It's time to turn the page on some key Devils, get younger fast

Quick, off the top of your head, how many players over the age of 30 years old were on the New Jersey Devils' roster for most of the 2009-10 season?  If you said eleven, then you're right.  Elias, Rolston, Zubrus, Langenbrunner, Pandolfo, McAmmond, Niedermayer, Mottau, Salvador, White and Brodeur are all over the age of 30, including the franchise's goaltender.  Essentially, that makes up half the team, and part of the the core as well.  Getting younger solves every problem the Devils had this season on paper.  After that, no general manager can do anything about performance.

The average age of the Devils' roster was 29.1 this past season, while Washington's average age was 27.7, San Jose was 28.3, Pittsburgh and Vancouver were both 28.2, Chicago was 26.2.  Of the top teams, the Red Wings were higher, however, at slightly over 30 years old.  The biggest problem, however, is that the older Devils are not Nicklas Lidstrom or Daniel Alfredsson, while they may be productive, they have now failed three straight years in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs...as the higher seed.

My personal opinion for the Devils is to make a few tough decisions, starting with some buyouts/trades.  Brian Rolston would be too expensive, I understand the business side of things when it comes to Rolston, so keep him and his contract and just hope for the best and maybe a 20-goal season and good defensive hockey from him next year.  The buyouts/trades I would make, and it would make a statement to the team internally and externally, would be Jay Pandolfo, Colin White and Jamie Langenbrunner.  Langenbrunner probably has some value.  If I was a GM of a team that was young (i.e. Chicago) and needed a little more offensive touch (i.e. Nashville), I might surrender a second and third rounder for Jamie, maybe even a decent prospect.  White and Pandolfo have little value, unless a team like Toronto, that is clearly rebuilding, needs one more veteran to add to their club, and I doubt the return would be significant at all.

Those three players would clear a whopping $8 Million of cap hit, which directly affects next year's cap.  That is exactly $8.3M of spending money (plus the estimating $900K the salary cap is expecting to increase next year) the Devils would be able to spend right off the bat, although Jeff Vanderbeek has stated that three straight first round departures have the Devils looking at financial cuts, not more spending - cap hit does not always directly affect the money out of the owner's pocket that season.  Add to that the likely departures of Rob Niedermayer ($1M) and Dean McAmmond (minimum salary), and the Devils can be spenders this off-season.

Before I look at spending, I would like to look internally first.  Mike Mottau must go.  Although he was not the worst problem down the stretch, let's face it, he's not a quality defenseman, and the ice time he got was flat out ridiculous.  Let him sign somewhere else, and best of luck to him.  Skoula goes to as far as I'm concerned, he didn't play that well either.  Clarkson and Fraser are both restricted free agents, and I would reward both of them with contracts.  Fraser should get two years/$3M at most and Clarkson should get a three-year deal, and he will likely demand somewhere in the $3.5M ballpark annually.  He won't be cheap, but hopefully he can be sold at $2.5-3M.  Finally, Yann Danis goes, and goaltending will be addressed later on.

Now is that fun part, spending.  According to my calculations, I have cleared about $11-12M or so, and it's all about to be used up.  Ilya Kovalchuk is obviously the big name, and yes, technically he is "internal," but I wanted to give him more thought.  Kovalchuk usually speaks his mind, but the big question is, how much does winning matter to him?  Will he shed a few dollar figures to sign with a winning team or will he take the money and run?  I [like to] believe that he is a good guy and will re-sign, since all he kept saying was that New Jersey was a first-class organization while he was here.  People may argue that the Devils are better off without him, but he fills the stands, he makes the game exciting and the Devils actually had a higher shooting percentage as a team with him than without him (as per previous article on this site).  I would make a strong effort to keep Kovalchuk, but not at the expense of the franchise, so not beyond $8.5M, that is my "cut-off," and I would give him a NTC (no-trade clause) for a certain amount of time within the $7.5M range.  There are also two options, a shorter deal, for three-five years, and he would still be in his prime afterwards to sign another deal, or a long-term deal.  Assume the long-term deal and something to the tune of 8/9-years/$65-70M when the cap hit and a possible added minimum year is considered.

