Battle Of Hudson

Less than a month after captaining the New Jersey Devils to the Stanley Cup Finals, Zach Parise took the money and ran home to Minnesota, bringing good buddy and fellow UFA Ryan Suter along with him as both inked matching 13 year, $98 million contracts this afternoon dissapointing twenty-nine other NHL teams and making one fanbase very happy.  Good for Wild fans, this is the only thing they’ve ever ‘won’ other than a couple of division titles under Jacques Lemaire.  What kind of world do we live in when the Wild are playing checkbook hockey like the pre-lockout Rangers?

Suter’s departure was particularly bitter for Preds GM David Poile, who revealed they made their own 13-90 offer but Suter never went back to him before deciding to take the Wild offer.  Of course, Devils GM Lou Lamoriello was more circumspect about losing his key UFA, saying that he was told Parise was making the choice to play at home and that he would have been back if it wasn’t for the Wild offer.  If that was the case then what was the three-day holdup about?  Talking his childhood buddy Suter into joining him or just waiting for appearances’ sake?  I mean really, I don’t want to hear about going home when you had multiple contenders throwing $80-90 million at your feet and you go home to play with a non-contender basically because you got guilt tripped by your family.

Of course, in the days to come you’ll hear all the reasons and hope for why the Wild can win (and nonsense like texting Dany Heatley and him saying yes the Wild can win), but that’s all it is, hope.  Hope that their prospects pan out and the cap keeps going up.  If the cap doesn’t go up, having Parise, Suter and Mikko Koivu inked to nearly combined $22 million of cap space is going to cripple them in a few years.  And none of them are a top ten forward or defenseman.  Zach didn’t just pass us up, he passed up the Penguins and Flyers (thank god), the Wings and the Hawks and who knows how many other teams bid on him.  Suter passed up agressive offers from the Wings and Preds to go to Minnesota.  Ostensibly, if Suter had gone to Detroit – which he was close to – then Zach would have come back.  Like that helps.

Yes, this could have been worse, Zach could have pulled a Chris Bosh and linked up with Sidney Crosby‘s LeBron and Evgeni Malkin‘s Wade to form the Pittsburgh Heat.  From a competitive standpoint, having Zach go to a non-contender in the Western Conference doesn’t immediately sting on that end.  It certainly stings on our end though.  Now the Devils need two top nine wings (one top six), and there are very few options available in free agency or via trade.  Options like Alex Semin, Rick Nash or Bobby Ryan that will be populated by all the teams that lost out on the Parise sweepstakes.  There aren’t any options in house that seem to be ready to take a spot in the top nine either, perhaps part of Lou’s motivation of keeping our first-rounder but now that decision looks even more suspect now that the captain ran home.

Even leaving the hockey out of it for a moment, and assuming Lou will replace Parise the way he has Scott Niedermayer, Scott Gomez, Bobby Holik and other departing UFA’s, the fact is losing Parise stings more emotionally than the other three did.  With all of Niedermayer’s previous holdouts and the obvious appeal of playing with his brother in Anaheim, I never really believed he was staying anyway.  Holik was obviously about the money after being offended at an arbitration hearing before his final season here, and Gomez had such an inflated view of his own importance you figured he’d be a merc too.  Not to mention the latter two weren’t nearly as important to the equation as Nieds, or Zach.  They just became notorious because they bolted to the Rangers. 

Zach I did honestly believe to be different.  Especially after stating every which way for a year and a half he wanted to stay, not to mention the fact the Devils finally started to win in the spring again for the first time in nine years.  With a ‘competitive’ offer according to Lou, and a team heading in the right direction with stability at last in coaching under Pete DeBoer playing the kind of system Zach wanted, he certainly had every reason to stay.  Not to mention a closeness in the locker room this year with a team that had fun with each other and sacrificed for one another and its fans.  Everyone expressed interest in coming back, and almost all of our UFA’s did return.

Whatever Zach winds up saying when he and Suter meet the media later this week, there’ll be no knowing why he did what he did, and what his motivation was for turning down the Devils and other contenders just to go home.  Personally I think he was guilted into it by dad JP and all his friends in Minnesota, since Zach does live there.  Not to mention the lure of helping turn around a hometown team which has done nothing in nearly fifteen years of existence apart of one fluke playoff run in 2003 I’m sure factored in.  Even if he hadn’t really finished the job with us yet.  I knew the jig was up when Zach was in Minnesota today for the holiday, and word started to leak out that he and Suter would both decide.  I understand why Zach felt he needed Suter to come with him to Minnesota, but I don’t really get it from Suter’s perspective.  Ironically it was probably more of a cash grab for him than for Zach, but whatever the case I don’t really care right now.

