Rich Chere of the Newark Star-Ledger came through with a couple very important nuggets of news for Devils fans today.
Devils have begun talks with David Clarkson. There have been no financial discussions at this point.— Rich Chere (@Ledger_NJDevils) May 15, 2013
Devils have not yet begun talks with Patrik Elias. Like David Clarkson, he can become an unrestricted free agent.— Rich Chere (@Ledger_NJDevils) May 15, 2013
Corey Griffin
Well this is certainly good, if not entirely expected news. I wouldn’t read too much into no Elias talks yet, although it does tell me that perhaps Lou Lamoriello has prioritized Clarkson, which would make sense for a few reasons. One, Elias’ value on the open market is pretty much well known. He’ll likely get a two-year deal worth between $9-12 million, but Clarkson’s value could spike if he’s allowed to talk to other teams. Of course, Clarkson and his reps understand that and I highly doubt Clarkson will sign before getting a chance to at least test free agency. This sounds to me like Lou testing out the waters and getting a sense of what Clarkson’s people are looking for in average annual value so that Lou can slot in whether the Devils will even be a player in talks. I’m on record as saying I think eventually a deal gets done unless Clarkson is truly looking for the biggest contract possible, in which case he’ll likely end up in Toronto or Edmonton. My guess is that this will play out a lot like the Zach Parise negotiations from last year, with Clarkson hitting free agency the Devils staying in it until the end. Whether Clarkson returns to New Jersey is likely up to him.
The NHL announced a January doubleheader at Yankee Stadium to conclude their “Stadium Series.” The games are as follows:
Rangers at Devils on Jan. 26, 2014
Rangers at Islanders on Jan. 29, 2014
Here’s an excerpt from the press release:
The two games at Yankee Stadium complete the four-game 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series™ scheduled for next season. On Jan. 25, the Anaheim Ducks will play the Los Angeles Kings at Dodger Stadium. On March 1, the Chicago Blackhawks will host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Soldier Field.
“The innovative nature of the Stadium Series affords the opportunity to have all three NHL teams in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area play, outdoors, at one of the most-celebrated stadiums in the world,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “We’ll be able to create a multi-faceted, multi-day experience for our fans, and we thank the teams, Coors Light, the New York Yankees and Yankee Stadium for their support of this memorable NHL event.”
Corey Griffin
We’re on record as saying back in April that these rumored games feel like nothing more than a cash grab for a league that just lost half of its season to the lockout. Plus, while Devils season-ticket holders will get the first crack at seats for the Jan. 26 game, that doesn’t mean they’ll be anywhere close to your regular ticket price. The Devils have managed to keep most of their tickets relatively affordable, but by converting one of your 41 home games to a psuedo-Winter Classic, the NHL is jacking up the cost of that seat by probably at least 30 to 40 percent. Also, I can’t imagine the Rangers are thrilled with being a visiting team for both of these games. There’s a greater chance for injury due to the poor lighting and quality of the ice surface and they don’t get the gate form either event. Not that they need it — but I’m just saying.
Now for the positive, Devils fans will get to watch their team in a signature event, outdoors at Yankee Stadium against the rival Rangers. Also, with the theme of throwback jerseys in outdoor games, there’s a really good chance the Devils will wear some variation of their Christmas sweaters, which is awesome. The thought of that alone is pretty cool. The other great part is the fans that can afford to go will get the chance a really unique event in a different setting or possibly scalp their season ticket for who knows much above face value.
In the end, like most things in the NHL, there’s good and bad sides to this and it just depends on which way you want to look at it. For me, I see a money-hungry league obsessed with piercing the national consciousness ahead of and after the Olympics. I also see a diminished product put on a national stage on a dead sports day (outside of the Pro Bowl), which should draw pretty big ratings. And I guess any sort of business/ratings boon for the NHL is good for the hockey fan in me, right?
#NJDevils – #NYR Yankee Stadium game will be made official by NHL this week. Sunday before Super Bowl. Devils the home team.— Chris Botta (@ChrisBottaNHL) May 15, 2013
That it will be a Devils home game is a huge get for the franchise. Not only will the Devils get all the gate proceeds, but I believe Devils season-ticket holders also get more of the available tickets. We’ll have more reaction when it’s official later in the week.
The Anaheim Ducks were eliminated from the postseason, which means we can all start speculating about whether winger Bobby Ryan will be traded this summer. The Ducks have devoted a lot of cap space to Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry and there might not be enough left to keep Ryan, who is due to count $5.1 million against the cap for each of the next two seasons (per Cap Geek).
If a 30-goal scorer is on the trade market, you would think Lou Lamoriello and the Devils would be interested. Todd Cordell of Hockey Buzz posed the question, speculated about Anaheim’s asking price and then answered it rather definitively.
