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.

Devils Ride Parise's Back-to-Back 2 Goal Nights to Victories

For the first time since mid-January, the Devils lost two of their previous three games this past week. Some felt that the Washington loss did not sting nearly as much as their loss to the Kings.

On paper, when comparing the two records side by side, anyone would agree with that statement. However, when looking inside the numbers, you can see that Los Angeles came into the game absolutely on a tear. Winning five of their previous 6 games and earning points in 6 of their last 7 [the first game of this section was an overtime loss to Dallas], the Kings came into Newark kicking some rear-end and taking names. The teams they defeated were no simple task: Colorado, Minnesota, Chicago, Ottawa [okay, maybe that one should have been a win, no matter who you are], and the same Washington Capitals who dominated the Devils last Tuesday night at The Rock.

So the Devils had some motivation, like they needed any extra, going into Monday night’s contest with the New York Rangers. The same Rangers team who were utterly embarrassed by Dallas at MSG Sunday by a count of 10-2. Going into the contest, the two teams were knotted at 2 wins a piece in the season series, but the Devils had won the previous 2 match-ups including an 8-5 victory in the Prudential Center.

Henrik Lundqvist, who allowed the flu to keep him on the bench while Stephen Valiquette was lit up like the 4th of July on Sunday, was back in net for the Rangers. Coach Tom Renny had his team pressing the entire first period, trying to lure the Devils into making a mistake which the Rangers hoped to capitalize on, and were successful in drawing numerous first period penalties, but had nothing to show for it.

David Clarkson squared off against Erik Reitz in a sloppy fight which neither player truly grabbed an upper hand until Clarkson landed a few solid punches before taking Reitz to the ice. Fights like this one were exactly what this rivalry seemed to have been missing as of late. Neither side seemed willing to really take it to the other, physical wise, until Monday’s game.

There were countless hits into the boards, “extra curricular activities” as Doc Emerick calls them, following whistles, gave this game all the makings you would expect from a Devils-Rangers game.

Following a Colton Orr victory over Mike Rupp in what I have to admit was a solid, the Rangers seemed to not only take the momentum from the Devils, but take some life out of the Prudential Center as well.

But less than four minutes later, the Devils stole it all right back, as Bobby Holik found a Breandan Shanahan rebound right in front of Lundqvist and stuffed it 5 hole before the keeper could get into a butterfly position.

Thanks to a Brandon Dubinsky penalty at 1315, the Rangers found themselves short handed for the second time in the game. Zach Parise made sure they would pay for it as he leveled the score, putting home a Travis Zajac rebound for the power play goal and his 31st goal of the season.

The Rangers would only be able to muster 11 shots in the third period, with only two or three giving the crowd any semblance of nervousness.

Parise would seal the victory with an empty netter as Scott Clemmensen would notch his first shutout victory since 2003-2004, and his 23rd win on the season.

Wednesday night brought with it the plummeting New York Islanders to the Prudential Center. This time last season, Devils fans would cringe at the sight of either New York metro area team on the schedule because regardless of how bad of hockey they were playing, the Devils just could not seem to find a way to beat them.

This season, however, the Devils had not dropped a contest to the Islanders in 4 tries.

The Islanders struck very early in the first period after some nice passing, and horrendous reaction timing by goaltender Kevin Weekes, Radek Martinek scored on pretty much an open net.

Great positioning helped lead the Devils to the equalizer as time was running out in the first. After a blue line pass from Johnny Oduya, Paul Martin’s shot was deflected in front of the net, and the rebound kicked right to, surprise surprise, Parise who hit the back of the net for the 3rd time in 2 games.

After a Kyle Okposo power play goal, Jamie Langenbrunner would pull the Devils even again on a power play with a blistering slap shot through a great screen in front of the net. The shot came off a great feed from Martin who registered his 2nd point of the night, as did Parise who received a secondary assist.

This time, however, the Devils did not surrender the go ahead goal, and instead added their own in the 2nd half of the 3rd period. Again on the power play, swift passing and great positioning helped set up Martin’s shot from the point the goaltender Jamie MacDonald was unable to control. Parise pounced on the loose puck and ripped it into the back of the net fro his 2nd of the game and 3rd point overall.