At this point I’m just worried about our plan B, whatever that could possibly be.  There’s no way the Devils can go into the season with this gaping hole in our top six and expect to compete.  Especially with every team this side of the Rangers looking for offense, offense and more offense (how else to explain two of the best offensive teams around in the Pens and Flyers being so hot in the chase for Zach, well besides the obvious benefit of sticking it to us?).  Replacing a third-line winger like Alexei Ponikarovsky shouldn’t be much of an issue but finding someone to replace Zach’s 30+ goals and 75-80 points a year is.  Not to mention appointing a new captain.  Maybe Ilya Kovalchuk doesn’t want the job but it has to be him now, we can’t very well give it to a UFA like Patrik Elias, Travis Zajac or David Clarkson and risk this kind of a fiasco again next offseason.  Bryce Salvador is the only other candidate if Kovy shies away from the responsibility.

Not to mention getting guys like Zajac locked up long-term so we aren’t going through this again next offseason when Zajac goes to Winnipeg and takes another big FA with him to be the hometown hero there.

Programming note: I am definitely having a follow-up to this post later or tomorrow after hearing some of Zach’s quotes today.  Suffice it to say I’m even less thrilled with our former ‘captain’ than I was.

Well, looks like we’re headed for another lengthy free agent saga boys and girls.  About an hour ago, Zach Parise got in front of the media and said he would be heading home to discuss more things with his family and also indicated that while his choice of where to play would come in the near future, there would be no timetable.  Wonderful.  While as a human being I sympathize with his desire to take time making a major life decision, as a Devil fan sitting on pins and needles checking the internet every second possible I’m going nuts.  Agent Wade Arnott said that, “We have thoroughly deliberated every option with Zach. He wishes to take some time to step back and review all with his fiance and his family. We could be drawing closer to a decision.”

After reading message boards, Twitter and Zach’s own quotes which included a public assertion that ‘in speaking with Lou he said that it (the financial situation) wouldn’t be a problem’, I give up even trying to guess what’s the reason this is being delayed or where Zach’s heart is leaning.  Our supposedly precarious financial situation was long assumed to be the biggest obstacle towards Zach signing a long-term deal here, but if Zach’s denying that’s an issue and that he honestly wants to sign long-term here I really don’t see what the problem is.  Our playoff run this year should have proved that winning is no issue either.

What seems suspicious to a degree is that all signs pointed toward a decision today with the Penguins and Wild among the lead teams to snag the captain away from us, but now a new contender emerged today in the Hawks, supposedly making a serious offer.  The interesting part about the Hawk rumors is they were also in on Martin Brodeur yesterday, but after Brodeur re-signed with us this morning a few hours later Hawk rumors about Parise started popping up all over the place.  Coincidence?  Maybe not considering they only have $8 million of cap space (and probably thought they had more of a need in goal and a better chance to get Marty with fewer teams in the mix) and perhaps the Hawks stepping up their pursuit has complicated matters further in a way it wasn’t last night.

It’s impossible to forecast where this is going to go, mainly because we don’t have every offer in front of us and I’m sure all differ in terms of total length, years and upfront money.  Not to mention the teams’ appeal differs as well.  If our offer is truly ‘competitive’ as beat guy Tom Gulutti was told it was, then you have to think money’s not really an issue although it is a bit disconcerting to think our offer is competitive considering some of the outrageous Monopoly money offers I’ve heard rumored.  Minnesota and Philly are both rumored for 10+ years and over 100 million, the Penguins are rumored to be as high as 90 million and all told some twenty teams have made offers for the Devils captain.  A staggering number considering just two made offers for Ilya Kovalchuk two years ago.  Amazing what $10 million more of cap space and being a spotless ambassador as the face of USA Hockey can do for you.