With a core of Kovalchuk, Parise, Zajac and Tedenby on the way, two huge gaps highlight the Devils' biggest needs.  One of which is a physical defenseman, maybe even a puck-carrying defenseman, and the other is a play-making centerman.  Well, there's no Nicklas Lidstrom in his prime available anymore, or Scott Niedermayer for that matter, although both are available, but neither should be Devils.  Anton Volchenkov and Dan Hamhuis should be, though.  Volchenkov made $3.2M this season (forgetting cap hit), and Hamhuis made under $2.5M, so both will be looking for pay increases.  Volchenkov, in my mind, is worth $4.5M per year.  He's not a flashy defenseman who will light the lamp often, but he is an asset to any winning team, and necessary.  Hamhuis brings a physical presence as well, and for the record, neither have celebrated their 28th birthday yet.  Hamhuis' contract will likely be 3-5 years and a $3.5M starting salary/cap hit, possibly a NTC as well.

The other important need of the Devils this year is at the center ice position.  Patrik Elias is not a center.  I don't care who tells me what, even if I'm face to face with Lou Lamoriello, I would tell him, Elias is a winger and should be played there.  Obviously, the big name people bring up is Tomas Plekanec, and rightfully so.  Montreal will make a pitch for him, although they have plenty of cap issues of their own to deal with.  Who knows, maybe they clear up some cap and end up with Patrick Marleau, the best French-Canadian free agent center.  Marleau is not a good fit for the Devils, I would skip over him, with or without Kovalchuk.  Plekanec would be a solid fit, considering he played under Jacques Martin, and will likely demand around $3.5M this off-season, hopefully not more.  But what about Eric Belanger?  He should have been traded for this season, but Belanger does it all, he is the new John Madden.  He can score goals, play-make and play defense.  He isn't a 60-point man, but he does the job.  He won't demend a huge contract, but $2M is probably necessary for him.

I intentionally skipped over Paul Martin.  I don't see a senario where the Devils can upgrade the defense without losing Martin, unless another major trade is made.  Now, I personally would not object to a trade, possibly involving former captain Patrik Elias, but how many moves can be made without an overhaul and rebuilding phase?  I don't see an Elias trade (he has a no-trade clause) unless the right opportunity presents itself, and if it does, great.  Either Martin or Elias will be let go if the Devils should upgrade their defense significantly.

I would also like to see the Devils add character players for the fourth line, the 4th line is not a tryout line, it has a purpose.  Manny Malhotra (San Jose), Pierre LeBlond and Nick Palmieri would do.

Now there is one more move I would make in terms of the active roster.  Jamie Langenbrunner might be the trade bait, and it might take Elias instead, but I would trade for Carey Price, assuming Montreal re-signs Price.  As much as I respect Halak and what he has done in the playoffs, but long-term, I believe Price will be the better goaltender if he is put in the right circumstance.  With that said, what better place to revive a career than in New Jersey?  The Devils should have a top defense again, Price would back Brodeur up, but play at least 18-20 games to keep Brodeur fresh and healthy, and Price would also have Brodeur, Chris Terreri and Jacques Caron to look up to.  The Devils coaching staff plus Brodeur could get Carey Price back on track.

So, with all of those moves, I am probably a little over the cap.  I did the math and I was surprisingly close, including Price, who needs to be resigned by Montreal, and that will dictate his contract, since he is a restricted free agent.  The last major decision is head coach.  I prefer MacLean, and my sleeper pick is Kirk Muller, but that's another story...

Assuming Lou can fit that lineup under the cap, our lineup would look something like this:

Parise-Zajac-Clarkson (Clarkson plays like B. Shanahan, without the 50-goal skill, but he fits that line)
Kovalchuk-Plekanec-Zubrus (it could be argued that Zubrus plays better at center maybe on third line...)
Rolston-Belanger-Zharkov/Tedenby (Tedenby might make the NHL team, but he and Josefson will likely be in AHL)
LeBlond-Malhotra-Palmieri/Davis

Volchenkov-Greene (Unless Martin can return)
Hamhuis-Salmela/Fraser (hmm, a Fraser/Hamhuis pairing???)
Salvador-Corrente/Eckford

Brodeur-Price

That's not too bad, as long as they can execute, I mean the teams on paper the past two years haven't been that bad offensively.

I know some of the moves I suggested aren't going to be popular, but hey, work with me, I know I dream a little.  I could have suggested a Stamkos for Elias trade, but I didn't.  There's a lot of people who want a lot more than I do, this team that I projected certainly fixes the holes.  Leave the rest up to Lou and Vanderbeek.