A day after New Jersey suffered yet another dispiriting loss, this time by a score of 4-0 to Zach Parise‘s Minnesota Wild, the Devils did the equivalent of shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic by putting ineffective forward Rostislav Olesz on waivers.  Olesz has a one-year $700k deal (which could be as much as $1 million with games-played bonuses) and GM Lou Lamoriello said he wouldn’t neccesarily be asked to go to Albany if he did clear waivers.  Wonderful, so even when we finally make a move we probably won’t really make a move.  Olesz will likely clear waivers and return, a la Brian Rolston a few years back.  I guess it’s fine to see if you can give away a one-way contract, but I doubt anyone’ll take a shot on Olesz who’s been largely invisible with just two assists in ten games so far.  I don’t even remember those to be honest.

Last night’s game wasn’t even worth watching let alone recapping.  After the football Jets’ terrific win in the afternoon and a dinner out, I admit I preferred watching other Sunday programming for the most part instead of the expected beatdown in Minnesota that materalized.  Especially after the Philly game the night before already sapped almost all of my enthusiasm in the team last week.  In the few minutes I did turn on, it seemed as if Chico Resch and Steve Cangelosi couldn’t stop talking about the Wild and their revitalized hockey culture.  I love Chico, I like Steve and I understand because Chico’s from Minnesota he’s intimately tuned into what’s going on there…but sometimes they talk up the opposition so much it makes my ears bleed.  I’m especially not in the mood for it when our team is dying on the vine and is probably going to give up a top ten pick at this rate due to the henious decision by Lou to not give up the #29 pick two years ago when the team could have put the Ilya Kovalchuk contract penalty fully behind them with a relatively low amount of pain.  If Lou wasn’t Lou, that decision alone would probably be a fireable offense, much like Chicago’s contract snafus which forced their hand earlier than it needed to be with the cap drove Dale Tallon out of Chi-town after he won a Cup there.

Unfortunately that’s what this season’s going to be about now, just how high of a pick are we NOT going to get.  After trading our first-rounder last year for Cory Schnieder and not having a high first-rounder this year, it becomes even more imperative to sign him long-term this offseason.  But with the team being as bad as it’s been, why would a competitor like Schnieder rush to re-sign long-term with a team that’s probably going to miss the playoffs three of the last four seasons?  Without him we’d go back to a severe question mark in goal after Martin Brodeur‘s eventual retirement.  Up front the cupboard’s pretty bare other than OHL record-setting goalscorer Reid Boucher (who has three goals and eight points in 11 games at Albany this year).  Stefan Matteau – who we kept the #29 overall two years ago to draft – has been awful in the AHL this year scoring just one point in ten games with a -3, and is also coming off a contreversial exit in the QMJHL last year after actually starting last season in New Jersey due to our horrendous forward depth.

Defensively the picture looks better, though last night’s suspected concussion that Jon Merrill suffered mere minutes into his NHL debut just threw up another dark cloud in an already gloomy sky.  Merrill’s talented but his college career was bumpy due to injury and suspension.  He did show his talent in eleven games down in Albany with two goals and five assists, which are great numbers for a d-man…but clearly he needs to get used to the daily grind of the NHL before he’s ready.  Fellow rookie Eric Gelinas has tapered off after his first two games, but still looks solid and about ready to be an NHL regular.  Former #4 overall pick Adam Larsson has been one of the few bright spots the last couple of weeks, as his play has picked up.

Still, the d-picture is cloudy at the moment with Bryce Salvador, Peter Harrold and Anton Volchenkov all apparently injured.  Once any or all are ready to return, something’s gotta give.  Even Lou can’t keep putting off decision day forever with either real or feigned injuries, although perhaps part of the reason for wanting to move Olesz is to clear a spot so we can carry eight defensemen again, which would be a disaster if everyone had to rotate again like last year.  It’s amazing how we just have to keep spare parts around on a team that’s been awful over the last fifty games.  I just can’t wait to see how dead the building’s going to be for a Sunday night game against Nashville if we get whipped in Philly and Toronto later this week.