His points per game average was down a bit from his standards this season but he still had more even strength goals and points than every player on the Devils, so clearly he’d be a welcome addition.
Now about the cost. What would it be? I’m guessing the Devils would have to include one of Eric Gelinas / Alex Urbom / Jon Merrill as well as another forward prospect (likely Stefan Matteau or Reid Boucher), an NHL center off of their roster and potentially the 9th overall pick (depending on the prospects/center they offer).
A steep price, indeed, but you don’t get young perennial 30 goal scorers without giving up a lot. You have to give to get, they say.
Whether Ryan ends up a Devil or not, Devils GM, Lou Lamoriello, must make some calls and try to get his hands on Ryan. Lamoriello has said you look at every opportunity to improve your roster. Well, an opportunity is sitting right in front of you.
Corey Griffin
Cordell’s argument is a fair one. The Devils don’t have a lot of players with the offensive game that Ryan possesses and 30-goal scorers are increasingly rare commodities. I don’t disagree that Lamoriello should (and probably will) make a call to Ducks GM Bob Murray if indeed Ryan is available. Even if the Devils retain David Clarkson and Patrik Elias, we saw this season that’s not enough. If Clarkson leaves, Ryan would be a much better offensive replacement and likely at a similar cost value given what Clarkson could get on the open market. Ryan would give the Devils an instant 1-2 punch on the right side with Ilya Kovalchuk and could prove to be an incredibly dangerous winger playing alongside Adam Henrique or perhaps even be a new bestie for the sullen Travis Zajac. The idea, in theory, sounds like a no-brainer.
But you lose me at the cost. As we saw this season, the Devils have minimal depth both at the NHL level and throughout the organization. Sacrificing one of your top defensive prospects along with your top offensive prospect, a current NHL center and potentially the No. 9 overall pick in a talent-rich draft is way too much for a franchise like the Devils to give up. Lamoriello needs to keep adding to the prospects and the talent base, not subtract from it. I understand the idea of adding a talent like a Ryan (a N.J. kid, no less) is absolutely tantalizing. Some of you might say that trading unproven talent for proven skill is always worth it — and a lot of times I would agree with you. But I worry about this team beyond next season or the year after that. There has to be a talent pipeline once more and a trade for Ryan might very well gut it of most of the top-level players.
While I appreciate the idea and think Ryan could be a very helpful addition, I just think it’s a short-sighted move meant to capitalize on what’s left of Martin Brodeur’s career. The Devils need to build for next year and what happens after Marty retired, not one or the other. What do you think?
-James van Riemsdyk
-Joffrey Lupul
-John Tavares
-Martin Brodeur
-Pavel Datsyuk
-Sergei Bobrovsky
-Taylor Hall
-Wayne Simmonds
The next round of voting will pit Datsyuk against Lupul, Brodeur against van Riemsdyk, Hall against Bobrovsky and Simmonds against Tavares. Voting for the Datsyuk-Lupul and Simmonds-Tavares series will begin on May 13 and conclude on May 19. The other two series will begin on May 20 and conclude on May 26. From there, the Final Four will be set.
It’s been a strange season for Stefan Matteau. The Devils’ first-round pick in 2012 had his first training camp shortened by the lockout only to find himself on the active roster after five games. Once the first year of his entry-level deal was enacted, Matteau stuck around for almost half the season before the Devils returned him to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the QMJHL. Of course, Matteau’s return to junior didn’t exactly end well.
Matteau reportedly split on the team, taking a fan bus home from a game after he was benched for the third period The team cut him and said he left without permission and there were reports of an altercation between Matteau and the team’s brass. Matteau’s agent, Pat Brisson, said he left with permission after he was cut because Matteau didn’t want to wait for a plane the next day.
Now, Matteau’s dad, former NHLer Stefane Matteau, says he doesn’t think the junior club treated his son the right way. The elder Matteau is also an assistant coach on the Armada, which makes all of this even more sticky.
“They released him on emotion and emotion only,” Stephane Matteau said. “In the semifinals, he got speared and he retaliated – it’s a hockey play – and they decided to sit him out the whole third period of a 1-1 game. Emotionally, he let the coach know it was unfair the way he was treated for that moment and they went at it verbally and they kicked him off (the team) five minutes after the game.”
Because of his obvious conflict of interest, Stephane, was not involved in the decision to release Stefan. He felt that Bouchard wanted to make an example of Stefan because he had spent the first two months of the NHL season with the Devils, playing in 17 games, before they returned him to Blainville-Boisbriand on March 17.
