Martin, White, Fraser, and Mottau; with Fraser as the spare.

And with Nieder probably retiring after the season, along with Oduya’s contract off the books, there’d be some more cash to re-sign Martin. And then for the 2010-11 season, the team could open with a defense of Martin, Salvador, Greene, White, Fraser, and Corrente as the top 6. Or, if they don’t feel Corrente is ready, re-signing Mottau is an option too

He also said that 2 seasons ago and yet still came back. I think he can’t resist playing if he can. Especially if it is on a fun team.

for a player who is going to sign a long term contract.

Every offseason Nieder has thought about hanging up the skates. I am not trading higher level guys for someone who will be here for a few months. The market for these types are no where near what some here will give up.

If he walks away after this season – Ducks get nothing
I am willing to trade a pick (2nd or 3rd) Halischuk OR Pelley – and a minor D man in Lowell (I would give Eckford but start the talks with Taormina)

and if he re-signs for the 10-11 season NJ gives another 2nd or 3rd draft pick

Ducks do not want that deal – look for another player

Most of this has been captured by the comments already but…

Id like to see Martin, Oduya, and Greene split up as the 3 “offensive” defensemen. Greene should continue to receive heavy minutes, he’s earned it and right now he’s clearly the anchor of the defense at both ends of the ice. He shouldn’t play 28-30 minutes but if his play keeps up I want him on the ice 20-25 minutes a night

The other 3 will (and should) be White, Salvador, and Mottau. Pairings should be based on chemistry. I would like to see them try Martin and White at first to see how it goes. Salvador and White are fairly interchangeable, they play the same style and are a similar size but White’s better positionally. Mottau is what he is. He’s a great value player as was pointed out above and this season in particular has done a great job (especially in the last month or so). He also does have his lapses, but I think his positives outweigh them. Additionally his minutes can now be reduced to more reasonable levels, which may cut down on them. All three of them are vets and have proven they can handle heavy minutes without the team’s won-loss record being significantly impacted.

I really like Fraser but lets be honest he’s the #7 and will have to really outplay Mottau to get into the lineup regularly (there’s no chance he unseats any of the other 5 d-men). However, I can see Lemaire working to get him in the lineup enough so that his development doesnt stagnate and he’s ready to step in in case of an injury or trade. He’ll have a great shot at making the team next year along with Corrente and Eckford, who were both impressive in their stints with the big club. For now I like the two of them playing 25-30 minutes a night in Lowell under Johnny Mac.