If you take money not being an issue at face value, then certainly having a million contenders plus your hometown team each waving its credentials in your face have to be eye-opening.  If going to Pittsburgh to play with Sidney Crosby and company would be a slap in the face to Devil fans, going to Chicago and a simlarly talented young core wouldn’t be nearly as much of one.  While Zach’s home team in Minnesota has vowed to make the highest offer, they also offer the least attractive roster among all of the teams still rumored to be in it.  Although we haven’t heard much about Detroit or Philly today they certainly remain looming on the outskirts of the mix, especially since both are also in on FA defenseman Ryan Suter, and he hasn’t decided his final destination either.  And there’s always the danger of the dreaded ‘mystery team’ (just ask New York Jet fans about that with Nmandi Asomugha…sometimes that mystery team actually exists).

Perhaps the only good thing about Parise deferring his decision to tomorrow before he talks with his fiance again is that I’ll finally get some rest.  After the liveblog today and constantly checking for Parise updates on my phone today, I’m just exhausted of the whole ordeal.  Especially with the Brodeur mini-drama that almost lasted a day, before he finally extracted a second year from the Devils (ostensibly his motivation for becoming a FA).  At least the team finally got good news today with Brodeur and Johan Hedberg each committing to man the Devil net for the next two years – Hedberg signing for $1.4 million per with a NMC.  And possible secondary scoring options in FA like the Caps’ Alex Semin and the Flyers’ Jaromir Jagr haven’t gone off the board yet, both likely waiting for Parise too.

Yes, this is nothing like the Kovalchuk saga yet – which went on for nineteen days before the contract melodrama – but in some ways it feels worse since I wasn’t checking Twitter, didnt have a high-speed computer or an Android phone to constantly check hockey news then.  Not to mention all the rumors about where Kovy would sign seem to be compressed into a couple of days of the Parise negotiations considering how many more teams are in on Zach, and how many different rumors that creates.  And finally, losing Zach (a captain and lifelong Devil) would be much more of a blow than losing Kovy, who was expected to walk anyway.

Guess we’ll see where this odeyssey leads tomorow.

For the first time in over twenty years, Martin Brodeur was not officially affiliated with the Devils for almost twenty hours.  That surprising uncertainty is over now, with the news just minutes ago from RDS in Canada that Brodeur has re-upped with the only franchise he’s ever known on a two year, $4.5 million per deal.  Until Marty speaks, we won’t know his motivations for going UFA but rumors suggest he did want a second year from the Devils, and according to Darren Dreger last night finally got it.  Obviously a real bit of interest from the Blackhawks helped move the proceeding along.

Yeah I’d rather not have gone two years given Marty’s age and the cap rules for 35+ contracts, but if you can’t make an exception for Marty Brodeur after all the money he’s left on the table for you and the championships/wins he’s gotten for this franchise then I’m sorry, you don’t deserve a shred of loyalty from anyone else that comes down the pike.  Unfortunately, too many Devils fans are taking the cold business aspect to it…thank goodness GM Lou Lamoriello recognizes that to get loyalty from players, you have to give it yourself.

What Marty signing means for our other key FA at the moment, it’s hard to guess.  Since Zach Parise supposedly wasn’t making a decision until later today after talking with his fiancee last night, I don’t know if this sudden ‘gold watch’ offer to Marty was an admission the Devils were out of the Parise sweepstakes.  It could be nothing more than a realization that we’ve made our best offer to the captain and whatever happens from here happens.  Either way, we should have that answer soon.

As far as the rest of free agency, not much happened last night other than another laughable contract for Sheldon Souray in Anaheim and defenseman Jason Garrison inking a six-year, $4.6 million a year deal with his hometown Canucks, allegedly taking a discount to go there.  Apparently the rest of the market is frozen until Parise and Ryan Suter make their decisions today.

5:46 PM EST: And the news on Parise…no decision until tomorrow according to McKenzie.  Apparently he’s narrowed his list to a few and will sleep on the decision.  Wonderful.  Guess I might as well shut this blog off for the night, no motivation to update whether Jason Garrison may or may not go anywhere.  Unless Devil FA’s start signing and give an indication Zach isn’t on our short list, nothing big should happen tonight.  Apparently Suter will also be sleeping on his decision.  So this’ll be decided when I’m at work, yay.

CONFIRMED (5:42 PM EST): Ducks sign former Cane defenseman Bryan Allen to a three-year deal at $3.5 million per.

5:30 PM EST: And yes, Marty, Salvador and Moose are all sitting around waiting, with no real rumors about any of them other than the media trying to play up the Marty to Chicago angle.  Latest NHL Tonight rumor on Zach is a supposed 12 year, $100 million offer by the Flyers.  Zoinks…and the Flyers aren’t exactly a team that need forwards.

