Since the stunning departure of Ilya Kovalchuk for a bottomless pit of rubles overseas, the Devils have mostly concentrated on locking up their own RFA’s as GM Lou Lamoriello attempts to regroup and retool the team a little more before the 2013-14 season.  Today, the Devils announced a one-year deal for Jacob Josefson for $725k, after a season in which the 22-year old pivot shuttled between Albany and New Jersey.  Josefson’s qualifying offer was actually $850k on a two-way deal, but he gave up a little money to sign a one-way contract.  Of more importance is the deal for Adam Henrique, who also struggled somewhat last year but was a playoff hero in 2012 and still a key part of the team’s future.  Both sides have been talking for days, and according to Lou he’s looking to finish off his RFA’s (meaning Josefson and Henrique) by the end of the week, when the team’s prospect camp wraps up.

Counting Henrique and Josefson, the Devils will have fifteen forwards on their roster.  Considering they’re only carrying seven defensemen this year after the trade of Henrik Tallinder, the team will have to shed a forward sooner or later (without another buyout period) even if they don’t sign or trade for outside help to replace Kovalchuk’s scoring.  A couple of overseas sources have linked ex-Wing FA Damien Brunner to the Devils, but nothing’s imminent yet.  Watch Brunner sign tonight now that I said that.  Signing him, or the moody Mikail Grabovski or making a bigger-name splash with Jaromir Jagr will cloud the forward picture even more, considering fourteen of the fifteen forwards we have – or will have – signed are on one-way contracts with only Stephen Gionta on a two-way deal this year, but I’m not sure how likely he is to be sent down considering how much of a role he’s played since April 2012.

At least unlike last year, the D picture looks clearer with vets Andy Greene, Bryce Salvador, Anton Volchenkov, Mark Fayne and the returning Marek Zidlicky forming our likely starting lineup, along with former #4 overall Adam Larsson – who the Devils will want and need to take a step forward in his third NHL season.  And while we know Cory Schnieder‘s the goalie of the future and Martin Brodeur‘s the goalie of the past, who in fact is the goalie of the present will become an interesting question as we get closer to camp.  Eventually Schnieder has to surpass Marty, especially given their respective numbers the last couple years – but it’s not often a legend gets seamlessly replaced and marginalized while still on the roster.  How coach Pete DeBoer handles the goaltending will be as interesting as it’s been in decades – since Jacques Lemaire had to rotate vet Chris Terreri with a then-rookie Brodeur in 1994.  Ironically Terreri’s on the staff now, but DeBoer still hasn’t decided on an assistant to replace the departed Matt Shaw, who left to take a USHL coach/GM position.

It would have been nice to chew over the schedule today now that I finally have my computer back (though predictably it now has issues with video playback and my floppy disk drive), but the wait for the 2013-14 NHL schedule is now officially longer than the wait for my computer was.  Clearly the Olympics are the holdup, since NHL participation hasn’t been officially ratified yet – and once it is there’s no reason to hold out the schedule any longer – but what the holdup actually is with that is anyone’s guess.  Any day now I suppose.  All we know about the schedule is the format and changing divisions, with Washington returning as a division rival and Columbus/Carolina being added in an eight-team division that hasn’t actually been named yet.  Perhaps that’ll also be known when the schedule is.