Unrestricted free agency is an inevitable aspect of hockey.
While the age and terms required to reach that point in a
player’s career may change, it is still as certain as death and taxes. General
Managers are then labored with the duty to evaluate and negotiate new deals for
their teams, which without having psychic abilities or infallible
predictability, is one undoubtedly one of the most challenging aspects of their
jobs.
New Jersey Devils’ GM Lou Lamoriello is no stranger to the
UFA game. Being the GM of the Devils also brings with it the media circus that
immediately pin any player who has one year left on their deal going anywhere
but New Jersey. Recently, it has been a string of bad luck which has haunted
Lamoriello in the offseason, but could that trend be ending this year?
Three years ago, Lamoriello traded for Ilya Kovalchuk a week
before the trading deadline. This was extremely out of character for the now 70
year-old former Athletic Director of Providence University, because he rarely traded for a superstar of
Kovalchuk’s ability. Add to it the fact Kovalchuk was a UFA and you could
clearly tell there were ulterior motives/ers behind the move.
That summer, the circus of signing Kovalchuk to a new
contract was one of the largest blemishes on Lamoriello’s otherwise stellar
career. The only other gaffe that could come as close to tarnishing his
reputation was the summer coming out of the 04-05 lockout in which the Devils
saw future Hall of Fame defender Scott Neidermayer change allegiances to the
Anehiem Ducks and he was replaced with Dan McGillis and Vladimir Malakahov.
Malakahov was later traded to make cap space thanks in large part to his
oversized contract and the Devils lost a first round draft pick in order for
the Sharks to take the player.
The Kovalchuk disaster also cost the Devils a first round pick,
to be surrendered at next June’s draft. The Devils were fined $3 million on top
of being humiliated by the selective enforcement of the NHL higher ups
regarding their alleged salary cap circumvention which had been done by a
handful of other teams as recently as the pervious summer.
During the very next summer, the Devils were again faced
with a massive free agency dilemma: Zach Parise.
Sticking to his past practices and own principles,
Lamoriello did not negotiate with Parise on a new deal during the season. The
winger was coming off major knee surgery which kept him out nearly the entire
2010-2011 campaign so it is understandable why Lamoriello had some reservations
about how large of a deal he wanted to offer the Minnesota native.
Feeding the New Jersey fans and media false hope of “I love
it in here” and “I want to be here,” Parise dragged his charade out until July
4th where it came to light he not only had an never-before-heard close
friendship with former Nashville Predator Ryan Suter, but was having
conversations with him regarding free agency during the season and playoffs.
The same playoffs where Parise was supposed to be captaining his team to the
Stanley Cup Finals, not vanishing midway during the Eastern Conference Finals
and barely showing up during the Finals.
With Parise gone, the Devils struggled to fill his void in
an already meager free agency pool. While they found a keeper in Andrei
Loktionov, acquiring Bobby Butler and Steve Sullivan while re-acquiring Alexi
Ponikarovsky did not pan out as well as they had hoped. In the end of yet
another strike shortened season, the Devils missed the playoffs for the second
time in three years.
This summer was going to be different: Same core returning
with only a few question marks hovering over a few players’ heads contracts
wise, but the Devils were in prime position to exploit the free agent pool.
At the NHL Entry Draft, Lamoriello even traded away his
coveted 9th overall first round draft pick in order to acquire a
reliable goaltender who, if re-signed following 2014-15, is the heir to the
Brodeur throne. Tall order, yes, but Schneider has proven in Vancouver he is
more than capable of handling not only the full-time goaltending duties, but
stealing games here and there for his team.
On July 5th, they landed their first two prizes:
Ryan Clowe and Michael Ryder. Clowe gives the Devils what they lost in David Clarkson:
grit, toughness and an ability to contribute offensively. Sure, Clowe hasn’t amassed
the goals which Clarkson has over the past two years, and his performance in New
York this past post-deadline was abysmal at best, but he’s on a less-media frenzied
team and will have a handful more opportunities to contribute. Ryder,
meanwhile, brings the Devils another power play specialist. At the time it was
believed he could alleviate some of the focus off of Kovalchuk and thus create
more success. Key phrase: at the time.
Just over a week after Lamoriello made his free agent frenzy
moves, the hockey world was hammered with a shocking announcement: Ilya
Kovalchuk was walking away form his $100 million dollar contract, “hanging up
his skates” and returning to Russia.
Lamoriello was his typical diplomatic self when handling the
post-retirement conferences. Choosing his words extremely carefully, you could
hardly tell Lamoriello was disappointed in the decision but you knew it. The player
he had worked so hard to appease the higher-ups in not only acquiring but
retaining, had just up and abandoned his team.
The move stung worse than the Parise decision, where he at
least left to stay in the NHL for larger dollar signs. Kovalchuk generated a
massive crater in the Devils’ already problematic offense.
In traditional Lamoriello fashion, however, he began to
scour the market for low-budget but high potential players.
Immediately, the Devils were linked to first year player but
UFA because of his age Damien Brunner, formerly of the Red Wings. While the
news and public conversation between the two sides were few and far between, it
made the rumors more and more believable due to Lamoriello’s strict no public negotiations
policy. The Brunner situation stalled publicly, Lou was quietly securing another
asset.
Ever since he hit his free agency following his tenure with
the Penguins, every Devils’ fan had dreamt of the prospect of Jaromir Jagr coming
to New Jersey to play alongside his friend and countryman Patrik Elias. While
time and age have cooled those emotions, it was hard not to crack a smile when
Lamoriello landed the Czech winger.
While Jagr’s post season in Boston left much to be desired,
the future Hall of Famer still has plenty to offer a team who was just slapped
in the face by Kovalchuk.
Entering camp, the Devils finally went public by extending
their formal invitation to Brunner two games into the preseason. He made an
immediate impact on the team, gelling well with anyone he was on a line with.
Before the team’s final game against the Flyers, the two sides reached a
2-year, $5 million contract.
Entering the team’s opening night contest against the
Penguins, the Devils will have at least 4 new forwards in the lineup [Brunner,
Clowe, Jagr and Ryder], and potentially a 5th in Ratislav Olez.
Not bad potential for a team who is projected to finish
towards, if not at, the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
Could this season potentially be the last one for Lou
Lamoriello as it potentially is for his career defining find in Martin Brodeur?
Only time will tell.
If it is, however, the moves made this offseason have
assembled a strong team which will surprise many across the hockey community.
While there are no guarantees in professional sports, there are also no written
laws which state teams must play down to the level which they are predicted to
by so-called experts.
Lamoriello has built a team to win-now and while offensive
prospects have not panned out as well as they had in the past, the Devils are
also in a position organizationally to have a steady diet of defenders reach
the NHL over the next few years as well as having solid goaltending security
for the foreseeable future.
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