Devils Trade Arnott to Washington

Last summer, the Devils went back to the well and brought back another veteran who helped them win, literally, a Stanley Cup.

As every Devils fan recalls, Arnott was forever immortalized when he buried a cross ice feed from Patrik Elias behind Ed Belfour to clinch the Devils’ second Stanley Cup in franchise history in double overtime.

The hopes at the beginning of the season were that Arnott would be the staple for the 2nd line and be able to get the offense to move in the right direction. For the first half, that’s exactly what he was doing, leading the team in goals for nearly the first 3 months.

But with the change in command [Lemaire taking over for MacLean], Arnott’s play began to drop off considerably. In fact, Arnott had slipped to centering the third line, and was consistently held off the scoring sheet. Fans even noted that it was almost impossible if Arnott was playing unless he was called for a penalty, fanning on a shot from the point on the power play, or getting a rare point on a goal.

There were continuous questions if the Devils were going to move Arnott, or if Arnott would ask them to move him leading up to Monday’s deadline.

Recently, Arnott openly stated if he could be moved to a team in the playoffs, he would accept the trade. He would refuse, however, to be moved to a team that is fighting to earn its spot because if he would be making a lateral move and would prefer to stay with the Devils.

Today, just at the Trading Deadline, the Devils abided by wishes of their former hero and were able to move him to a team in the thick of the playoff race.

Washington proved to be the best, and possibly only, suitors for the 36 year old veteran center. In return, the Devils got a larger, younger, and quite frankly a better center in at least terms of face-off percentage and a draft pick.

Dave Steckel is an average center overall, but is great on the penalty kill, and late game situations, including winning clutch face-offs. He also is willing to get into the dirty areas and create traffic. His major drawback, according to scouts and observers, is the face he does not use his side to his advantage nor to his benefit. He will fit in easily on the Devils bottom two lines, and with a price tag only $1.1 million over the next two seasons, is a low-risk, decent reward player.

Along with Steckel, the Devils received the Capitals’ 2nd round pick in the 2012 draft.

Steckel will be in the Devils’ line-up Wednesday night and will be wearing Arnott’s old #25.

The quest for the post season resumes with the Devils being 9 points out with 20 to play.

Keeping Hope Alive

Photos are property of Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images

After two nights ago, panic could have set in.

Two nights ago, the Devils could have said, “that’s it, we’re mortal again,” and packed in their season knowing they had let an opportunity to keep pace slip away, falling further behind the pack.

Two nights ago has now turned into nothing more than a minor speed bump, at least for tonight.

The Devils opened up tonight’s game as tense as they left Friday night’s contest against the Lightning. The Panthers controlled the flow of play for the first half of the first period as they mounted chance after chance on the Devils. Martin Brodeur, however, was equal to the task, showing little to no signs of a 9 game layoff while he recovered from a knee injury.

The tables turned as the Devils controlled the flow of play during the latter stages of the period and were able to nearly equalize the shot chances, trailing by 1 in that category heading into intermission.

The second period would prove to be the decisive one as the Devils came out red hot. Their determination was fueled by the efforts of their grinders who broke the scoreless draw. Rod Pelley’s shot from the left point was kicked out to the same-side faceoff circle, where David Clarkson made a diving rebound attempt that beat goaltender Tomas Vokun short side for his first goal in 18 games.

Just 3 minutes later, after the Devils were given a power play by the Panthers, Brian Rolston fired a faceoff win from Dainius Zubrus into the back of the net for 2-0 lead. The goal came just 3 seconds into the power play.

While the Devils again shut down their opponents during the 2nd period, the third period was not without drama. Both teams split chances equally until about 5 minutes remaining when Florida began to control the pace as the Devils went into a prevent mode.

Their defense and Brodeur’s shutout were finally broken when Marty Reasoner ripped home a behind the net feed from Michal Repik short side on Brodeur to pull them within 1. After a few icing calls and 3-plus tense minutes later, the Devils escaped South Florida, and their 4 game road-trip with a 2-1 victory, going 3-1 overall.

With the win, Brodeur moved to 9-1-1 over his last 11 starts, Ilya Kovalchuk had his 12-game point streak snapped, and Jason Arnott could have played the final game of his 2nd stint with the Devils.

Following the game, Arnott told Tom Gulitti of the Fire & Ice Blog that he’d prefer to be moved to a team already in the playoff hunt, and that if he had the choice between another team fighting for their post season lives or staying with the Devils, he’d prefer to stay.