5:27 PM EST: A couple of minor signings down the pike, PK forward Jay McClement to the Leafs for two years, $3 million and former Nucks defensman Sami Salo to Tampa for two years, $3.75 million.  Again, a lot for a 35+ guy who’s injury prone.

5:26 PM EST: James Mirtle ‏@mirtle

One source on the lack of frenzy right now: “The market is frozen until Parise and Suter sign.”

Wonderful…the suspense is building.

5:22 PM EST: Rumor looks false for now, if Suter has made a decision he hasn’t told agent Neil Sheehy yet.

5:13 PM EST: Rumor from Nick Kypreos is that Suter is going to Detroit.  Nothing confirmed yet, but it wouldn’t be a big shock either.

5:01 PM EST: Haha Craig Button: ‘There’s nothing free about free agency’.

5 PM EST: And NHL Tonight is coming on now, we’ll see if anything new breaks.  Not much going on unless you count Sheldon Brookbank signing in Chicago or the ancient Adrian Aucoin in Columbus lol.

CONFIRMED (4:12 PM EST): Isles gain goons, lose P.A. Parenteau to Colorado for four years, $16 million.  More stupid money but that’s free agency.

CONFIRMED (4:04 PM EST): lol ex-Devil Eric Boulton goes to the Isles. Boulton and Carkner on the Island, Haley and Asham at MSG.  Serious goon action next year.

4:01 PM EST: And for what it’s worth, the Rangers sign former Isles tough guy Michael Haley.

CONFIRMED (4 PM EST): Alexei Ponikarovsky to Winnipeg, one year, $1.8 million deal.  Wow, I’m surprised he didn’t get a multi-year deal or wait for something better.  Not terribly surprised we didn’t match that with other things on the agenda though.

3:39 PM EST: OT, but doesn’t look like the Euro Championship is going to be much of a match.  Back to obsessing over every little rumor and a media that absolutely positively cannot wait for Parise to go to Pittsburgh.  You can already feel it, it’s like the NHL and the media’s wet dream.

CONFIRMED (3:38 PM EST): Prust goes for four years, $10 million to Montreal, zoinks.  Guess he got his asking price, then some.  I’ll probably be joining Derek in FA rehab before this day is over.

3:31 PM EST: And the Prust domino falls, to Montreal according to Spector’s Hockey.

3:15 PM EST: Might be slow updating the next couple hours unless something major happens.  Need to get up and about lol.

CONFIRMED (3:14 PM EST): Rangers retain Kris Newbery, lose Chad Ochocinco to Rangers West (Phoenix organization)
CONFIRMED (3:13 PM EST): Dustin Penner is back with the Kings on a one-year $3 million deal.
CONFIRMED (3:13 PM EST): A blockbuster trade…Nick Foglino (OTT) traded for Marc Methot (CBJ)

3:00 PM EST: Well now the TSN show is ending.  I’ll probably turn the radio on, maybe I’ll watch some of the Euro Championship too, not expecting a resolution to anything big in the next couple hours.  Apparently there’s a 13-year $100+ million offer out there for Suter, yikes.  And that the Flyers have offered ten-year deals to both Suter and Parise.  Here goes Holmgren again, playing NHL12 GM.

CONFIRMED (2:47 PM EST): Panthers sign Filip Kuba for two years, $8 million, no doubt a Jason Garrison replacement.

CONFIRMED (2:38 PM EST): Rangers sign Asham for two years, $2 million.

2:36 PM EST: And now supposedly the Rangers sign Aaron Asham lol…evidently he’s completed his tour of Atlantic Division teams.  Brandon Prust‘s replacement perhaps?

2:33 PM EST: Carkner got $1.5 million per season on his deal, zoinks that’s a bit pricey for a goon but the Isles always are looking to hit the salary floor after all.  Then again so are the Devils right now.

2:14 PM EST: And from the sounds of it, the reason teams aren’t meeting with Zach is that there are supposedly twenty plus teams interested, and they wouldn’t be able to accomodate everyone anyway according to Kulka’s Korner.  Hoo boy.  What kinda world is this when Zach Parise gets 20+ offers and Ilya Kovalchuk gets two just two years ago? 

CONFIRMED (2:13 PM EST): Isles sign goon defenseman Matt Carkner to a three-year deal, little more than an hour after the Avalanche thought they had wrapped him up and posted the signing on Twitter.

