I am amazed by the play of the NJ Devils to the point where I have to admit that Lou Lamoriello obviously knows more than any of us do about building winning teams. He obviously is in another level and reading from another book then everyone else is. He is truly the greatest GM in hockey over the last 15 years.

What is it about the Devils that makes the term "on paper" laughable?

We can't just say that it is due to Brodeur. There was a time when everyone said it was all Marty. Then before that it was Niedermayer...before that it was Stevens. Now it may be Parise (who will one day go down as the best US born hockey player ever)...or maybe they are just as the title says to my blog states.."The Best Team in the NHL."

The Devils continue, year after year, to do everything counter to the norm in the NHL. They don't make major trades. They bring in older players. The don't sign superstars. They allow stars to walk. They fire coaches who are in first place. They bring in coaches that when coaching elsewhere were said to have "let the game pass them by." They are often considered the third wheel in the great hockey area around NY City. Yet the two other teams would kill for what the Devils have done. How the Rangers have never stolen Lamoriello is truly beyond me.

The NJ Devils are playing in today's NHL with yesterday's systems, and yet they are crushing it. How? Well, quite simply in a league of parity there is something in the black magic of this team that makes them do one thing better than anyone else. They win one goal games in a league where most of the games are decided by a goal. That is what the Devils do better than the rest. They accumulate points and frustrate the hell out of everyone else.

But guess what?

As strong as they are, as consistent as they have become, the NJ Devils aren't satisfied with first overall right now. They are in the market and looking to fill their own holes. They are very much front runners for Scott Niedermayer or Sheldon Souray. They have serious interest in Dion Phaneuf. They may make a deal, but the chances of it leaking from the NJ side are non-existent. You would have a better chance at getting Lou to tell you the next Bobblehead Give-away (which he has his hand in as well) than getting a hint of a rumor. Other GMs are afraid to leak rumors as well, as deals have been rumored to be squashed by Lou if world got out. Have they really? One GM knows of a deal that was supposedly squashed when word leaked out but suspects that Lou just used it to build the folklore. Like the team's surname Devil that is lurking in the Pine Barrens of NJ, folklore can be a hard thing to prove false...It may not be true, but Lou sure had people believing it.

Either way, I personally would rather wonder a campground in the Pines without a flashlight, than question Lou to his face. He is that intimidating. People around the league call him "The Big Man" with a sort of reverence.

I will state it here that I do predict that the Devils will grab 1 of those three defenseman at some point this season. And I can only imagine how much better Scott Niedermayer will make them, because as good as they are they do have holes in their own end. They are just such a good team that they cover the holes so well.

More when I get to Wachovia for tonight's game.

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