With the Devils having signed Martin Havlat and Mike Cammalleri on July 1, they now have an abundance of forwards that they are unable to carry into the season.
The Devils currently have 13 of them signed to one-way deals, with Jacob Josefson yet to be re-signed and a pretty good chance Ryan Carter returns as well.
Factor in that Lou Lamoriello would like to make room for Reid Boucher and/or Stefan Matteau should they have good camps and force themselves into the lineup, and some bodies need to go.
As it stands the Devils have 11 top-9 forwards, and on the depth chart two of Tuomo Ruutu, Dainius Zubrus, Michael Ryder and Damien Brunner figure to be relegated to 4th line minutes, which simply is not happening.
The team looks set on defense and is comfortable with Scott Clemmensen and Keith Kinkaid fighting it out for the backup role, so all that's left to do is move forwards for futures.
Next year's draft class will be among the best we've seen over the last 10 years, and with the Devils having no glaring roster holes it would make sense to try and accumulate draft picks while moving out bodies.
As I wrote yesterday, it's a matter of when a deal is made and not if. I don't think it'll take long for the first shoe to drop.
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