Official: New Jersey Devils sign Rob Davison, 7 Other Players for Farm System; What About Shanahan?

Those of you who wanted to see the New Jersey Devils sign some players, well today was your lucky day.  The Devils announced 8 signings today.   Don't get too excited, unless you're a follower of Lowell or Trenton because these are definitely depth signings.  Both Chere and Gulitti has the story on who was signed.  Gulitti has quotes from Lou stating that these are for the purposes of depth.  Chere's article is more to the point, stating that the basic stats of the players were signed for Lowell.   The 8 players are: Gerald Coleman (G), Jeff Lerg (G), Rob Davison (D), Stephen Gionta (F), Kyle Kucharski (F), Brad Mills (F), Jeff Prough (F), Ben Walter (F). 

Coleman, Mills, Prough, and Gionta have been in the Devils' farm system, so they are all re-signings. Walter has been in the minors, but he's new to the organization.  Lerg and Kucharski have been signed out of college, Michigan State and Boston College, respectively.    Davison, actually, did get some time up with Vancouver, playing 23 games last season.  I think he starts in Lowell due to the sheer depth at defense that the Devils currently have.  But he'll have his chance in training camp to prove me wrong.  He did contribute this wonderful moment, after all.

In a word: Glorious.

As far as actual New Jersey signings are concerned, Chere revealed yesterday from Lou that he's leaving the door open for Brendan Shanahan.  The 40 year old is an unrestricted free agent and according to Chere, he is expected to make his decision on his future next week.  Gulitti has more on that today, with more quotes from Lou - who is being uncharacteristically open about this.  OK, it's not like it's a signing that will make or break the Devils or change the face of the Atlantic Divsion as we know it.  Still, it's not often that Lou tells the media that A) he wants the player and B) he's been talking with the Devils.

Truth be told, I wouldn't mind Shanahan playing for another season.  However, I think it could hurt the "youth movement" that some may want to see happen for 2009-10.  I highly doubt Shanahan is going to sign anything but a one-way deal.  I don't think it'll be for much, but it's still cap space taken up.  Moreover, while he's definitely not what he once was, he still has enough in the tank to provide some offense on the bottom two lines as well as bolster the power play.  I think he's good enough to keep playing and therefore, that's another spot at forward taken up.   As it is, the Devils have 4 left wings and 4 right wings signed with New Jersey; Shanahan would be the 9th winger on the team.  So if you're a prospective winger, your likelihood of making the team would just fall.  Again, I would like Shanahan to sign, but it's going to make it harder for a Bergfors or a Vasyunov or a Halischuk or whomever to make it onto New Jersey at training camp.