Locking up goaltender Cory Schnider is just one of many things GM Lou Lamoriello needs to do over the next few weeks

While NHL free agency begins on July 1 (next Tuesday) as usual, midnight today was the start of what’s called an ‘interview period’ where other teams can talk to UFA’s, but not make any official offers or enter into any binding agreements.  Admittedly I’d forgotten about this new wrinkle, introduced with the last CBA and similar to what exists in the NBA – though it was in place last year when the lines were more blurred as to what was allowed and what wasn’t.  This year both teams and players agreed on the following language:

“Clubs are permitted to discuss their potential interest in, as well as the general parameters of, a potential future contractual relationship with another Club’s pending RFA or UFA during the applicable ‘interview periods,’ but Clubs may not enter into any agreements, or make any binding offers, promises, undertakings, representations, commitments, inducements, assurances of intent, or understandings of any kind, express or implied, oral or written, concerning the terms of a potential SPC with another Club’s pending RFA or UFA.”

Essentially it gives players and teams more than a few hours on July 1 to consider all their options, which is probably a welcome change since in the players’ case you’re deciding where you’re spending up to the next seven-eight years and in teams’ case they have to decide how to allocate millions of dollars.  With the draft around the corner, moves made there will no doubt impact free agency as well.  In the Devils’ case draft day will be vital in terms of what is or isn’t done regarding not only free agency but the compliance buyout window, which closes on Monday.

Particularly on defense, everything – the compliance buyout window, potential draft weekend trades and FA – is intertwined together in terms of importance.  Currently the Devils are $12 million under the cap celing, but that’s with the entire fourth line either UFA or RFA – vets Steven Gionta, Ryan Carter and Steve Bernier are UFA and Jacob Josefson is RFA – while on the defense Mark Fayne’s UFA and youngsters Adam Larsson and Eric Gelinas are RFA’s.  To say nothing of needing a backup goaltender this year with Martin Brodeur assuredly testing free agency.  And oh yes the Devils clearly need at least one or two upgrades at forward in free agency.  Now $12 million doesn’t look like so much.  Hence the speculation on whether the Devils would use their second allowed compliance buyout before free agency on defensemen Bryce Salvador or Anton Volchenkov, if they use it at all.

Salvador’s the team captain but also 38 years old and was hurt for a good chunk of last season, and has one year at just under $3.2 million left on his deal, while Volchenkov is 32 but he has two years left on his deal at $4.25 million per with a no-trade clause as well.  In terms of who the team considers more important it’s clearly Salvador given both his C and the minutes he gets on a nightly basis compared to the minutes Volchenkov gets.  And since Volch has the higher cap hit, you figure he would go before Salvador except for the fact that it would take a few more million dollars to buy out Volch, not to mention there’s no guarantee Sal even makes it through next season anyway given the fact he missed half the year last year with a torn labrum and other nicks that are pretty common for a 38-year old physical defenseman.  Currently Lou Lamoriello has stated it was ‘unlikely…unless circumstances change’ that he would use a buyout.  Of course Lou also said this last year before the big draft-day trade for Cory Schnieder led to us using our first compliance buyout on Johan Hedberg.

Also factoring into whether they buy out one of the two older defensemen are what happens with the younger defensemen already on the roster.  Larsson and Gelinas are RFA’s, and I’m not even going to touch the Internet rumors about Larsson being unhappy over his decreasing playing time and perhaps signing overseas.  Of more immediate concern is Fayne, who’s arguably one of the top UFA defenseman on the market and with him still being unsigned there’s always the possibility he goes the way of so many recent UFA’s and takes an offer he can’t refuse.  Granted, I would understand letting Fayne walk if you were able to reallocate his money into a forward core that desperately needs it…but by the same token if Lou was willing to let him walk then there was no excuse not to trade Fayne at the deadline with the Devils a handful of points out of a playoff spot and having Larsson be stuck in Albany for the second half of the season because of our two year long obsession with hoarding defensemen (that hasn’t exactly helped us reach the playoffs).

I feel like a broken record complaining about the same ol’ problems though so I’ll just let it sit and see what happens by next week before I rant about it again.  It’s not as if defense is our only question mark either.  Part of the reason the buyouts and what happens with Fayne are such a big deal are because the Devils kind of need cap space if they’re going to make at least one significant addition to the forward core in FA – if they don’t trade one of the younger defensemen at the draft to get a forward that way.  They really can’t go to war again with basically the same four lines as last year with a cosmetic change on the fourth line (maybe Mike Sislo over Steve Bernier), especially since Ryane Clowe suffered two more concussions last year and certainly can’t be counted on for anything near an 82-game season.  Yet the Devils have nine forwards signed at significant money – re: $2.5 million and up – and it wouldn’t be ideal to play any of them on the fourth line so perhaps a Michael Ryder or Damien Brunner may have to be traded as well, though it’s likely a spot on the top three lines will open up if Clowe has to start the season on LTIR.

Whatever the contract status is of our forwards though, it isn’t ideal to have a 42-year old Jaromir Jagr be our main source of scoring with really little else behind him.  There has to be at least one significant addition.  Where it comes from is anyone’s guess.  Paul Statsny (the top UFA center) would be nice, but I’d bet on the Blues becoming involved since they also need a top-line player, have more cap space and are closer to a Cup than we are.  If Glen Sather doesn’t get googoo eyes at the biggest FA name again, that is.  Derek knows too well it would be such a Ranger move to buy out Brad Richards, then replace him with Stasny.  Aside from him there are wingers Thomas Vanek – ick if you saw his performance in the playoffs – and Matt Moulson, as well as Michael Cammalleri and Radim Vrbata, among others.  Of course Lou being Lou, the predictable script would have him bringing back Brian Gionta, which wouldn’t be ideal at this point of his career.  Unless he was being signed cheap as a glorified shootout specialist anyway.

And oh yes there’s still the goaltender question which is two-pronged: Will Schnieder sign a long-term extension this offseason – and if not what then…we can’t lose ANOTHER key asset to FA for nothing, can we? – and what will the Devils do at backup with Brodeur determined to try FA and Lou almost as determined to wait out the process?  Brodeur himself said that Lou would probably wait and see what happened with him before moving on a backup goalie.  Which suggests (ack!) that Lou might consider bringing back Marty if there’s no other interest in the legendary goaltender.  While Marty does seem more at peace since the offseason began with how things are here, and said some very nice things about both Cory and Lou recently suggesting no bridges were burned last season, the fact is even if he came back with the understanding he’d be a true backup, there’d always be an undercurrent of public pressure to give Marty more games if he gets off to a good start and/or Cory doesn’t.  That still wouldn’t be an ideal situation, especially if Marty’s play declines another notch the way it has the last couple years.

Pretty much the only thing we know for certain about what the Devils will do this weekend is they’ll be drafting #30 because they have to.  Getting a first-rounder back (though down twenty spots from where it should be at #10) was the final chapter on the long-running Kovalchuk contract penalty saga.  It would be nice if they drafted a forward though it would be again, so Lou-like if he took Brendan Lemieux, a feisty winger whose dad just happened to be a beloved – by the fans anyway – ex-Devil, Claude.  With the first round of the draft less than two nights away, followed by the buyout deadline and the start of FA, the dominoes will finally start to fall soon.