Whoa Johnny O!!!

All signs, including a rather optimistic quote from the man you'd never expect, point to Johnny Oduya remaining with New Jersey Devils.

A report on NJ.com from the Newark Star Ledger quotes the enigmatic Lou Lamoriello all but guaranteeing Oduya will be wearing the Red, Black and White next season.

Originally, this story broke from a website, in Oduya’s native Sweden, that when run through a Google translator, stated Oduya was signing for roughly $3.2 million a season. A New Jersey reporter approached Lamoriello late Sunday about the story, to which he received a stern “nothing is finalized yet.”

I know that when I read the GM’s denial of the deal, I was worried, and I’m almost positive that I was not alone.

But now hearing straight from the source, being as it is usally a silent one in terms of speculation, I’m very, VERY satisfied.

If the cap hit is correct at $3.2 million, Lamoriello has done it again, convincing a player to stay in New Jersey close to, if not significantly lower than market value. Oduya came out and stated he wanted $4 million right after the season had ended. Many felt he was over pricing himself right out of town, and some even stated, “is he on crack?”

I put a value of $3.5 million on the speedy defender, and was hoping the Devils would not exceed that. And they did not disappoint.

Lamoriello also went on in the article to state that he hopes not one, but two moves could be completed by the end of tomorrow.

This allows for rampant speculation by fans, but assuming that Oduya is one of the deals, the possibilities are seemingly endless for the 2nd.

Could it be a new head coach, which many people would be announced by the end of today [Monday]? Could it be the re-signing of Brian Gionta, or maybe restricted free agent Travis Zajac?

I, for one, am hoping that its either Zajac or Gionta.

I’d love for it to be Zajac because that means we set the bar for him, and got him at our price, without having to worry about other team’s convincing him to sign their insane offer sheets (yes, Kevin Lowe, this is directed to you).

With Gionta, I’d love for the team to keep him cause he’s a great person [I’ve met him and it wasn’t outside of a hockey rink, either], and he has potential to be a solid scorer, but we cannot afford the $4 million of his last contract and $3 million he should command from another franchise, could handcuff the Devils next season if, and more than likely when, the salary cap takes a nose dive.

If we could keep both, that’d be great, but we definitely have to keep the cap in mind.

Either way, Lou has already started this offseason on the right foot. I’ll give him a +2 on the score sheet, one for keeping Oduya and a big bonus point presuming the cap hit is under $3.5 million.

p.s. – please, for the love of god and the sake of our franchise in the near future, do not bring Lemaire back. We have enough trouble drawing crowds, who wants to come and watch defensive hockey after we’ve seen some semblance of offense the past 2 seasons under Benedict Arnold… I mean Sutter.