According to Dawn Mitchell of FOX 9 in Minnesota, Wild owner Craig Leipold said that both Zach Parise and Ryan Suter absolutely had offers for more money from other teams.

Remember, in June, former Wild GM Lou Nanne said that the Wild will offer the most money to free agent Zach Parise.

Nanne said in June,

I don’t see how Parise’s not coming here.

Adam K: We may never find out who offered the most money to Zach, but it looks like it wasn’t the Wild. Parise wanted to play home and his wish was granted. One thing I may assure you is that if Ryan Suter was not on the market, or signed earlier, Parise would be back with the Devils.

Now that Zach Parise is gone, the Devils will need to find a replacement. One of the possibilities is Anaheim Ducks’ Bobby Ryan.

Ryan is on the trading market, but, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Ducks want a few pieces, including a 2nd line center for Ryan.

What would the Devils need to give up to get Ryan?  If the Ducks are looking for a 2nd line center, then, Jacob Josefson would most likely be in the discussion. However, I doubt that Lou Lamoriello would trade away Josefson.

Ryan scored 31 goals last season — same as Parise. Plus, Ryan was born and raised in New Jersey.

According to Andew Gross of The Record, the Devils have signed Krys Barch to a two-year deal. The deal was confirmed by Barch’s agent Scott Norton.

Gross noted that Barch is 31-years-old, a physical 6-foot-1, 222-pound right wing who split last season with the Stars and the Panthers.

Barch has 12 goals, 19 assists and 669 penalty minutes in 304 regular-season games over six NHL seasons.

During his conference call with reporters today, Devils GM Lou Lamoriello said that Adam Larsson will be a regular this season.

The Devils will have eight defenseman entering the new season– Salvador, Larsson, Fayne, Zidlicky, Greene, Harrold , Tallinder and Volchenkov.

Mark Fayne is out for 3-4 months, but according to Lamoriello, he could be back for the start of the season, Peter Harrold and Bryce Salvador re-signed with new deals and Henrik Tallinder will be healthy after missing most of last season with an injury.

The question is, will the Devils make any moves with their defenseman?

Now, Plan B is a must. The Devils have lost their captain, leader and best player to free agency, or better known as the Minnesota Wild.

It’s not time to start panicking, but the Devils must flip to the next page and begin life after Parise. So, what’s next for the Devils?

The Devils could go after Alexander Semin. Mostly likely, the third best player in free agency.  Hard to say if the Devils want to spend money on a player like Semin, but teaming up with his Russian friend Ilya Kovalchuk is not a bad idea. His numbers have gone down lately but he’s still capable of producing a 70-point season.

There’s also Andrei Kostitsyn, who the Devils could sign to replace Alexei Ponikarovsky.

Another option for the Devils could be trading for Ales Hemsky. He’s on the trading block but his $5 million salary cap will be tough to sell.

Petr Sykora wants to return to the Devils and now that Parise is gone, it looks like Sykora will be res-signed by the Devils. A one-year deal at the most.

I don’t want to start any speculations here, but what would the Devils need to give up to bring Rich Nash or Bobby Ryan to New Jersey. Would the Devils be willing to trade Josefson, Tedenby or Greene and a prospect for one of those guys. They did that when Kovalchuk was on the market. The Devs have Eric Gelinas and Jon Merrill in their system.

Devils Dept Chart 

Elias-Zajac-Kovalchuk

????-Josefson -Zubrus

Tedenby-Henrique-Clarkson

Carter-Gionta-Bernier
——————————————
Greene- Salvador

Tallinder- Zidlicky

Larsson-Volchenkov
——————————————-
Brodeur, Hedberg

http://devils.nhl.com/club/podcastplayer.htm?pid=458&iid=40056

Zach Parise spoke to reporters for the first time as a Wild today.

“Just the opportunity to playing at home, it really meant a lot to me and my family. My parents were so excited.”

“In the end, it came down to Minnesota and New Jersey.”

“I’m a loyal person, I love playing in New Jersey.”

“Great fans in New Jersey. As far as going back there, it’s going to be pretty unique.”

“I feel I gave everything I had when I played there… I’m confident I did everything I could to help that team.”

Quotes from Rich Chere, Michael Russo and Andrew Gross

Sunday, November 11, Zach Parise returns to his former home, The Rock.

Devils vs. Minnesota Wild, 5:00 PM EST.

According to Pierre LeBrun of ESPN, Lou Lamoriello said that he reached out to Ryan Suter camp as well, but Suter did not want to play in the Eastern Conference.

Lou on Suter: “I didn’t say I made an offer. I reached out to see if he had interest in coming to this conference.”

Devils GM Lou Lamoriello held a conference call with reporters today.

“Our offer was competitive. We did not have a phone call that we had to change it or needed to go up.”

“No question we’re disappointed.”

“The decision was based upon going home and playing with someone who he grew up with.

“Decision, from what Zach told me, was about going home. Wasn’t about money.”

“You don’t replace a Zach Parise. You just don’t do that. But we will not turn out heads. We’ll go forward.”

“I believe Zach when he said it wasn’t a money issue.”

“Team finances were never a part of any conversations.”

(Zach told Lou) “If it wasn’t going home to Minnesota, it would have been coming to New Jersey. “

Quotes from Andrew Gross, Katie Strang, Pierre LeBrun, Greg Wyshynski, David Satriano, Rich Chere