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Free agency opens up in less than a month and the New Jersey Devils have yet to re-sign any of their unrestricted free agents.
Devils GM, Lou Lamoriello, still has some time on his side, but he'll need to work quickly if he hopes to keep several core roster players on the team. As the days go by, it'll become more tempting for David Clarkson, Patrik Elias, Dainius Zubrus, and company to wait this period out and test the free agent waters to see what's out there.
If and when that happens, there's no guarantee the Devils will get any of them back, especially given this free agent class is very weak. Teams are always willing to overpay in free agency, and this year will be no different. That could be appealing to a guy like Clarkson who's hoping for a big money, long-term contract or a guy like Elias who wants one last big money contract before he retires.
Both of those players have expressed interest in returning to the Devils, but if Lamoriello wants them to take a hometown discount, they could be on their way out.
Lamoriello's been pretty silent in terms of doing housework for the team. He's re-signed restricted free agent Andrei Loktionov, but that's about it. RFA's Jacob Josefson and Adam Henrique need to be re-signed as well as several UFA's in Clarkson, Elias, Zubrus, Peter Harrold and Alexei Ponikarovsky, all of whom Lamoriello has expressed interest in bringing back.
All in all, Lamoriello has a lot of work to do and not much time to do it. The Devils have to forfeit their 1st round pick next year so if they don't get the majority of their top players re-signed, it could be a disaster in New Jersey for years to come.
The countdown is on. Can Lamoriello beat the clock?
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In case you missed it,
why signing Mark Streit doesn't make sense for the Devils.
I posted a scouting report on draft eligible forward, Zach Nastasiuk, at TheHockeyGuys. You can
view the report here.
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