2:09 PM EST: So it sounds like no team’s meeting with Zach today after all, he may be taking offers but at least the dog and pony show has left the building.  Hopefully his agents aren’t brainwashing him to take the highest offer and the NHL isn’t brainwashing him to run to Pittsburgh.

2:05 PM EST: Gasbag of the day award – Rich Chere@Ledger_NJDevils
Can’t understand why Devils fans are so nervous today.  The entire fourth line has already been re-signed.

CONFIRMED (1:58 PM EST): Islanders sign Brad Boyes to a one year, $1 million deal.  Nice bargain buy for them.

1:53 PM EST: According to Katie Strang, it seems like Alexei Ponikarovsky is moving on.  Oh well, I figured some team might overpay him.  We have bigger fish to fry today anyway.  In other news, Bryce Salvador has at least ten suitors but is waiting on the Devils.  I heart Sal.

1:49 PM EST: All this premature doom-and-gloom talk about the Devils on TSN makes me want to shut the program off and listen to online radio.  But I suspect it would be just the same nonsense there anyway.

CONFIRMED (1:45 PM EST): Biggest fish off the board yet, Ray Whitney to Dallas for two years, $9 million ($5 million of it in a signing bonus).  There goes one of the best possible Plan B’s for Zach.

1:40 PM EST: And I’m not updating every little minor signing either, just ones with moderate interest and local interest for the most part. 

1:39 PM EST: Commercial break, admittedly I’ve stopped paying attention to the show much as things have slowed up but apparently the hosts were ripping Alex Semin big-time, with Crawford going so far as to say guys like him wind up ‘in the island of the misfit toys’ (re: Columbus) lol.

1:35 PM EST: Well now the Wings’ delegation has decided not to meet with Zach.  Is a resolution coming sooner rather than later after all?

CONFIRMED (1:28 PM EST): And Minnesota’s spending spree starts with…Zenon Konopka, the big, physical center who can win faceoffs (and do little else) to a two-year deal.

1:25 PM EST: Well supposedly Brodeur’s agent has heard from the Hawks, Leafs, Sharks and Panthers.  Not a huge shock.  And the lobbying for Parise is already at comical levels with Sidney Crosby and ex-Devil Paul Martin leading the Pens’ delegtion, Wings’ ownership scheduled to meet with Zach at 3:30 PM and John MacLean – yes that John MacLean! – lobbying on Carolina’s behalf!  Maybe I should have stayed out all day.

CONFIRMED (1:14 PM EST): Canes also bring back defenseman Joe Corvo for one year, $2 million and goalie Justin Peters for two years, one one-way year at $550k.
CONFIRMED (1:14 PM EST): Rangers re-up with defenseman Stu Bickel one a one-way, two-year $750k deal.

CONFIRMED (12:51 PM EST): Former Ranger John Mitchell heads to Colorado on a two-year deal at $1.1 million per.

12:44 PM EST: And the first Twitter war is underway, with the Kings taking a dig at the Wild Parise and Suter tweet by saying they plan to offer contracts to free agents too.

CONFIRMED (12:38 PM EST): And just when I post that, the Wings ink Jonas Gustavsson to a two-year, $1.5 million per deal, though Dreger says paperwork still needs to be filed.  Didn’t really see that one coming, but they needed a backup goalie and there aren’t that many out there.

12:37 PM EST: Second commercial…on the lighter side of things, the Flyers have brought back Michael Leighton.  Can always count on them for goalie humor.  Don’t think any FA’s have actually changed teams yet.

12:31 PM EST: And to nobody’s surprise, the Wild have submitted offers to Zach and Suter.  Who would have thought the Wild would become the pre-lockout Rangers playing checkbook hockey?

12:24 PM EST: First oh good grief rumor…apparently the Winnipeg Jets are in on the bidding for Zach, according to Dreger.  Wouldn’t that be goofy considering Ilya Kovalchuk bolted when the Thrashers were on the verge of moving?

12:16 PM EST: First commercial, no Armageddon yet.  TSN analysts include Pierre, Marc Crawford and Ray Ferraro.

12:11 PM EST: First Pierre McGuire sighting on TSN…boo!  Reporters’ panel includes McKenzie, Dreger and LeBrun.  And already they’re annoying me with fanning the Brodeur to Chicago speculation (the one contender that could use him).

CONFIRMED (12:05 PM EST): RDS reporting the Lightning sign Benoit Pouliot to a one year, $1.8 million deal.  So it begins.