The Devils would try to get Praise the hat trick when the Islanders pulled their goalie but when it was clear he would not be able to get a clean shot off, he elected to pass it off to Langenbrunner who netted his 2nd of the game, giving Parise a 4 point night.

Weekes stopped 23 shots to notch his 5th win of the season, while MacDonald stopped 45 shots.

NOTES: The win was their 11th in their past 13 games… With the win, the Devils tied Washington for 2nd in the Eastern Conference with 73 points… With 50 shots in the game, the Devils passed 40 shots in a game for the 4th time this season… Parise moved into a tie with Philadelphia’s Jeff Carter for 2nd in the league in goals scored with 34… Langenbrunner scored 2 goals in a game for the 4th time in 8 games, and he now has goals in 5 of the last 8… New Jersey will now have a tough weekend as they take on the leaders of both conferences. First Boston on Friday and then San Jose on Sunday on NBC. Both games will be at the Prudential Center in Newark.

Devils Off-Season Analysis [July Edition]

After a week in the Bahamas, and taking a much needed break from writing all together, I have taken the time to put together the first of my two Off-Season analysis, starting first with the Devils.

When free-agency opened on July 1st, many Devils fans wondered if this would truly be the year they have hoped for throughout their team’s existence, the year they make a big splash in the free agent market.

The result, however, was a combination of both anticipation and shock.

Rather than adding a shooter from the blue line, something desperately needed for this offensively anemic franchise, they opted to address size at the center position and added some semblance of a power play threat.

To fulfill these two desires, the Devils looked towards former players rather than introduce new blood into the locker room.

First, the Devils re-acquired Brian Rolston. Rolston, who won a Stanley Cup with the Devils in 1995, just a year after being drafted, signed a four year deal worth over $20 million. The 6’2” winger has spent time with Boston, Colorado and most recently Minnesota since being traded by the Devils to the Avalanche in 1999. Rolston brings with him not only much needed size, leadership and experience, but also solid power play awareness as he will be looked upon to be the quarterback on the first power play unit.

Later in the evening on July 1st, the Devils made a surprising move in re-acquiring center Bobby Holik. Holik left the Devils in 2002, signing with the rival New York Rangers to chase a larger contract. The move failed miserably and Holik was traded by the Rangers before his third season with the squad to the Thrashers, where he as spent the last few seasons.

This move came to a shock for many fans, if not simply for the animosity felt by most for his jumping ship for the Rangers, but for the plummeting in Holik’s skills as his age increases. Now 37, Holik is signed for one season, presumably to take one more shot at winning the Cup before retiring.

The major question mark which the Devils still need to address is brining in not only size, but experience to a very small and very young defensive unit.

Passing on Jason Smith was a great move by Lou Lamoriello. Smith has phenomenal leadership capabilities, but his speed is a massive question mark and his age also would present a frailty possibility as well.

Keeping Bryce Salvador is a questionable move, but does have the potential to pay immediate dividends, if he can stay healthy. Salvador was acquired at the trading deadline for Cam Janssen, aka the equivalent of a bag of pucks. He was only able to play 8 regular season games, however, and was limited in the playoffs as well. Salvador is not an offensive threat, but he is a physical player who knows how to throw the body around. He will play a key role, as will Holik, in ensuring that players like Sean Avery do not harass Martin Brodeur on a regular basis.

The Devils have solidified their front four lines, but they need to make a move to address the lack of an offensive threat on the blue line. This will not be an easy task to achieve as they have been in search of a one since the loss of Scott Neidermyer in 2004. Former Devil and current Red Wing Brian Rafalski was looked upon to shoulder the burden of Neidermyer’s departure but that plan never fully worked out as planned.

Now with both players with other squads, Paul Martin looks to be the most viable offensive threat in the defense. Andy Greene has shown glimmers of offensive capabilities during the playoffs in 2007 and briefly in 2007-2008, but never caught fire. The same holds true for Johnny Oduya and Mike Mottau.

Oduya, however, has shown the most offensive promise behind Martin. During the home stretch of the 07-08 season, Oduya showed an awareness for joining rushes and even tallied a pair of goals in one game, including a diving goal that rivaled the brilliance of Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin.

With a little over a month before training camp opens up for the Devils, expect a move or two, but not a big splash. The Devils do have a few NHL ready prospects who could be chips in a major deal, but with Lou Lamoriello at the helm, it is unlikely they will be dealt.