…
“They wanted to set him as an example for the rest of the group,” he said. “When you’re in the spotlight – there’s a lot of guys that would take more penalties than he did – but they were waiting for the next mistake. Emotion took part on both sides. … I’ve never seen an organization releasing a guy five minutes after a game. It’s very, very, very disappointing. I’m very disappointed and I didn’t go back to work the next day. I did not go to work the next day. I did not interfere, but I did not agree with what happened.”
Corey Griffin
This all smells fishy — not a fish market at 1 p.m. on a hot sunny day fishy, but when someone hasn’t had their car cleaned in a while and you sit in it and after a couple minutes, you think to yourself, “Something’s weird in here.” You can’t quite put your finger on it, but there’s something “off.” This whole thing has turned into a giant he said-he said with both sides trying to justify immaturity. Stefan Matteau’s decision to get into a verbal disagreement with his coach after being benched probably wasn’t smart. Neither was riding the bus home — regardless of whether he’d already been cut. Of course, cutting a player five minutes (according to StefanE) after a game looks like the coach and GM were just waiting for the right opportunity. You don’t just suddenly cut a player with first-round talent from a junior club that quickly even if he plays undisciplined at times or maybe even if he’s upset about being benched. Whether they were trying to use him as an example is another issue entirely, but it’s pretty obvious they didn’t want Matteau on the team anymore and just needed a reason to cut him without looking bad.
The bottom line is this should (hopefully) be a lesson for both parties. Stefan Matteau needs to grow up — on the ice and off. Yeah, he spent two months with an NHL club and probably has a future as a third-line winger in this league, but getting kicked off your junior club for yelling at the coach and GM isn’t going to do you any favors with NHL execs and coaches. He’s far from the only professional athlete with an attitude problem at a young age. The NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB and minor leagues are filled with them. But there’s a difference between being a dick at 18 and 19 and still being one as a pro.
As for the undisciplined play? Well, that’ll get him booted from the league quicker than an attitude. Even guys like Matt Cooke, Steve Downie and Raffi Torres had to shape up before they were shipped out.
Devilish Decisions: Alexei Ponikarovsky
Pat Pickens
This is a series of posts on the Devils’ pending free agents (restricted and unrestricted). We’ll cover their strengths and weaknesses and end up with a final verdict on whether we think the Devils should re-sign the player. There will also be a poll at the end of each post so you guys can weigh in with your thoughts.
Position: Left Wing Age: 33 2013 statistics: 30 games with NJ/2 goals, 5 assists, 7 points, minus-2 rating, 8 PIMs Free-agent status: Unrestricted 2012-13 salary/cap hit: $1.8 million/$1.8 million (via Cap Geek) Team history: Acquired in 2013 trade with Winnipeg Jets for conditional 2013 draft pick. Played in 33 games with the Devils during 2011-12 season, amassing 18 points.
What he brings: Ponikarovsky was a great checking-line forward in the Devils’ 2012 run to the Stanley Cup Finals. He scored a few timely goals this season and brings the always valubale “jam” to the lineup. ‘Poni’ also is a good dressing room leader and can play on any line.
This is a series of posts on the Devils’ pending free agents (restricted and unrestricted). We’ll cover their strengths and weaknesses and end up with a final verdict on whether we think the Devils should re-sign the player. There will also be a poll at the end of each post so you guys can weigh in with your thoughts.
Position: Defense Age: 36 2013 statistics: 48 games/4 goals, 15 assists, 19 points, minus-12 rating, 38 PIMs Free-agent status: Unrestricted 2012-13 salary/cap hit: $4 million/$4 million (via Cap Geek) Team history: Acquired in 2012 trade with Minnesota Wild for Nick Palmieri, Stephan Veilleux, Kurtis Foster and a third-round draft pick.
What he brings: There’s no doubt that the Zidlicky trade catapulted New Jersey to its deep playoff run in 2012. The Czech defenseman plays an offense-first game, in which he joins the rush and makes plays. He was the Devils’ lone offensive defenseman in 2013, often plays the power play and can go end to end like few other ‘D’ in the league.
Even though the New Jersey Devils are no longer playing as team, some Devils are still playing competitive hockey.
The IIHF World Championships are happening abroad– in Finland and Sweden, in fact. There are two Devils apiece on Teams USA and Russia and one on Team Sweden.
Ilya Kovalchuk posted three shots on goal in 23:19 of ice time in Team Russia’s stunning 2-1 loss to France on Wednesday.
Neither Kovalchuk, nor Andrei Loktionov gained points in Russia’s first tournament loss. Loktionov finished 6-for-11 on faceoffs.
In Sweden’s 3-0 loss to Canada, Devils defenseman Henrik Tallinder had two shots in 20:30.
