Todd Cordell: The Waiting Game

Don't they have just under $5MM available in cap space? Why not lock up Carter and than look to move out the Devils excess of forwards?

Don't they have just under $5MM available in cap space? Why not lock up Carter and than look to move out the Devils excess of forwards?
- mike12cambria

Because if they can't move any/enough forwards it just makes the issue worse

Todd Cordell: The Waiting Game
- Todd.Cordell

Just make a (frank)ing trade

Don't they have just under $5MM available in cap space? Why not lock up Carter and than look to move out the Devils excess of forwards?
- mike12cambria

Potential trading partners will use that as leverage on Lou, they know he has a poop ton of forwards on one-ways.

Ryder for saleeee. Ryder for saleeee. Seriously, we'll take anything.

Ryder for saleeee. Ryder for saleeee. Seriously, we'll take anything.
- TheJerseyDevil1

Florida make the cap floor yet? Lol

Potential trading partners will use that as leverage on Lou, they know he has a poop ton of forwards on one-ways.
- shvingter88

This will be a problem, especially if anyone thinks any of these guys will actually bring back any return other than a 7th rounder.

Lou put himself in a hole.

Which is why you're not turning Ryder & Brunner into Kane.

This will be a problem, especially if anyone thinks any of these guys will actually bring back any return other than a 7th rounder.

Lou put himself in a hole.

Which is why you're not turning Ryder & Brunner into Kane.
- FLdevilsFAN

Look at how jammed up our defense was last year, no move was made other than putting gelly on the fourth line.

Florida make the cap floor yet? Lol
- shvingter88

This will be a problem, especially if anyone thinks any of these guys will actually bring back any return other than a 7th rounder.

Lou put himself in a hole.

Which is why you're not turning Ryder & Brunner into Kane.
- FLdevilsFAN

Damn, we were all holding out for that.

Not for nothing, at the end of the day they'll just put Ryder through waivers if they can't get a late round pick as a return. I assume anyone that needs to hit the floor or add a depth forward would rather just concede the 5-7 than open the "bidding" to the entire league. Using that term loosely.

The issue will resolve itself eventually.

Maybe Carter is waiting for another team to finalize their cap situation? For example, maybe he is waiting on another team to sign its RFAs and see if that team can fit him into their salary structure? Maybe he is considering Europe?

I like Carter and hope the Devils resign him.

Wow Florida just gave Kulikov a contract that (frank)s us hard on the Gelinas negotiations.

From their point of view its doubly stupid since they overpaid him AND gave him one too many years on the deal. Now if he wants to leave, he can walk as a UFA at 26.

This will be a problem, especially if anyone thinks any of these guys will actually bring back any return other than a 7th rounder.

Lou put himself in a hole.

Which is why you're not turning Ryder & Brunner into Kane.
- FLdevilsFAN

We turned Kris Barch into a prospect and a 6th rounder. We can get a 3rd or 4th for Ryder and a 5th or 6th for Brunner. Ryder scored 18 goals in a down year and that's with him going cold for a 20+ game stretch. I keep thinking Pittsburgh might be a good landing spot for Ryder. Hornqvist is a decent player, but put Ryder with Malkin or Crosby and I don't see how he doesn't score 30 goals, even if he shoots at 10% (his career average is 12.6%). Brunner might be a harder sell, but I think you could find a place for him as well. I don't like the idea of trading both of them anyway, just because we're already thin at RW and we already have 2 left-shooting RWs in Jagr and Havlat.

There is no question carter wants to remain a devil otherwise he would've been signed somewhere else. I recall zidlicky doing the same thing last year as he waited about a month to re-sign with us even though he had other offers out there. Id have to assume carter has received a few offers if not at least 1 from another team. What I can't understand is why was Carter not signed before gionta AND bernier? This is the only thing that baffles me. As far as the forward who must go it is without a doubt that it MUST BE Ryder. At least Brunner provides the main thing this team lacks, SPEED. Plus I honestly think Brunner can score 15-20 goals for us this season plus drive and create offense sometimes. All Ryder does is shoot or panic everytime he touches the puck

Eklund says their could be a mutual interest involving Peter Mueller he would be an upgrade from Carter production wise. We would also still have to move some players not sure how well Boucher and Mattaue did in camp, but if one of them makes the jump and we signed Pete we could then look to land some picks (Ryder,Ruttu,and wouldnt mind turning the page from Salvador as well)

such fun

Ryder for saleeee. Ryder for saleeee. Seriously, we'll take anything.
- TheJerseyDevil1

Given the number of FWs Lou is hoarding, some players would have to move for Boucher or Matteau to even sniff the lineup.

Hopefully they force Lou's hand, but I don't see them playing in NJ this season.

We turned Kris Barch into a prospect and a 6th rounder. We can get a 3rd or 4th for Ryder and a 5th or 6th for Brunner. Ryder scored 18 goals in a down year and that's with him going cold for a 20+ game stretch. I keep thinking Pittsburgh might be a good landing spot for Ryder. Hornqvist is a decent player, but put Ryder with Malkin or Crosby and I don't see how he doesn't score 30 goals, even if he shoots at 10% (his career average is 12.6%). Brunner might be a harder sell, but I think you could find a place for him as well. I don't like the idea of trading both of them anyway, just because we're already thin at RW and we already have 2 left-shooting RWs in Jagr and Havlat.
- CaptCrankypants

I think a lot of problems will be fixed if playing time is earned.

Lou/PDB had a hard time with that concept when it came to the defense.

If players earn the roster spot, then you should end up with the right group of FWs going forward. Unfortunately, Lou has an old mentality of seniority>talent.

I just dont see Lou getting any value for the excess fat when everyone in the NHL knows he has to move someone.

NJ is a bit of a wildcard however...They are not only interested, but I hear Peter may want to play in NJ.

more to come...

Tell me about Loktionov, is he worth a signing if you're the Oilers and you have terrible Centre depth and don't want to rush Draisaitl?

Tell me about Loktionov, is he worth a signing if you're the Oilers and you have terrible Centre depth and don't want to rush Draisaitl?
- ystoil

From what I've gathered, and seen, Loktionov is a good player who just didn't want to play the full length of the ice. I may be wrong, but the only time he really was noticeable was when Kovalchuk was playing. Last year he just fell off the face of the earth, although he did perform a little better once he went to Carolina. Depending on the money/term, it could be worth a signing; although I wouldn't break the bank for him.

Given the number of FWs Lou is hoarding, some players would have to move for Boucher or Matteau to even sniff the lineup.

Hopefully they force Lou's hand, but I don't see them playing in NJ this season.
- FLdevilsFAN

I think that Boucher would benefit from some time in the AHL. No real reason to rush him up, even if he makes an insane showing in camp this year. There's already a log jam and he'd get limited play time. Let him get a lot more time in the AHL, and get more accustomed to the Devils' system. We can always call him up if the team thinks he's ready, but there's no need to rush him.

Although I can't wait to see our new D-core in a couple of years... Santini, Gelinas, Larsson, Merrill, Severson