Potential Defenseman Acquisitions & Compensation

by Tom Stivali on Feb 16, 2010 5:15 PM EST

I think we can all agree that (1) Lou likes to deal for defensive depth at a trade deadline and (2) the Devils would do well in acquiring a 1st/2nd pairing defenseman. Being bored at work I scoured Capgeek.com and looked for defenseman under the following parameters:

1. Expiring UFAs/RFAs filtered by: Teams with marginal cup chances or that may be looking to get some assets in return their players(Colorado, Florida, Carolina)

then filtered by: Realism/Logic. For example we won't be trading for Erik Johnson of St. Louis (RFA) but James Wisniewski because of his injury history and possible monetary raise could be a potential acquisition.

2. I also then ensured the capspace would work for us, which because we didn't overpay any FA's in the offseason we have more than enough.

3. I assume that if we are going to make a deal for a D-Man that person would essentially bump Mottau down to third pairing. Otherwise what's the point right? We already have 'depth' in my opinion. That said, I then looked at some stats from behindthenet.ca in regards to quality of competition to see who has played against BETTER competition so far this season than Mike Mottau. I also filtered by players who average more than 15:00 of TOI per game.

I came up with the following players:

Scott Neidermeyer

Jordon Leopold

James Wisniewski

That's 9 players in total. Now the question becomes what would each team want in compensation for any of these players. I will now group the 9 players into compensation 'tiers' so we could get comfortable with what we would have to give up to get them:

Tippy Top Tier

Scott Niedermeyer

2nd Tier

Pavel Kubina

Marek Zidlicky

James Wisniewski

3rd Tier

Andy Sutton
Dan Hamhuis

Jordan Leopold

4th Tier

Joe Corvo

Derek Morris

So what do the posters at ILWT think? What would it take to acquire the players above? Do we need defensive help? Am I missing anyone that you think is deserving to be in this group?

Also, before you reply remember that Brian Rolston has a NTC. Thanks!

All FanPosts and FanShots are the respective work of the author and not representative of the writers or other users of In Lou We Trust.

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I really wanted Kim Johnsson, he’s solid and reliable. But he was traded, so i’d probably say Zidlicky just because of his puck moving ability, and that’s the one thing we need right now

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by Kevin Sellathamby on Feb 16, 2010 6:33 PM EST reply actions

Zidlicky/Johnsson

I liked Johnsson too. If the Devils got Zidlicky I would be excited because (1) he can move the puck and (2) Lemaire would know him better than most, so it would be a nice endorsement to bring over a D man from the Wild.

One of the reasons I thought we signed Cory Murphy over a guy like MA Bergeron (who Montreal signed) in the offseason was the fact that Bergeron played for Lemaire in Minnesota.

by Tom Stivali on Feb 17, 2010 9:28 AM EST up reply actions

I just modified the title so it reads fully on the front page.

This a good point of discussion. I’ll have to think about it, but I’d rank Joe Corvo along with Sutton and Hamhuis. Just my initial instinct.

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by John Fischer on Feb 16, 2010 7:13 PM EST reply actions

Corvo

Good point John, and I actually like Corvo better than those two guys myself. My thoughts are that since he is recovering from injury that he would command a little less in the marketplace because he hasn’t totally proven his health yet.

by Tom Stivali on Feb 17, 2010 9:29 AM EST up reply actions

Unfortunately, I don't expect Corvo to be on the move

As a Devils’ fan now living in Raleigh, I’ve seen quite a bit of Corvo over the past couple of seasons. Other than Scotty Niedermayer, Corvo would, I think, be the best fit of any of the guys on that list. He’s got a great shot from the point, looks totally comfortable QBing the powerplay (typically 2nd PP unit for the ‘Canes), doesn’t give up anything defensively (when healthy, he typically plays alongside Tim Gleason on Canes’ shutdown pair), and he’s right-handed.

Unfortunately, I don’t think the price is going to be lower for him because he’s recovering from injury. Corvo is younger than the other players the ‘Canes have traded or have on the market, and he’s more valuable to Carolina, as Carolina’s system is deeper at forward than at defense. Of all the ’Canes who are UFA after this year, I think Corvo is the most likely to stay put and re-sign.

Matt Cullen and Niclas Wallin’s names were all over the place before their trades, and Ray Whitney’s name is still all over the place. There’s hardly any talk down here about Corvo possibly being trade bait.

by HockeyWeasel on Feb 17, 2010 11:54 AM EST up reply actions

Corvo

Fair points about Corvo and great ‘inside’ knowledge about the Canes and Corvo’s abilities. Do you think any of the other UFA Canes DMen would be worthwhile acquisitions for the Devils? Does Aaron Ward have anything left in your opinion?

by Tom Stivali on Feb 17, 2010 12:11 PM EST up reply actions

Aaron Ward

Ward’s play has gotten better of late, but I don’t think he’s the right fight here. He doesn’t really provide anything NJ doesn’t already have in Salavdor, White, and Fraser.

by HockeyWeasel on Feb 17, 2010 12:18 PM EST up reply actions

I’ve always liked Zidlicky, though it was pretty much entirely based on nothing but instincts and fantasy hockey. I’m happy to see his name on this thoroughly parsed list and would eagerly welcome him to the team.

As to what it would take, I leave that for those with better grasps on contract values.

by elesias on Feb 16, 2010 8:07 PM EST reply actions

Honestly, all of these guys make for good 2nd pairing players. The only one I’m iffy about is Morris.

by skly27 on Feb 16, 2010 8:59 PM EST reply actions

Doesn't Kubina

have a NTC? I could be wrong, and I’m not sure if anyone else on your list does.

by Mandmeisterx on Feb 17, 2010 11:57 AM EST reply actions

Kubina

He does, and there has been no mention of him being willing to lift it, but I would have to believe that most of the guys on this list (if they have an NTC or NMC) would be willing to waive it for a few months to compete on a playoff contender. That’s one thing I forgot to cross-reference when I put the list together (but amazingly enough it is why I didn’t put Kaberle on here).

by Tom Stivali on Feb 17, 2010 12:09 PM EST up reply actions

Kubina and Kovy had a little "scrum" in the olympics too.

I really don’t want to split the dressing room going down the stretch run… I like Wisniewski though. Should be interesting tomorrow, I better not come home tomorrow and see the Devils did nothing or trade for a Havelid type player…

by RolliePollieKovy on Mar 2, 2010 8:36 PM EST reply actions