The Devils are playing the kind of hockey I thought they would this year. I know I come off as seeing that I have no hope in this franchise but I do. I believe though that for this club to have some long term success they are going to have to give up some pieces now to rebuild a little for the future.

In the 06-07 season the Flyers were abysmal. They were in a much worse position than we are in right now. They traded Peter Forsberg to Predators for Ryan Parent (who was a good prospect at the time) Scottie Upshall, a first and third rounder. This got them James Van Riemsdyk. They later used their lottery pick to get JVR.

There is only 1 true player the Devils could move to pay dividends down the road and that's Parise. Elias and Kovalchuk are going no where (Elias has a NMC and Kovy a NTC). Parise could easily garner us a first rounder and an extremely talented prospect given his age. Lou could even add in to the deal that if Zach re-signs with the team he was traded to in the offseason the Devils get another pick. Maybe we could even land a young goalie like Jonathan Bernier or Anders Lindback.

Also keep this in mind, Zach Parise given his age and and ability to resign with the team he's traded to is much more valuable than Forsberg was.

I know this is a very difficult thing to think about because we all love Zach and what he's done for the club but I think we have to keep our options open. As good as Zach is there's a possibility we can end up with a better player in this coming draft as this draft is supposed to be loaded with talent.

I'm just going to say that if a team is willing to load the Devils with draft picks and young talent I wouldn't hesitate to trade Zach as much as I love him as a player and a Devil. There's also the possibility that he doesn't resign with NJD and the Devils walk away empty handed though I think it's unlikely.

I know it's a bit soon to think about trading him at the deadline but this could be something that could transform the Devils into a good team for years to come.