12:01 PM EST: Huge chuckle at Filip Kuba being the tenth best available FA on the TSN program…shows just how thin the crop is this year.  Of course Parise and Martin Brodeur are first and third, whoopee.

High noon: And we’re off and running!

11:52 AM EST: All’s quiet on the FA front with eight minutes left.  Might as well brush and wash up before the gong show known as NHL FA begins.

CONFIRMED (11:25 AM EST): Edmonton re-ups with Ryan Smith at 2 years, $2.25 million per via Darren Dreger.

CONFIRMED (11:19 AM EST): Carolina tweeting that Jordan Staal will sign a long-term deal there, 10 years and 60 million total per Bob McKenzie.

Analysis: Guess he signed the exact same deal he turned down in Pittsburgh, only the Pens didn’t have his brother and more playing time available.

11:15 AM EST: Obviously a livecap entails numerous updates throughout the day, but the only confirmed signings will be re-signings until 12 PM.

CONFIRMED (11:14 AM EST): Scott Clemmensen will re-sign with the Panthers for 2 years, and $1.2 million per, according to Devils beat writer Tom Gulutti.

11:13 AM EST: Twitter trade deadline link that I’ll be following throughout today, as well as the NHL Network FA show, and perhaps online radio if the NHLN show goes off the air at 3 PM like the Cablevision timer says it will.

11:05 AM EST: I might as well start here with already the first bad news of the day after word came down that Zach Parise is officially going to free agency, after a last-ditch attempt by Lou Lamoriello to sign him last night and a public timeframe of 10 AM this morning to decide to forego FA (that turned into 11 AM).  Well isn’t this just a great way to start the day.

Four hours left to free agency, NHL teams…do you know where your free agents are?  For most, this is a day of anticipation wondering what shiny new toys your GM will leave under the Christmas tree.  While Devil fans are left hoping and praying we go into tomorrow with the same team we went into today with, minus Bryce Salvador and Petr Sykora, I suppose.  Less than a month after this team was in the Stanley Cup Finals, no fewer than six players who dressed for Game 6 are set to go unrestricted this afternoon starting with captain/star winger Zach Parise, legendary goalie Martin Brodeur and solid backup Johan Hedberg.  Not to mention vet defensemen Salvador, as well as forwards Sykora and big Alexei Ponikarovsky, an effective role player as evidenced by his four OT points in the playoffs.

I’ve already stated the importance over keeping Zach and Marty enough, as well as the likelihood of Salvador and Sykora not being back (though if Zach does walk, I could see a scenario where Salvador gets re-signed, then one of our other defensmen gets traded off for a scoring winger).  Ponikarovsky admittedly I was kind of meh about, after a strong start when he first got traded here he cooled down and only had one goal in the playoffs, but he had nine points.  The real selling point for me was when I realized four of those points came in OT.  Literally every one of our OT-winning goals in the playoffs My Little Poni had a hand in.  I wouldn’t overpay like crazy for him though, Poni is replaceable – at worst via another deal at the deadline the likes of which GM Lou Lamoriello was able to land Poni in the first place.

Moose I’d love to see back too, especially in the unlikely event Marty walks.  The goalie market is thin, the next best backup on the list is Scott Clemmensen, who ironically had problems with coach Pete DeBoer when both were in Florida.  If Moose does go to Philly, Winnipeg or somewhere else one name that interests me as a replacement is former Ranger/Isle Al Montoya, who showed promise in flashes with the Isles but could never seem to stay healthy long enough to hold down the job there.  Other vet options like Chris Mason and Jonas Gustavsson are meh at best.  That market incidentally also underscores the importance of bringing Marty back.  And I still think we’ll hear something on that front once Parise makes his decision.  At wing, there is simply no replacement for Zach (at least not in FA), unless you count the risky Alexander Semin, who can certainly score but doesn’t bring the other intangibles Zach does.  Getting in to the Rick Nash and Bobby Ryan sweepstakes is also a possibility if Zach does walk.

