On the eve of free agency, the first domino fell in New Jersey when Lou Lamoriello decided to use the Devils’ second and last compliance buyout on Anton Volcheknov, erasing his $4.25 million from the cap the next two seasons.  Volchenkov had originally been signed to a six-year deal in the summer of 2010 but unfortunately only came close to playing a full season once – in 2011-12 when he played 72 games.  He played 57, 56 and 32 (in the lockout season) games in his other seasons, and never really came close to living up to his prior form in Ottawa as a shot-blocking, hitting menace.  At times Volchenkov showed flashes of being that player but injuries and diminishing footspeed limited his effectiveness.  Although at first Lou said it was unlikely the team would use its final compliance buyout, he acknowledged circumstances changed when the cap came in at $2-3 million lower than expected.

Tom Gulitti ‏@TGfireandice  26m

Lamoriello called buying out Volchenkov “a very difficult” decision, but it was done to give team cap “flexibility.”

With the buyout, the Devils have approximately $14 million in cap space though nearly half will likely go to RFA contracts for Jacob Josefson, Eric Gelinas and Adam Larsson as well as a backup goalie and UFA spots for our fourth line, all of whom remain unsigned at the moment.  Still, the Devils now have a little wiggle room if they want to upgrade up front.  It doesn’t seem likely they’ll make any further moves on defense, but who knows.  Lou claims he has a good offer for Fayne, but acknowledged that we ‘might not be able to compete with the numbers that are out there’.  So assuming Fayne walks will Lou make a play for another UFA defenseman, or will we finally begin the transition to our younger defensemen (since it seems likely all of Jon Merrill, Adam Larsson and Eric Gelinas will be on the roster)?

With the buyout, the Devils have approximately $14 million in cap space though nearly half will likely go to RFA contracts for Jacob Josefson, Eric Gelinas and Adam Larsson as well as a backup goalie and UFA spots for our fourth line, all of whom remain unsigned at the moment.  Still, the Devils now have a little wiggle room if they want to upgrade up front.  It doesn’t seem likely they’ll make any further moves on defense, but who knows.  Lou claims he has a good offer for Fayne, but acknowledged that we ‘might not be able to compete with the numbers that are out there’.  So assuming Fayne walks will Lou make a play for another UFA defenseman, or will we finally begin the transition to our younger defensemen (since it seems likely all of Jon Merrill, Adam Larsson and Eric Gelinas will be on the roster)?

Clearly now that the Devils have cap space they’ll be linked to every big-name forward in free agency, we all know the names by now so it’s redundant to speculate further on who we might sign and who we wouldn’t…we’ll just have to see what Lou can come up with starting tomorrow.  As far as the fourth line goes, Lou claims he wants all of them back but reading between the lines, it seems obvious Ryan Carter and Steven Gionta are higher priorities than RW Steve Bernier.  One way or another it looks like the end of CBGB.  Although they outlived their usefulness as a line there were plenty of good moments too, with the 2012 playoffs being their collective shining moment.  They were solid in 2013, but their play dropped off last season and perhaps the Devils are ready to inject a little more youth up front with Reid Boucher and Stefan Matteau knocking on the door to more playing time.

One way or another, tomorrow will be very interesting for not only Devil fans but all puckheads around North America.  I envy those who can take off to partake in FA frenzy, if I’m lucky I’ll be able to listen to the NHL Network on SiriusXM during work tomorrow.  If not, I’ll just have to follow on Twitter until 4.  At which point I’ll be watching the US soccer game at home before I have to go out by 6.  Of course tomorrow had to be personally busy for me, but I’ll be back late on in the day to give a recap over what happens with the Devils – assuming something big does.