If the Devils are to move Arnott, and recent trades around the league are any indication, they should receive a 2nd round pick and then some in return. One of the drawbacks for Arnott, however, is his age, but his leadership and experience alone should outweigh that minor fact. He does become an Unrestricted Free Agent at the end of the year so a team gearing up for a long playoff run could almost certainly benefit from a player like Arnott.

As for the rest of the team, a few weeks ago, I could have seen them making a move to improve the defensive corps. Following their recent hot streak, however, I do not foresee general manager Lou Lamoriello making any moves as he could see any changes drastically affecting the chemistry and current team spirit.

With only 9 points separating the Devils from the 8th and final playoff spot, the Devils need any and all help they can get, but one area which they do not need any real help is their own roster. What was once looked upon as a flimsy, suspect AHL defense has now become one of the premiere shut-down units in the league, allowing 2 goals or fewer over the course of the past 10 games, and only once since early January.

Hope comes in all forms lately. A win in regulation, a win in overtime, heck even a loss in overtime provides a glimmer of hope if all other games fall the Devils’ way.

But with 20 games to go, there is little to no room for any more moral victories and the Devils need to find ways to earn or steal points here on out.

Wednesday brings the Lightning back into the Prudential Center where another two critical points are on the line.

Who will be still on the roster and who, if anyone, will find a new home tomorrow by the 3 pm trading deadline? Only a few short hours separate us from finding out.

Devils Seek to Rebound

Two days after failing to keep pace with the teams above them, the New Jersey Devils seek to get back to their winning ways when they visit the Florida Panthers.

On Friday night, the Devils were beat at their own game, seeing their 8 game winning streak snapped by the Tampa Bay Lightning. With the loss, the Devils failed to earn two critical points which would allow them to keep their bleak playoff hopes alive.

Before the end of the game, further up the East Coast, the Carolina Hurricanes polished off a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburg Penguins and the New York Rangers embarrassed the Washington Capitals 6-0 in DC.

That left those scoreboard watching with a complete feeling of hopelessness as they knew how pivotal the 2 possible points were in this game. By the start of the 3rd period, the Devils were in a 2-0 hole, and the fans knew the results of the other games, but feared a possible devastating point-less effort.

When Mark Fayne’s 4th goal of the season had somehow found the back of the net, fans began to hope that if they couldn’t get the two, maybe they would be able to steal A point from the Lightning on home ice.

Unfortunately, recent history was not on their side. Prior to this matchup, the Devils had won 12 of their past 13 games against the Lightning, with the only loss came on the memorable 3-1 defeat last season which had to be played over the course of two nights as the Prudential Center had lost power during the second period of that matchup.

Tonight, as Devils fans head to bed, they can rest and breath a little easier as fate dealt them a favorable hand in their quest for the playoffs.

The Hurricanes could not ride the wave of success they had against Pittsburg the night before into Montreal. While their offense had the right paperwork to get across the border, apparently the defense did not as they surrendered two first period goals en route to a 4-3 loss to the Canadiens.

In Buffalo, the Sabres hosted the Red Wings and while the Sabres did secure a loser point, they failed to gain the extra point of ground on the 8th seeded Hurricanes, losing 3-2 in the shootout to Detroit.

Toronto also failed to gain the extra point on Carolina as they too fell in the shootout to Pittsburgh, 6-5. The Penguin offense rebounded in staggering fashion, but their defense also failed to make it into Canada.

Should the Devils pull out a victory tomorrow versus the Panthers, they’ll be 1 point back of Florida, 4 back of the Maple Leafs, 5 behind the struggling Thrashers, 7 behind the Sabres and returning to 9 points back of the Hurricanes. All of those scenarios, of course, are dependant upon all games falling in the Devils’ favor, including the Thrashers knocking off the Maple Leafs in regulation.

Sunday will also mark the first game back from Martin Brodeur after sitting the past 8 games with a knee injury suffered in the Devils’ Super Bowl Sunday victory in Montreal.

Ilya Kovalchuk also seeks to extend his career high 12 game point streak. Over the course of the 12 games, Kovalchuk has 7 goals and 7 assists.

Lastly, Sunday could, and quite possibly, will be the end of Jason Arnott’s second stint with the Devils. With the Trade Deadline looming Monday afternoon at 3, and his desire to be part of a team in the playoffs for a chance at a Stanley Cup, it is safe to assume Arnott will not only waive his No Trade Clause, but also request to be traded. Lou Lamoriello has not commented on the situation but it is safe to assume, he would try to accommodate the aging center.

Game time for Sunday’s tilt is at 5 pm.