If the nuclear scenario happens and both Zach and Marty walk, the fact is the Devils have to do ‘something’ big.  Not just for competitive reasons, but also due to the fact that the Devils currently have eighteen players under contract at around $45.5 million of cap money.  That puts us almost $9 million below the cap floor, with two wing spots and two very important goalie spots to fill, along with another possible bench forward to go along with Cam Janssen and defenseman Peter Harrold on the nightly reserve list after Eric Boulton got bought out yesterday, as expected.  Filling from within isn’t going to be enough for the Devils to reach the cap floor, some move will have to be made.  Whatever move(s) the Devils would make however, likely wouldn’t be enough to offset not only the PR disaster of having Zach and Marty walk, but the on-ice hit as well.  Indeed, a crazy move like trading for Roberto Luongo – already disliked by most Devil fans because of being a rival to Marty on the Canadian team and in publicity – would only exacerbate the PR issue, not to mention be a cap headache sooner rather than later.

With Nashville’s Ryan Suter expected to take more than one day to make his decision (along with Phoenix captain Shane Doan, also expected so sit tight till next weekend), pretty much a majority of the focus in the league will be on the Devil FA’s, as well as guys like Semin, the Wings’ Jiri Hudler and the Isles’ P.A.Parenteau up front.  The defense market apart from Suter isn’t very impressive, with the Panthers’ Jason Garrison next in line for big money and big dollars after a breakout season in Florida armed with a 100-MPH shot.  Garrison’s impact was certainly felt against us in the playoffs as the big fellow played in the first three games when the Panthers’ PP was lights out, but then when he came up with a back issue Florida’s PP started to struggle.  Philly’s Matt Carle and the Bruins’ Joe Corvo are the next best offensive options on the blueline, with Salvador and the Canes’ Bryan Allen being top vet stay-at-home options.

After just under six hours of sleep, I’ll try to clean up a little before high noon, then I’ll start the FA liveblog.  Watching an NHL Network FA preview show last night really underscored the lack of depth in this year’s class.  For example the center position was headed by iffy vet Olli Jokinen (even after a bounceback year in Calgary) and role player Paul Gaustad – who ironically re-upped with Nashville for four years while the program was airing.  Salvador was listed in the top five at defense along with Suter, Carle, Allen and Garrison.  And at goalie, any top five list that includes Gustavsson isn’t a very deep top five list though Brodeur and Hedberg are legitimate top options.  Hedberg may have more suitors though, given that most teams in the league currently have either an expensive starting goalie or one that isn’t likely to be benched for a 40-year old Marty – like the Yotes’ Mike Smith, still on a $2 million deal.  Marty needs us almost as much as we need him, hopefully the two sides can come to a resolution after whatever happens with Zach happens.

I do expect the Zach situation to be resolved by nightfall either way, especially given that offers such as the Wild’s reported 10-100 and the Penguins’ floated 10-80 last night have become so public.  Zach’s camp I’m sure has a good idea of what other teams are thinking even without the nonsense floated in the media, which is why I’m not very optomistic we’ll be able to retain him.  Hopefully when he sees everything, and if we’re able to offer something competitive with other contenders, he will stay in the end but I’m expecting the worst at this point.  Then again, I was expecting the worst with Patrik Elias a few years ago after Jamie Langenbrunner re-signed and it seemed as if that was a sign Elias was gone since we had no cap money left.  Of course, we did wind up re-signing Elias, and then giving up a first-rounder to get rid of Vlad Malakhov‘s cap hit.  Certainly I didn’t expect Ilya Kovalchuk to re-sign two years ago, but he did. 

I’d rather not air my feelings on Zach if he should walk yet, that’ll be for tomorrow’s blog.  Suffice it to say, after he gave nine million indications of coming back and wanting to be back, for the captain to walk out on us after getting so close to the ultimate prize would be a lot more of a Benedict Arnold-like betrayal than even Scott Gomez or Bobby Holik (who were always going to be mercs) going to the Rangers.  As far as Marty goes, I’d be confused and distraught if he somehow signed with another team as well.  I wouldn’t hold it against him, mainly because he gave us so much for so many years, and at a discount from what he could have gotten if he held the UFA gun to Lou’s head.  However, I wouldn’t ever set foot in the Rock for a game Marty’s playing against us either, mainly because I wouldn’t want to deal with the ungrateful loons who’d be chanting you suck and doing the Marty! stuff that should be reserved for MSG fans.

At least the consolation is we don’t have to wait much longer now.  Either nothing will change, or everything will change by nightfall or soon thereafter.

UPDATE: Well maybe this is nothing…or something.  Apparently Zach is holding off officially deciding on FA until before 10 AM.  I’m not holding my breath for 45 minutes, but this day could change dramatically if a miracle happens.